Activating your app removes all the restrictions of test mode and provides you with a shareable link.
To activate your app, click the "Activate" button in the app builder:
Next, select the "Discoverability" and "Activation" settings you want to apply to your app:
Discoverability: This determines (a) whether your app can be discovered ("indexed") by search engines and (b) how you can share the link to your app.
1) Public: Set discoverability to "Public" if you want your app to appear when people search the web using services like Google and Bing. This also lets you share a direct link to your app that anyone can access e.g. "username.afterpattern.app/my-app-name".
2) Private: Set discoverability to "Private" if you don't want your app indexed by search engines and want to restrict access to your app. Only you and the people you share your app's special shareable link with can use the app.
Activation: This determines whether your app is live or not.
1) Test Mode: If you only want to test your app and prevent others from seeing or using it, keep it in Test Mode. Note that several restrictions apply to apps in test mode. Payments will not actually be processed. HelloSign signatures will not be valid. All emails, regardless of the intended recipient, will be sent to the email address associated with your Afterpattern account. PDFs will be watermarked.
2) Live Mode: Set your app to "Active" when you are ready to use it. This removes all Test Mode restrictions, and allows the app to be accessed by people you share it with (depending on your Discoverability and Publication settings).
Once your app is activated, you will get a shareable link for it. This link can be used to give others access to your app, or to create a button on your website that leads to your app.
If your app's discoverability setting is set to "private", you must use the shareable link when distributing your app. You can't simply copy the URL from a web browser because it won't contain the special access key to your app.
After you activate your app, you can find the shareable link here:
Sometimes, when you go to activate your app, you may get error messages that look like this:
Errors like this notify you of issues with your app that keep it from being activated. In the example above, the error is telling us that there is an Expression Block that defines a variable called "variable 1" -- We should go find this Expression Block under the Blocks tab of the App Builder to see what the issue is and fix it.
