App Creator and beyond
Now that you've set up your account, you should be in the MAZ dashboard and can begin creating your app! When you log in, you will always start out in the main area of the dashboard called App Creator. App Creator will show you the framework for how your app is set up and will allow you to navigate to different sections of the app to set up and manage your content. You can access App Creator at any time by clicking on App Creator from the top navigation bar.
Add a Credit Card
If you haven't already, the first thing you should do is add your credit card to your account. A credit card is required to unlock all the premium features of the dashboard, will ensure that your content is processed, and you are able to submit your apps. On the top navigation bar, you will see the red "Add Credit Card" text. Click through there to easily add your card. If you don't see that on your screen, you likely already gave us your payment information and it is already added to your account! If you want to update your credit card, please read here.
App Framework
If you're just starting out, you should see something very similar to the screenshot above. This is the beginning of your app! Saved & Subscribe are the two default Sections of your app which are included automatically. As you progress, you will see this area of the dashboard fill up with more Sections and all of your content.
The Design button on the left side will bring you to the dashboard settings where you can customize your app by setting theme colors, OTT navbar color, fonts, launch screens, and icons, as well as metering and paywall options, data & privacy settings, and user onboarding steps. More on Design.
The Export button allows you to export all of your app data.
The +Section button allows you to add more Sections & Subsections in your app. Your app will be comprised of different sections, which are basically like different tabs of content or areas that the user can navigate to within your app. (More of this in the next step). The screenshot below shows an example of different Sections in an app (New Features, My Podcast, Video Stuff, etc.)
Continuing with our dashboard overview, if you take a look at the top navigation bar, you will see lots of areas that you can navigate to. Let's take a look at some of those below.
Under App Creator, you will see the options shown in the below screenshot.
Sections allow you to create sections & subsections, as defined above. Sections are the areas that the user can navigate to within your app.
The Design button will allow you to customize your app with theme colors, logos, subscription options, and more as described above.
Notifications are where you will be able to create and schedule push notifications.
Banners are where you can create and add banners to your app. Banners are highlighted images that allow the user to navigate directly to featured or sponsored content. Read more about banners here.
Ads and subscriptions are tolls to help monetize your app. You will learn more about each of these in the later steps, and you can explore all monetization tools here.
Preview will give you steps on how to preview your app as you make progress.
Analytics is where you will set up and see usage statistics in your app. The majority of your analytics will be imported to your Google Analytics account.
Social logins enable you to set up your users to register for your app using Facebook, Google, or Twitter.
The Content tab (above) of the navbar is all about your content. My Content will lead you to your content library. This is where you will add and manage all of the content that will be displayed in your app. +NEW will prompt you to add content.
Channels are where you will set up some metadata (screenshots, descriptions, etc.) for your developer accounts.
Article Templates can be used to customize and edit articles that you ingest into the MAZ dashboard.
Your queue will display scheduled content that is set to be published.
By navigating to Users, you can manage any database integrations (if included in your package), as well as manage and export your MAZ ID registered users.
The Help section will bring you to the knowledge base, or allow you to contact our Customer Success team.
And finally, under Account, you can manage your account & billing information or log out of your account.
Once you've familiarized yourself with the general navigation and are ready to start creating your app, head over to Step 3: App Sections!