February 2024 Summaries

PropelAuth has introduced a new feature allowing users to replace default transactional emails with their own customized content and styling, providing greater control over email communications. This feature is designed to work seamlessly with any email provider, such as Postmark, Mailchimp, or Sendgrid. Users can manage this functionality through a new "Emails" section in the dashboard, choosing which emails PropelAuth should handle and which they prefer to send themselves. Instead of sending emails directly, PropelAuth will send a webhook containing the necessary information for users to dispatch emails independently.

PropelAuth has introduced new features focused on enhancing security and access control for its users, with a central theme of controlling security and access. Among the updates is the Internal Roles feature, which allows companies to grant employees access to user organizations while keeping them separate from customers, viewable and assignable only from the PropelAuth dashboard. Advanced Security Settings on the Growth+ plan include the ability for organizations to require two-factor authentication (2FA) for all users, ensuring that security-conscious customers can mandate 2FA setup before accessing products. Organization owners can monitor 2FA status, and the feature is already implemented within PropelAuth organizations. Additionally, a Per-Org Session Duration setting permits customization of login durations to align with specific customer security policies, overriding the global default. SCIM support has been added to complement SAML connections, enabling customers to maintain updated user information in the product, thus providing a single source of truth. This SCIM capability is available on the Growth+ plan for some identity providers, reflecting PropelAuth's commitment to enhancing security and management options for its clients.

Gradient backgrounds in web design present a challenge in ensuring text legibility, particularly when specific brand colors are used, as text can become poorly contrasted depending on its position on the page. The issue is exacerbated on mobile devices or when resizing pages, where text may shift to areas with insufficient contrast. To address this, designers can adjust text color to meet the WCAG 2.0 contrast threshold of 4.5:1, using tools like the tinycolor2 library to calculate contrast ratios and adjust luminance. For gradient backgrounds, averaging the gradient's colors can help maintain consistency in contrast, but for pixel-perfect results, creating a contrasting gradient that matches each color in the background and applying it as a text clipping mask ensures optimal legibility across the entire page. This involves layering a calculated contrast gradient over the original gradient and using transparent text, which, while requiring some positioning adjustments, results in perfectly contrasted text regardless of its location on the background.

PropelAuth has announced the release of a new version of its Look & Feel editor, which offers users the option to upgrade their existing UIs without any immediate changes. This upgrade introduces new layout options such as split screen, frameless, and framed designs, alongside customization features for backgrounds and fonts, driven by user feedback. The company is also developing tools that allow users to fully build signup, login, and user management pages with PropelAuth, beginning with profile and organization management pages. PropelAuth encourages users to share their creations by sending them to a dedicated email or tagging the company on social media platforms for broader exposure.

PropelAuth has introduced two major updates: a revamped documentation system and support for waitlists. The new version of the documentation is designed to enhance integration and usability, particularly for advanced applications, by featuring a framework selector that updates code snippets across quickstart guides and documentation. Meanwhile, the waitlist feature simplifies the process of onboarding users by offering an option to enable Waitlist Users via the Signup/Login Settings page, allowing for manual addition of users or importing from existing lists through the dashboard or API. Once ready for onboarding, the system automates sending invitation emails and gathers necessary account creation information.