New mobile app for Gibbon — looking for testers

[tiekubd]

Hi everyone,

I’m pleased to share a project I’ve been working on: a mobile app for Gibbon.

It’s long been a dream of mine to help make Gibbon — which I find to be one of the most robust school management platforms out there — even easier to use on a phone. Gibbon’s web interface is already very mobile-friendly; this app aims to take that a step further with a native mobile experience.

Why an app? Administrators, teachers, parents, and students are increasingly on their phones day to day, so I wanted to bring some of the most commonly used everyday features into a native experience. The app doesn’t try to replace everything the web version does — it can’t, and isn’t meant to — but rather gives people fast, convenient access to the things they check most often: timetables, homework and due dates, grades, attendance, the planner, staff directories, and similar day-to-day features, designed for how people actually use their phones. I’ve also carried over Gibbon’s role and school-year switching, and added a few app-native touches on top, like a homework calendar view (inspired by a discussion I came across here on the forums). @SGi @rozojc

HW Calendar Module

Hi everyone, I wanted to share a small milestone and a bit of context. I started using Gibbon literally about a week ago. I am still very much learning the system and its data model, and I have already posted a couple of questions on the forum that I am waiting for answers to. That said, during this short time, I decided to build a proof of concept module to explore whether Gibbon could realistically replace a specific workflow we currently rely on in ManageBac. The motivation was very focuse…

I’m using a generic placeholder name for now — School Connect — while I sort out the right name; expect that to change.

With around 55 screens, I’ve attached some screenshots below so you can see how the app is laid out. In the next post I’ll include a site map covering how everything connects.

The app sits on top of any existing Gibbon site — the first thing you’re asked for is your site URL, then you log in as normal.

This is version 1, and my plan for now is to open it up to the community for testing and feedback before going further. I’ll share test site details (running on Gibbon demo data, no install needed) in a follow-up post shortly — want to make sure that’s clean first.

If you’d like to try it on your own device, let me know and I’d be glad to add you as a tester in the Play Store.

Your honest feedback — what’s useful, what’s missing, what feels off — would mean a lot at this stage.

Would you be interested in trying it out? Let me know below.

Thanks,

Tieku
@rossdotparker @sandra @Ali

[tiekubd]

Here’s the site map — tap each section to expand it.

Entry flow

SchoolUrlScreen → LoginScreen

Dashboard hub (13 edges)

DashboardScreen → SchoolYearPickerScreen
DashboardScreen → RolePickerScreen
DashboardScreen → ParentDashboardScreen
DashboardScreen → NotificationsScreen
DashboardScreen → MyTimetableScreen
DashboardScreen → AdminScreen
DashboardScreen → StudentSearchScreen
DashboardScreen → StaffDirectoryScreen
DashboardScreen → FormGroupsScreen
DashboardScreen → CoursesScreen
DashboardScreen → PlannerListScreen
DashboardScreen → MasterTimetableScreen
DashboardScreen → FacilityListScreen

Parent dashboard (5 edges)

ParentDashboardScreen → SchoolYearPickerScreen
ParentDashboardScreen → RolePickerScreen
ParentDashboardScreen → DashboardScreen
ParentDashboardScreen → StudentProfileScreen
ParentDashboardScreen → MyTimetableScreen

Admin (18 edges)

AdminScreen → UserListScreen
AdminScreen → FamilyListScreen
AdminScreen → StaffManageListScreen
AdminScreen → StudentEnrolmentListScreen
AdminScreen → CourseEnrolmentByClassScreen
AdminScreen → CourseEnrolmentByPersonScreen
AdminScreen → CourseManageListScreen
AdminScreen → DaysOfWeekScreen
AdminScreen → SchoolYearsScreen
AdminScreen → SpecialDaysScreen
AdminScreen → TermsScreen
UserListScreen → UserEditScreen
FamilyListScreen → FamilyDetailScreen
StaffManageListScreen → StaffEditScreen
StudentEnrolmentListScreen → StudentEnrolmentEditScreen
CourseEnrolmentByClassScreen → CourseClassRosterScreen
CourseEnrolmentByPersonScreen → PersonEnrolmentScreen
CourseManageListScreen → CourseDetailScreen

Courses / classes (6 edges)

CoursesScreen → ClassDetailScreen
ClassDetailScreen → AttendanceScreen
ClassDetailScreen → StudentsScreen
ClassDetailScreen → ClassMarkbookScreen
ClassDetailScreen → PlannerListScreen
StudentsScreen → StudentProfileScreen

Form groups (3 edges)

FormGroupsScreen → FormGroupDetailScreen
FormGroupDetailScreen → FormGroupAttendanceScreen
FormGroupDetailScreen → StudentProfileScreen

Student profile (4 edges)

StudentSearchScreen → StudentProfileScreen
StudentProfileScreen → StudentGradesScreen
StudentProfileScreen → StudentAttendanceScreen
StudentProfileScreen → MyTimetableScreen

Planner / homework (7 edges)

PlannerListScreen → PlannerViewScreen
MyTimetableScreen → PlannerViewScreen
HomeworkDueDatesCard (widget) → HomeworkCalendarScreen
HomeworkDueDatesCard (widget) → PlannerViewScreen
HomeworkCalendarScreen → PlannerViewScreen
TodayLessonsCard (widget) → PlannerListScreen
TodayLessonsCard (widget) → PlannerViewScreen

Other

StaffDirectoryScreen → MyTimetableScreen

[Xavier_Bit]

Hi tiekubd!

Nice! That looks really cool!

As we, after a short hiatus, are setting up our school at the moment and are almost done, I would love to get added as a beta tester and connect directly to our schools site.

Can you be so kind and set me up?

[tiekubd]

Hi @Xavier_Bit

Great to hear from you — congrats on getting your school set up! I’d love to get you onboard as a beta tester for the Connect app.

Could you email me at tieku @highpointeduhighpointeduhighpointeduhighpointeduhighpointeduhighpointeduhighpointeduhighpointedu .com with your school’s name and Gibbon site URL? I’ll get you set up from there.

Best,
Tieku

[tiekubd]

Updates Since Last Post

Hey everyone — it’s been a while since my last update, so wanted to share what’s new. This has been a big chunk of work, adding several core Gibbon modules to the mobile app that weren’t there before.

Reports
Parents and students can now view and download report card PDFs directly in the app — no more needing to log into the website separately just to grab a report card.

Data Updater
This was the biggest addition — parents can now submit update requests for their children’s Family, Personal, Medical, and Finance data right from their phone. Staff can also update their own Staff and Personal info. Everything goes through the same admin approval workflow as the website (nothing updates live until an admin approves it), and admins get the same bell notification they’d get from a website submission.

Messenger / Message Wall
Parents, students, and staff can now see messages sent to them — school-wide announcements, direct messages, and anything targeted at their year group, form group, course, class, or a custom group. Unread count shows right on the dashboard icon. Messages render with full formatting (bold, links, images), not just plain text.

Finance
Parents can view all invoices for their kids, with a full itemized fee breakdown and payment/receipt history. There’s also a “Pay Now” button that hands off to the same PayPal payment flow the website already uses — the app never touches payment details itself, it just opens the existing secure flow.

Other improvements

• Refreshed button styling/colors across the app

• Fixed a subtle bug where accounts holding more than one role (e.g. staff who are also parents) could occasionally get denied access due to an ID-formatting mismatch — thanks to whoever eventually hits an edge case like this for reporting it!

• Various smaller fixes and polish

Happy to answer questions or take feedback if anyone wants to try any of this out.

[nmbazima]

Hi @tiekubd,

this is fantastic news, and well done for taking this initiative. With the current trends of users being mobile first, WhatsApp is not really an official channel for any school to distribute timetables, event schedules and such. Having a mobile application would really be beneficial to all users, for ease of use and quick access to relevant information from a school. I had a similar though, though not an application developer but information systems developer. I would be happy to be part of the testers and provide valuable feedback both to you and the community.

Kindest regards

Newton

[tiekubd]

Hi Newton,

Thanks for your kind words and for offering to test the mobile app.

Send me an email at tieku@ highpointedu .com and I will get you set up.

Regards,

Tieku
@nmbazima