Nova Builder

Roadmap Checklist

Current: Patch 3.2 · Phase 2 (Import / Export / Drafts)

Phase 0–7 roadmap for the Nova visual page builder. Each phase is staged into small builds so the work can ship in manageable slices.

Done In progress / partly live Planned / not started
One row = one build slice
Phase 0 Nova Shell & App Frame
Toolbar, layout scaffolding, and visual design language.
Done ✓
›
  • 0.A — Shell, Toolbar & Tokens Core UI
    Nova toolbar, logo lockup, top-level design tokens, and background/gradient framing for the app frame.
    Complete (early Nova patches)
  • 0.B — Three-panel Layout Skeleton Layout
    Grid layout for Elements, Canvas, and Properties panels with responsive breakpoints and panel headers.
    Complete
  • 0.C — Canvas Shell & Empty State Canvas
    Canvas shell card, “No page loaded” empty state overlay, chips, and messaging for New Page vs Import flows.
    Complete
  • 0.D — Init & Diagnostics Boot
    Nova.init bootstrapping, DOM wiring for panels/buttons, and console-group boot logging for quick diagnostics.
    Complete
Phase 1 Blocks, Selection & Properties
Core building blocks and the selection model.
Done ✓
›
  • 1.A — Block Registry & Add-block Buttons Blocks
    Nova.blocks.create factory and toolbar buttons for Section, Card, Row, Header, Footer, and Sidebar blocks.
    Complete (Phase 1)
  • 1.B — Page Root & Blank Page Flow Page
    Nova.createBlankPage, nb-page-root / nb-page-root-inner, and blank-page placeholder copy wired to the New Page button.
    Complete (Phase 1)
  • 1.C — Click-to-select & Selection Highlight Selection
    Canvas event delegation, Nova.selectElement/Nova.clearSelection, .nb-selected outline, and Properties selection chip.
    Complete (Phase 1)
  • 1.D — Block Toolbar, Delete & Placeholder Recovery Safety
    Floating block toolbars, delete-block actions with confirms for header/footer/sidebar, and blank-page placeholder recovery when the last block is removed.
    Complete (Phase 1)
Phase 2 Text, Layout & Document IO
Turn layouts into editable, importable, exportable pages.
Done ✓
›
  • 2.A — Text Editing for Leaf Nodes Text
    Properties panel textarea for editing text content on leaf nodes, wired through Nova.handleTextInput with smart “no direct text” messaging.
    Complete (Phase 2)
  • 2.B — Row & Sidebar Layout Controls Layout
    Row column count and sidebar position properties, with Nova.setRowColumns and Nova.setSidebarPosition keeping DOM and UI in sync.
    Complete (Phase 2)
  • 2.C — Inline Style Controls Styles
    Color, background, font-size, and padding controls in the Styles grid, writing directly to inline CSS on the selected element.
    Complete (Phase 2)
  • 2.D — HTML Import & Sanitization Import
    Import modal plus Nova.sanitizeImportedHTML (script stripping) and Nova.applyImportedHTML to map imported markup into the Nova page root.
    Complete (Phase 2)
  • 2.E — Export HTML & Draft Save/Load IO
    Clean HTML export via Nova.buildExportHTML (no editor attributes or toolbars), plus LocalStorage-based draft save/load through Nova.saveDraft and Nova.loadDraft.
    Complete · Current patch (3.2)
Phase 3 Components, Presets & Library
From one-off blocks to reusable patterns.
Planned …
›
  • 3.A — Save Block as Preset Components
    Turn any selected block into a named preset and surface it in the Elements panel for reuse across pages.
    Planned
  • 3.B — Template Sections & Page Starters Templates
    A gallery of pre-built hero sections, feature rows, and footers that can be dropped onto the canvas as starting points.
    Planned
  • 3.C — Component Editing & Sync Sync
    Edit a component definition once and have changes propagate to all instances, with per-instance opt-out for overrides.
    Planned
  • 3.D — Component Library Import/Export Library
    Export and import Nova component libraries so layouts and presets can be shared between projects and consoles.
    Planned
Phase 4 Layout System & Responsive Views
Control grid, spacing, and breakpoints.
Planned …
›
  • 4.A — Layout Inspector Layout
    Properties panel controls for flex/grid modes, alignment, gap spacing, and per-block layout presets.
    Planned
  • 4.B — Breakpoint Editor Responsive
    Define mobile, tablet, and desktop breakpoints, with per-breakpoint overrides for layout and visibility.
    Planned
  • 4.C — Responsive Preview Toolbar Preview
    Canvas toolbar with device-width toggles (phone, tablet, desktop) and live preview of breakpoint behavior.
    Planned
  • 4.D — Column Collapse & Stack Rules Rules
    Configure how rows and sidebars collapse or stack on small screens, including per-block ordering and visibility rules.
    Planned
Phase 5 Styling, Themes & Tokens
From inline tweaks to structured themes and CSS.
Planned …
›
  • 5.A — Theme Tokens Panel Tokens
    Editor for global color, typo­graphy, radius, and spacing tokens that drive both the Nova UI and exported pages.
    Planned
  • 5.B — Class-based Styles & CSS Export CSS
    Move from inline styles to reusable class-based styles, and export a separate CSS file alongside semantic HTML.
    Planned
  • 5.C — Theme Switcher & Variants Themes
    Multiple themes (e.g., dark, light, accent variations) with a quick switcher that updates the canvas preview in real time.
    Planned
  • 5.D — Gradient & Button Designers Design
    Visual controls for gradient backgrounds, shadows, and CTA/button presets, with reusable style tokens per pattern.
    Planned
Phase 6 History, Undo/Redo & Projects
Be fearless: change, compare, and roll back safely.
Planned …
›
  • 6.A — Action History Log History
    Timeline of editor events (add, delete, edit, import, style changes) with basic metadata and timestamps.
    Planned
  • 6.B — Multi-step Undo/Redo Undo
    Command+Z / Command+Shift+Z style undo/redo wired into the history log, suitable for aggressive experimentation.
    Planned
  • 6.C — Named Drafts & Project Slots Projects
    Multiple named drafts per project, with quick switching between versions (e.g., “Landing v1”, “Experiment v2”).
    Planned
  • 6.D — Snapshot Export & Compare Snapshots
    Export snapshot JSON for a page, reload snapshots later, and show a simple compare/diff view between two Nova states.
    Planned
Phase 7 Stretch: Smart Builders & Plugins
Assisted layouts, smarter imports, and extension hooks.
Planned …
›
  • 7.A — Smart Layout Suggestions Assist
    Suggest block arrangements and patterns based on the current page structure and typical Nova layouts.
    Stretch
  • 7.B — AI-powered Content Prompts Content
    Generate placeholder copy or variations for selected sections and cards based on short prompts or labels.
    Stretch
  • 7.C — Smart Import Cleanup Import+
    Analyze imported HTML, map it into Nova blocks/components, and suggest cleanup operations for messy legacy markup.
    Stretch
  • 7.D — Plugin Hook System Plugins
    Lightweight JS hook surface so custom validators, exporters, or automation scripts can plug into Nova’s editor pipeline.
    Stretch
This file is only a roadmap/checklist; it doesn’t change behavior. Save as roadmap-nova-builder.html and open it alongside the Nova Builder console.