| Announced on | Rollout starts |
| July 16, 2022 | July 1, 2024 |
Zendesk is excited to announce the migration of top bar apps in Support from Ember to React.
This announcement includes the following topics:
What is changing?
Top bar apps in support are now built in React instead of Ember.
Support apps are tools that you can install from the marketplace or build yourself to extend Zendesk's capabilities to meet unique customer experience use cases. Since a single system cannot accommodate all needs, Support apps offer a powerful way to incorporate new use cases and create connected customer experiences.
For more information on Support top bar apps, see Top bar apps in our developer documentation.
Visual changes include:
- The removal of the grayscale border surrounding each top bar app, replaced with a gray fill for a simpler, more consistent style.
- The arrow pointing to the selected top bar app is now positioned at the end of the app container, preventing the container from extending beyond the right side of the app icon.
- A close button has been added to the tooltip modal that appears when a top bar app is selected. This addition enhances accessibility, making the top bar app modal usable for all users, particularly those who rely on keyboard navigation, and aligns with Zendesk’s current target of 2.1 AA accessibility standards. The close button will be available starting July 25, 2024.
Why is Zendesk making this change?
As part of Zendesk's broader React Migration Initiative (RMI) to transition the Support frontend to React for enhanced product reliability, improved developer productivity, and easier automated testing, Top bar apps in support have now been migrated from Ember to React. This migration aligns with our goal of achieving One Zendesk, standardizing our approach to building features - whether in terms of database storage, API methodology, or in this case, our Javascript framework.
Currently, half of Zendesk uses Ember, while the other half uses React. React offers numerous advantages:
- Developers are more productive and can address issues and develop new features more quickly because we primarily hire React developers, and the language is inherently more composable.
- Migrating entirely to React enhances reliability and stability because:
- Communication between Ember and React is more error-prone.
- It allows us to write automated tests much more efficiently.
What do I need to do?
There should only be a small frontend change with no functional impact on how your apps and apps support APIs work. The top bar app UI in both the app session and the system icon session has been slightly modernized and made more accessible with the latest Garden components. Functionally, everything should remain the same.
If you notice any differences in how apps or the rest of the agent experience functions in your account, please let us know.
There’s no action required from you. This update is automatically rolled out and available to all accounts.
For more information on design recommendations and achieving a consistent look and feel, please see our Top bar apps (Support) guide in the Zendesk developer documentation.
If you have feedback or questions related to this announcement, visit our community forum where we collect and manage customer product feedback. For general assistance with your Zendesk products, contact Zendesk Customer Support.