Call for testers
Have you used Grist? Have you not used Grist? Do you just like clicking around on the computer? We need you. 
We’re looking for volunteers to test upcoming features/changes for 30-45 minute sessions. Fill out this Grist form to sign up!
Grist Paris Summit full schedule posted
The first ever Grist Summit is next week! And just in time, we have the full schedule over at La Suite’s site.
Unable to join us in France? The main stage events will be recorded and shared after the fact, so keep an eye out for those. Otherwise, we can’t wait to see you in Paris!
What’s new
New on the blog: Translating Grist into 20+ languages
We’re constantly impressed with the contributions of Grist’s community translators. To mark an arbitrary milestone of 20 languages in less than two years, we’ve written up a timeline of the localization process. See how volunteer contributors, ANCT and open source tools combine to let billions use Grist in their native language.
Grist Labs Labs: Displaying 1M+ rows with better-sqlite3
Dmitry shared a peek at the (very) experimental side of spreadsheet development, with a nifty prototype using better-sqlite3 that has Grist zipping around a document with >1M rows. It works just as you’d expect, assuming you don’t expect the following features to function: importing and exporting, formulas, access rules, filtering, summary tables, search, snapshots/history…
We hope to show you more experiments as we’re able! 
Run Grist on the AWS cloud
Grist is now available on the AWS Marketplace, giving you a simple way of self-hosting Grist (with authentication) in your own cloud. If you need to run Grist on servers in Europe, this is the easiest way to do it. We’re also looking at placing Grist on other cloud marketplaces – if you have a favorite, let us know!
Thanks to users of the beta product for their feedback. Users can migrate from the beta (now legacy) version by following these steps.
Grist Business - Audit Logs
Self-hosting Grist Business plan users can now enable audit logging. Audit logs can help maintain compliance and identify misuse by helping answer questions like “when was a workspace removed?” or “who invited a collaborator to a document?”.
Currently, audit log streaming supports HEC endpoints (like Splunk or Vector), or other destinations via HTTP. Full documentation can be found in our Help Center.
Editing document types
Did you know there are distinct Grist document types? Well, now you can specifically set them in Document Settings! If you need to create templates or tutorials to be shared with other users, these types align the open behavior to those formats.
Community highlights
-
Leonard_Gallion (of Basic HTML Reporting Template fame) shared their setup for external backups of Grist files in Node Red, letting you automatically backup to a local drive.
-
enthus1ast shared their very cool gristImageMap custom widget early last year with the example use case of sysadmin organization. Kirk_Williams, meanwhile, just shared their equally satisfying image mapping solution. We simply love to see this!
Working on something cool with Grist? Let us know by posting in the Showcase forum or our #grist-showcase Discord channel!
Learning Grist
Webinar - Custom Widget Builder
Couldn’t make it to the Grist Summit in Paris? No worries! Join Grist Labs’ very own CTO Paul and developer Jarek as they present their talk on Grist’s custom widget builder. Learn from the devs themselves how to create your own custom widget, step-by-step!
Thursday December 19 at 3:00pm US Eastern Time.
SIGN UP FOR DECEMBER’S WEBINAR
Grist 101
In November, Natalie hosted an introductory webinar designed to help new users navigate the basics of Grist. This session provided users with the essential tools and knowledge to get started. We covered key features and best practices to maximize your productivity. Perfect for beginners!