Heroku - 5 Overview Heroku

This lesson walks through creating a Heroku account, your first application, and gives a brief tour of every tab of the Heroku dashboard. The deeper details for each section come in later videos. On heroku.com you click Sign up, fill the form, then activate the account via the email link Heroku sends you. After logging in, the welcome screen offers two main choices: create a new app, or create a new team. We focus on creating an application first: pick a name (here we), choose a region, and click Create app.

Dashboard tour

You land on the application's dashboard, with several tabs in the top menu. Clicking Open app opens the live URL; for a fresh app, Heroku shows a default welcome page and a link to the docs. Now the tabs, one by one:

  • Overview — high-level view of installed add-ons, the Dyno formation (number and size of dynos, which are Linux machines running in the cloud), collaborators activity (who contributed to the app and when), and the latest events such as the initial release or log plex.
  • Resources — configure dynos (size, scale up/down) and add-ons. To edit dynos you must first select the application language. Clicking on the add-ons section opens the marketplace, a huge catalog of add-ons (databases, caches like Redis, monitoring, etc.). Each add-on has its own page with description, features and pricing.
  • Deploy — manage everything related to the code that the app runs. The Pipeline at the top lets you tie several apps sharing the same codebase together (typically a test environment alongside the main app). Below, the deployment method picker lets you choose between Heroku Git, GitHub and Docker, with example commands for the chosen option.
  • Metrics — empty at first, gradually populates with information like dyno load, memory consumption, throughput and more. Very useful to answer "is my app healthy?" questions.
  • Activity — logs every event in the app's life. For a brand new app you only see the initial release and the log plex entry.
  • Access — invite people to collaborate. In the free version, anyone you invite gets nearly absolute control over the app. For more granular control, create a team using the team menu, where you can choose exactly what each member can do.
  • Settings — rename the application (which also changes its URL — names must be unique across Heroku), define config vars (already discussed), see the buildpack that compiles your app, configure an SSL certificate, add a custom domain, transfer ownership to another team member, or toggle Maintenance mode, which displays a standard maintenance message to your users while you work on the app (you can customize that page).

At the very bottom of the Settings tab is the button to delete the application. That covers the whole dashboard tour. The next lesson will go into permissions and pricing in detail. See you in the next video.

Summary

This lesson provides a comprehensive overview of the Heroku platform and its dashboard interface. It covers account creation and initial login, then systematically explores each main section of the dashboard: Overview (add-ons, dynos, and activity), Resources (dyno and add-on configuration), Deploy (code management and deployment methods), Metrics, Activity logs, Access (team collaboration), and Settings (application configuration). Each section's key features are briefly introduced with the promise of deeper exploration in future lessons.

Key points

  • Account creation requires email verification via an activation link sent to your inbox
  • Dynos are Linux machines running in the cloud that execute your Heroku application
  • The Overview section displays add-ons, dyno information, collaborators, and activity logs
  • Resources section allows you to configure and scale dynos and explore the extensive add-ons marketplace
  • Deploy section manages code pipelines and offers three deployment methods: Heroku, GitHub, or Docker
  • The Settings tab controls application name, configuration variables, buildpack selection, and SSL certificates; team creation provides better permission control than simple collaborator invitations

FAQ

What are dynos in Heroku?

Dynos are Linux machines running in the cloud that execute your application; you can increase or decrease their size and number to scale your app.

What deployment methods does Heroku support?

Heroku offers three deployment options: Heroku, GitHub, and Docker, allowing you to choose the method that best suits your workflow.

How do you manage team collaboration on Heroku?

You can invite collaborators via the Access tab; for better permission control (avoiding full application access for all invitees), you can create a team that lets you specify what each member can do.