June 2020 Summaries

Prerendering and server-side rendering are two methods used to improve search engine optimization (SEO) for web applications built using modern front-end frameworks like Nuxt.js. Prerendering sends static HTML files to search engines, while server-side rendering uses a webserver to rerender the application, providing guaranteed results but at a higher cost. Prerendering is preferred by developers due to its serverless architecture, but it may still experience some SEO issues. To implement prerendering in Nuxt.js, you can use services like Prerender.io or Rendertron, and configure the `generate` property in nuxt.config.js for dynamic routes. Server-side rendering is also a viable option, but requires a server and can be costly. Both methods have their benefits and drawbacks, and developers should consider these factors when choosing between them.

You're looking at the content from Contentful, a company that provides technology and support to help businesses succeed in their digital transformations. Successful digital transformations require more than just great tech, but also people, process, and leadership. Contentful is in the trenches with companies that are modernizing their digital strategies and processes, providing information and support to help them achieve growth. The content covers various topics such as how other companies have succeeded, the importance of knowledge base content, and insights from analyst reports. It also highlights the company's capabilities and offers resources for businesses looking to improve their digital experiences.

To effectively produce high-quality content, a practice known as defensive design can guide creators by preparing for all eventualities and maximizing the quality and consistency of content. This approach involves implementing strict validation rules from the start to prevent misuse of the final product, ensuring data quality and reducing the risk of errors. By using preordained lists, following consistent patterns across fields, and providing standardized interfaces, developers can create a robust content model that meets user needs while minimizing processing requirements. A key aspect of defensive design is to inform and guide content creators through help texts and validation rules, fostering an iterative and inclusive process between developers and content creators. By adopting this approach, developers can build better digital experiences with high-quality, consistent, and reliable content.

Published on June 23, 2020, Contentful has made significant advancements in its App framework, design system Forma 36, and open-sourced field editors, allowing developers to customize their editing experience to suit their needs. The company's goal is to provide a platform-agnostic content management solution that can be easily integrated into various applications and platforms. By leveraging the Contentful App Framework, developers can create custom entry fields, top-level pages, and other UI elements that extend the functionality of the existing editor. Additionally, the open-sourced field editors enable developers to build custom UI sections on top of Contentful's existing functionality, providing a high degree of flexibility and customization options. With the release of these new tools, Contentful is empowering developers to create unique and tailored experiences for their users, further solidifying its position as a leading content management platform.

When developers look for a content platform, they want a modern approach that helps them build digital products and experiences faster — and Contentful is often the preferred choice due to its ability to tailor into whatever drives adoption and improves internal stakeholders' lives. The company has open-sourced its entire library of field editor components, providing flexibility in working methods and enabling builders to adapt the content management experience to fit their needs and workflows. This approach increases productivity, creates a positive domino effect that drives platform adoption, and ultimately leads to delivering digital experiences in higher quality and improving ROI on content investments. By open-sourcing its app blueprints, Contentful aims to give developers the tools to adapt its platform to user and business needs as they evolve, rather than imposing prescriptive interfaces that can be expensive and inflexible.

Today, Contentful announced an $80 million Series E funding round led by Sapphire Ventures, bringing the company's total funding to nearly $160 million. The new investment will fuel continued growth as Contentful creates the platform of choice for leading brands such as ITV and Urban Outfitters to power their content. With this funding, Contentful is well-positioned to help brands navigate the digital-first era and respond quickly to changing market conditions. The company has hired world-class leaders, including Chief Marketing Officer Bridget Perry and Chief Legal Officer Margo M. Smith, to guide its rapidly growing organization. Contentful's platform has become the go-to solution for companies looking to create engaging customer experiences, with over 300 partners and a wide range of use cases. The new funding will allow Contentful to accelerate its growth and pioneer how digital experiences are created.

I'm not particularly interested in basketball, but I've found myself glued to The Last Dance, a Netflix special about the rise of the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan. This got me thinking about teamwork and collaboration, which is something I experience daily as a partner marketing manager. During a recent webinar series with our partners Appnovation and customers Alpro and Fitch Ratings, we learned some valuable lessons on how to build trust, develop flexible project plans, define roles and responsibilities, communicate effectively, be kind to everyone involved, and celebrate success. By following these tips, teams can overcome their differences and achieve great results, just like the 90s Chicago Bulls did in their six NBA championships.

Mux is an API-first video platform that handles hosting, encoding, and delivery of videos to ensure the best streaming experience for viewers. It uses HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) to deliver adaptive streaming, which adjusts the resolution based on device and connection speed. This approach ensures high-quality delivery regardless of device or connection, making it ideal for various devices and networks. Mux processes video files into multiple renditions with different quality levels, creating a seamless experience for viewers. The platform supports HLS playback on web browsers, iOS, Android, and other devices, allowing developers to easily integrate adaptive streaming into their applications.

Gatsby has recently launched incremental builds in its Gatsby Cloud platform, which significantly increases preview and publishing speeds by only re-building the content that has changed, rather than the entire site. This feature allows developers to achieve build times of just 10 seconds or fewer, making it ideal for large and media-rich projects. The integration with Contentful enables seamless collaboration between content editors and developers, while also providing benefits such as content previews within Contentful, Lighthouse reports on every build, and connections to leading CDNs. To take advantage of these speed breakthroughs, Gatsby recommends using a CMS like Contentful for tight integration and detection of changes, which is now possible with the launch of incremental builds.

This tutorial provides a step-by-step guide on how to set up a static website using Contentful, Gatsby, and Netlify, allowing users to create and deploy content without needing to write code or enter the terminal. The author, who is not a developer but an artist interested in web development, shares their experience of setting up a static site for augmented reality projects, highlighting the benefits of using Contentful's integration with Netlify, which simplifies the deployment process and allows for real-time updates. The tutorial covers topics such as choosing tools, creating a new project, installing necessary dependencies, connecting to Contentful, and deploying the site to Netlify, providing a comprehensive guide for users looking to build their own static websites.

Implementing easy and intuitive checks is crucial to avoid annoying mistakes in content creation, especially when working on big launches or publishing multiple pieces of content simultaneously. Contentful's features like tasks, comments, and scheduled publishing can help set up an editorial workflow that ensures only approved content is published. Tasks enable team members to collaborate efficiently by creating a to-do list for each entry, while comments allow for elaboration on assigned tasks and communication with collaborators. By using these features, teams of all sizes can keep track of their content through all stages, prevent mistakes, and streamline collaboration, making it an excellent solution for editorial teams, freelancers, remote workers, and agile teams.

GitHub Actions is a CI/CD pipeline service that allows developers to run build, testing, and deployment jobs from inside GitHub, providing powerful and affordable infrastructure for static sites without any infrastructure cost. It has removed limitations of traditional GitHub Pages, allowing users to trigger builds every time their team publishes content. This can be achieved by combining GitHub Actions with Contentful's webhook features, enabling a seamless integration between the two platforms. By following the steps outlined in this article, developers can configure GitHub Actions to build and deploy static site generators such as 11ty, Gatsby, or Flask-Frozen, and use GitHub Pages to host their sites. The process involves creating a workflow file, adding an SSH Deploy key, and configuring environment variables using GitHub Secrets, allowing users to automate the deployment of their static sites with ease.