January 2019 Summaries

In a live stream video, Jason Lengstorf from Gatsby.js and Espen Hovlandsdal, the developer behind the gatsby-source-sanity plugin, demonstrate how to create a portfolio website from scratch in just 90 minutes using Gatsby.js and Sanity.io. The video covers the process of setting up a project, integrating images, utilizing real-time watch mode, and importing content from Sanity into Gatsby. Viewers are guided through the steps needed to link everything together, offering a practical introduction to these tools. For those interested in replicating the project, the code repositories for both the Gatsby frontend and the Sanity Studio project are available on GitHub.

The first JAMstack Oslo meetup, organized with Alexander Alemayhu, was held on January 29th, transforming an office space into a vibrant meetup area complete with waffles, beer, and a live stream courtesy of Byteconf.com. The event was deemed a success, and videos have been made available for those who missed it. Highlights included Benedicte Raae's presentation of her remark-oembed-transformer plugin for embedding in Markdown files, and Espen's introduction to Gatsby.js, which is particularly useful for newcomers curious about its capabilities. Espen is also set to join Jason Lengstorf from Gatsby to conduct a tutorial on building a portfolio site using Gatsby.js and Sanity.io, with subsequent video and GitHub links promised to followers on Twitter, Slack, or the blog's RSS feed.

A recent tutorial provides a comprehensive guide on using Sanity as a headless CMS for building a JAMstack website with Gatsby.js, illustrating the integration process with a company website example that includes various features such as a blog, projects, and info pages. The tutorial walks through steps like cloning the repository, setting up Sanity Studio, and deploying the project on platforms like Netlify and Heroku for live previews and automatic build triggers. It highlights the seamless content update experience enabled by the Gatsby source plugin for Sanity, which supports real-time content changes through its watch mode and draft preview capabilities. This setup allows for easy collaboration and testing of content changes, making it a valuable resource for developers seeking to create dynamic and scalable web applications with modern web development practices.

The Gatsby Source Plugin for Sanity enhances the integration of Sanity.io with Gatsby.js, providing a seamless way to create dynamic, real-time JAMstack websites. By utilizing the Sanity real-time API, the plugin enables instant content updates without requiring rebuilds, facilitating collaborative development across content models, UI design, and more. It supports "watch mode" for live content previews and ensures all fields and types are present by fetching schema definitions, thus preventing accidental site breakages. The plugin also leverages Sanity's Portable Text for rich text management, allowing for customizable rendering without security risks. Additionally, it offers full support for gatsby-image, integrating smoothly with Sanity's image pipeline to handle various image sources and metadata. This combination allows developers to build websites with minimal configuration, fast build times, and a robust GraphQL API, making Sanity.io and Gatsby.js perfect companions for JAMstack projects.

A podcast episode on devmode.fm features Knut Melvær discussing Sanity.io, a headless CMS known for its structured content approach, which differs from traditional CMS models. The conversation highlights how Sanity.io defines schema and provides a user-friendly backend for content editors, focusing on its standout features such as real-time collaboration and extensive customizability. The episode serves as a primer for those interested in exploring Sanity.io and includes insights into accessing Sanity's GraphQL beta. Listeners can find the episode on the devmode.fm website or through their preferred podcast platforms.