May 2022 Summaries

The Jamstack is a set of principles aimed at making user-facing software faster, simpler, and easier to maintain by focusing on frontend development skills and practices. It emphasizes prerendering content for client views to reduce server requests and improve speed, which is crucial for business success. The approach also utilizes microservices to handle rapidly-changing data, enabling isolated development and testing of self-contained components, often using tools like AWS Lambda. The Jamstack community, which originated from mobile development principles, values frontend development, allowing developers to create complex applications with skills in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The ideology promotes treating developers primarily as frontend specialists, simplifying the skill set required for building applications. While some may view the Jamstack principles as strict guidelines, they are intended as flexible suggestions that should be applied based on specific needs, with the community encouraging open-mindedness and collaboration, exemplified by initiatives like the Good Websites Club.

Netlify recently undertook the task of migrating over 700 markdown files, each representing a blog post, from Hugo to Eleventy, integrating them into an internal Sanity instance to streamline their development process and reduce client-side JavaScript. The migration was facilitated by Sanity's markdown-to-sanity tool, which converts markdown files into newline-delimited JSON (NDJSON) format, making them ready for import into Sanity using its CLI tool. Authors' reference IDs were retrieved from existing Sanity data to maintain consistency, and Eleventy was used to render the blog posts, leveraging its global data features and pagination for creating static HTML files. The process also involved using Vue templates to render markdown into HTML and incorporating Eleventy's Render Plugin and syntax highlighting for code blocks. Despite initial concerns, the migration was straightforward due to Sanity's robust tools and support from collaborators, showcasing the power of modern development tools in handling large-scale data transitions efficiently.

When embarking on a new website project, developers often face decisions regarding technologies and content management systems (CMS) to accommodate client needs without requiring them to engage with platforms like GitHub or Markdown. A headless CMS, which offers content delivery via APIs without incorporating rendering as part of its software, is often preferred over monolithic systems for modern web frameworks. These CMS solutions are evaluated based on pricing and features but should also be scrutinized for how they handle content, as structured content is crucial for aligning with business goals and ensuring flexibility. Structured content, which breaks down information into reusable pieces for programmatic querying and changes, empowers developers and editors to collaborate effectively, facilitating resilient frontends and streamlined workflows. Sanity.io advocates for structured content, emphasizing its potential to enhance web development by making content management more dynamic and integrated. The platform invites developers to participate in Structured Content 2022 to explore innovative uses and gain insights into technology choices, underscoring the belief that web development is about creating memorable experiences.

Sanity has introduced Scheduled Publishing for team tier users and above, simplifying the process of publishing content at predetermined times without the need for additional infrastructure or complex front-end solutions. This new feature, integrated into Sanity Studio v3.39.0, allows users to set publishing times easily, manage time zone differences, and offers a standalone Schedules tool for an overview of upcoming publications, including details on scheduling times and responsible individuals. For those requiring more customization, a fully documented API is available to tailor tools and workflows, while the Sanity community on Slack provides a platform for sharing feedback and ideas.

Structured Content 2022 is an interdisciplinary conference aimed at fostering a mindset shift in how content is perceived and managed, highlighting the importance of treating content as data to unlock new opportunities. The event offers 14 diverse sessions focused on the benefits of structured content, innovative problem-solving approaches, and insights into the future of digital experiences, catering to a wide audience from content strategists to developers. Sanity, a company emphasizing the significance of content in digital platforms, has organized this non-product-focused event to educate and inspire a cross-disciplinary community engaged in digital experiences. The conference aims to unite professionals from various fields to address common challenges, encouraging collaboration and empathy among participants, thereby strengthening their networks and enhancing teamwork.