September 2020 Summaries

This tutorial outlines the process of building a static blog using Eleventy, a static site generator, and Strapi, a headless CMS. It begins by introducing Eleventy's flexibility through its support for various templating languages and its ability to decouple web pages from content. The guide then walks through setting up a Strapi project to create and manage a content model for a blog, using the Strapi GraphQL API to retrieve data. Following this, it explains how to install Eleventy and clone its blog starter template to create the frontend of the blog. The tutorial details how to create templates using Nunjucks, emphasizing the separation of content from presentation, with specific instructions on setting up templates for blog listings and individual posts. The guide concludes by encouraging users to experiment with Eleventy and Strapi to build personalized projects.

The new Strapi Community forum has been launched after several weeks of development. The community decided on using Discourse as the platform for the forum, after testing other options like GitHub Discussions. The goal of the forum is to provide excellent community support, make it easier for newcomers to find information, and increase engagement among users. The community Slack's limitations will be addressed by guiding users to the forums, where they can ask questions, discuss projects, and share custom plugins and extensions. The forum will be a hub for discussions and Q&A, while GitHub Issues and Product Board will handle bug reporting and feature requests.

Mattias van den Belt, a student and part-time software engineer in the Netherlands, shares his journey with Strapi, an open-source headless CMS and API framework. He started using Strapi to build a platform for his neighbor's shoemaking business, seeking a tool that could handle dynamic website content and backend functionalities such as inventory management. As he became more proficient, Mattias developed various projects, including a Strapi-hook for the search engine Algolia, which he proudly notes has attracted user engagement and contributions. His experience with Strapi has led him to actively participate in the community by assisting others on Slack and GitHub and he plans to continue using Strapi as his primary backend API tool while pursuing a full-stack JavaScript development career. Mattias expresses his enthusiasm for Strapi's potential and aims to develop a plugin to simplify Algolia integration.

The guide describes customizing the Strapi admin panel to integrate Idyll support into its markdown-rich text editor, aimed at enhancing the editor's functionality with interactive article creation capabilities. Idyll, an open-source markup language and toolkit, allows embedding JavaScript within text and enables collaboration among programmers, journalists, researchers, and designers. The process involves setting up a Strapi instance, installing necessary dependencies, and creating mirror folders to override specific files of Strapi's content-manager plugin. The guide details adding a dropdown for Idyll components within the editor and implementing preview functionality that supports both Idyll and markdown. It offers step-by-step instructions, including creating necessary folders, copying files, and modifying code, culminating in rebuilding and running the application to reflect the changes. The author, Daryl, a seasoned software developer, provides additional resources for further customization and encourages experimentation and learning through this hands-on approach.

Alessandro Valerani, a full-stack JavaScript instructor with a background in computer science and startup consulting, has leveraged the open-source headless CMS Strapi to build and deploy numerous applications, including significant projects like Poly.market and Splitbud.com, in a fraction of the usual development time. Transitioning from WordPress to using React and Strapi, he was able to overcome limitations related to speed and flexibility, ultimately saving significant development costs. Valerani's experience with Strapi has culminated in the creation of a comprehensive online course and a YouTube channel to educate others, reflecting his belief in Strapi's growing impact similar to WordPress. He sees a promising future for Strapi, noting its competitive advantage in API and SPA environments and its potential business opportunities, particularly within the plugin ecosystem. Alongside corporate training, he continues to engage with the community by offering free consultations for those interested in adopting Strapi.

During a recent online meetup hosted by the Strapi Team, participants were introduced to the new Role Based Access Control feature available in both the Strapi Community and Enterprise Editions. The session included a demonstration of the feature, highlighting that while permissions for roles such as Editor and Author can be edited, individual field operations cannot be changed in the Community Edition. Additionally, it was clarified that the "created by" field is not private by default, though a future release aims to change this, and there is an ongoing GitHub issue regarding the ability to add or edit admin fields. The event marked a return to Online Meetups for Strapi, with organizers expressing excitement about future sessions and the opportunity to connect with the community.

Strapi, an open-source headless CMS, has introduced several updates and enhancements, including a new Role-Based Access Control feature and the official launch of its Enterprise Edition, which offers extended capabilities like unlimited access to role management and exclusive customer support. The company has strengthened its team by welcoming new members across various roles to enhance customer success, product development, and community engagement. Strapi is also focusing on improving the developer and content editor experience with features like a Draft & Publish system and a more efficient contribution process through a Contributor License Agreement. Future plans include enhancing the Plugin API and optimizing the filter system for better performance, particularly in the GraphQL plugin, as part of their ongoing commitment to improving productivity for both the core team and users.

Strapi has recently updated its public roadmap to improve visibility and collaboration with the community, addressing challenges faced in coordinating feature development. As an open-source project, Strapi often encounters overlapping efforts with community contributors, leading to inefficiencies. The company aims to create a roadmap that better aligns with its internal planning and community expectations, acknowledging the unpredictability of future developments. This update follows the launch of the Enterprise Edition, which shares a codebase with the Community Edition, distinguished mainly by customization capabilities. Strapi's revised roadmap strategy involves delaying features by three months for transparency, categorizing features based on priority and readiness, and incorporating technical details to clarify development delays. Additionally, Strapi has enhanced its product management tools to gather more user insights and plans to further integrate community collaboration into its development process.