June 2021 Summaries

In this tutorial, we will integrate social authentication into a Strapi application while building a simple notes sharing app with Strapi backend and Nuxt.js frontend. We will also use Quill.js as our text editor, Nodemailer for emails, and infinite scrolling. The GitHub repository for the front-end application can be found here, and the repo for the back-end application can be found here. We will start by building the frontend of our application, including a homepage, login page, and user account page. We will also install and use nuxt-fontawesome to display icons on the login page. Additionally, we will integrate infinite scrolling for notes using vue-infinite-loading. To handle redirects from the Strapi backend, we will use @nuxtjs/auth-next package. We will also install and set up @nuxtjs/axios and @nuxtjs/strapi packages for fetching data from the backend. Finally, we will build a Nav component to display navigation links on our application. In the next article, we will integrate vue-quill-editor to enable users create contents, image uploads, copying links, and email sharing.

You can create a Strapi project using `npx create-strapi-app` or `yarn create strapi-app`, which will set up the backend for your application, including the admin panel and API. The Strapi documentation emphasizes its flexibility and extensibility through plugins, allowing developers to choose their favorite tools and frameworks while also enabling editors to manage and distribute content easily. After setting up the Strapi backend, you can start building the frontend using Nuxt.js, which will be integrated with the Strapi backend using a connection string. The tutorial aims to guide readers through creating a Notes Sharing Application with social authentication using Quill.js as the text editor, Nodemailer for emails, and infinite scrolling features.

This tutorial provides a comprehensive guide on integrating social authentication into a Strapi application using Nuxt.js for the frontend and a variety of tools like Quill.js for text editing and Nodemailer for email services. It is divided into three parts, beginning with setting up the Strapi backend and Nuxt.js frontend, followed by adding social authentication through providers such as GitHub and Facebook. The tutorial further explores integrating features like the vue-quill-editor for content creation, infinite scrolling, and image uploads. It also covers setting up AWS S3 for file storage and implementing a Vuex store for state management. Additionally, the tutorial explains deploying the application on Heroku, addressing common deployment issues, and ensuring the application supports email sharing and user permissions. The series is authored by Alexander Godwin, who shares his expertise through practical steps and encourages learning by doing.

The text offers a comprehensive guide on integrating Strapi with an Angular Universal app to create efficient server-side rendered applications. It begins by explaining how Angular, a versatile platform for building single-page applications, can benefit from server-side rendering (SSR) using Angular Universal, which enhances page load speed, SEO, and user experience. Strapi, an open-source content API, is utilized to provide data that the Angular app will consume. The guide details setting up a Strapi server, developing the Angular Universal app, and configuring components, modules, and services to display tour events. It emphasizes the role of Angular Universal in rendering static pages on the server and highlights the advantages of SSR, such as improved SEO and performance. The article concludes with insights into the potential of using Strapi for building APIs and the broader benefits of Angular Universal, authored by Zara Cooper, a software developer and technical writer.

The tutorial provides a comprehensive guide on integrating Nuxt.js with Strapi to implement content previews in a JamStack environment. It begins by introducing the concept of static site generation, highlighting its benefits and limitations, such as the lack of server-side rendering and content previews. The guide then outlines the steps to set up a Strapi project and a Nuxt.js application, focusing on enabling Nuxt preview mode. This involves creating and configuring specific files and scripts to allow client-side JavaScript to dynamically fetch content from the Strapi backend. The tutorial details how to create content collections in Strapi and manage post data, ensuring that the Nuxt application can retrieve and display this content effectively. It also addresses permissions settings within Strapi to facilitate API access and demonstrates how to implement, test, and manage content preview functionality using Nuxt's static generation capabilities. This integration is particularly useful for developers looking to streamline content updates and previews in a static site context, leveraging the strengths of both Strapi and Nuxt.js for efficient content management and display.

Creating a multilingual website is essential for reaching an audience from diverse language backgrounds, as it tackles the significant challenge of the language barrier. Strapi, a popular open-source Headless CMS, has introduced the Internalization (i18n) Plugin to enable users to create and manage localized content in multiple languages, also known as "locales." This feature allows admins to create several localized versions of their content by fetching and producing the right content depending on the language understood by the audience. Having a multilingual website is not only beneficial for reaching a broader audience but also improves brand image and enhances customer experience. Additionally, it can increase sales and improve search engine rankings, as most key search engines like Google are developing the capacity to run searches in foreign languages. However, there are downsides to creating multilingual websites, including translation costs and potential loss of meaning in translation, which requires a professional translator with knowledge of local dialects.

Strapi, a headless content management system, facilitates internationalization through its i18n plugin, allowing developers to create and manage localized content across different languages or locales. The article guides users in implementing internationalization in Strapi applications using an eCommerce template, demonstrating how to add and manage multiple locales such as English and French. It explains the difference between internationalization and localization, emphasizing the plugin's role in allowing admins to store and serve content specific to user locales without automatic translation. The tutorial also includes setting up a Gatsby front-end application to fetch and display localized content using GraphQL, providing a practical example of linking a Strapi back-end with a Gatsby front-end to dynamically present localized product data. The guide offers insights into using GraphQL queries to retrieve data from Strapi and creating dynamic pages in Gatsby based on locale-specific content. This process enhances user engagement by providing content tailored to diverse cultural and linguistic audiences, showcasing the ease of integrating internationalization features using Strapi and Gatsby.

Creating a website can be time-consuming and costly, but static site generators (SSGs) like Hugo offer a hassle-free alternative for building simple websites with minimal technical knowledge. SSGs produce pre-rendered pages that are served directly to users, reducing the need for complex infrastructure and making maintenance easier. Hugo is a fast and flexible SSG written in Go, providing features such as amazing content management, live reload during development, and support for various content types like HTML and markdown. With Hugo, developers can create new sites in just a few steps, and customize their site using themes, archetypes, and configuration files. The site structure includes folders for content, data, layouts, resources, and themes, with built-in functions and tools available for use within templates. Assets are processed using pipes, which perform tasks like minification and bundling, while the resource folder acts as a cache for generated files. Overall, Hugo is an excellent choice for building fast, feature-rich static sites with ease.

Strapi Starters and templates aim to make building with Strapi easier for users who build similar types of applications, such as blogs, corporate websites, eCommerce apps, and job boards. They provide pre-made frontend applications linked to a template with configured content types, components, dynamic zones, or plugins, making it easier for anyone to get started with Strapi. A Strapi template is used to create various starters, which pull data from the backend generated from a template and then display that in a frontend of your choice. The new Starter CLI makes it easy to set up a Strapi project by specifying what type of application you want to build. User-created starters can be made using an official or user-made Strapi template, requiring only a starters folder with the frontend application and a starter.json file referencing the template. The creation process is becoming easier due to new template generation functionality in the Strapi CLI. Strapi aims to improve the developer experience of creating and using Starters, adding more features and use cases over time.

Strapi, a platform that historically supported SQL databases and MongoDB, announced plans to phase out native MongoDB support in its upcoming v4 release due to the challenges of maintaining multiple database connectors and the minimal usage of MongoDB among Strapi projects. Despite this, Strapi is collaborating with MongoDB, Inc. to sponsor ongoing maintenance of the strapi-connector-mongoose for v3 and intends to co-develop a new, more efficient MongoDB connector starting in Q1 2022. This decision seeks to balance the ecosystem's needs by ensuring MongoDB support continues for v3 users while allowing Strapi to focus on enhancing its SQL database support in v4. Migration tools will be provided to ease the transition for existing MongoDB users, and Strapi encourages community engagement through its forums and Discord.

Creating a cross-platform mobile app in 2021 can be complex due to performance, cost-effectiveness, and scalability considerations. However, frameworks like Flutter, Ionic, and React Native offer solutions to these challenges. Flutter is a free and open-source framework developed by Google that allows developers to create native mobile applications using a single code base. It uses the Dart language and provides simplicity, great SDK tools, and constant updates. On the other hand, Ionic is an open-source UI toolkit for building performant cross-platform mobile apps, which use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, with support for different technologies and great performance for beginners. React Native is a cross-platform framework that uses React components to build unique mobile applications, offering an easy learning curve, great productivity features, and incredible performance close to platform-specific code. When choosing between these frameworks, it's essential to consider the specific needs of your project, such as performance, cost-effectiveness, scalability, and ease of use. Additionally, integrating a headless CMS like Strapi can provide a seamless backend solution for cross-platform mobile apps.

In a detailed tutorial by Mohamad Shahbaz Allam, developers are guided through the process of creating a secure to-do application using Strapi as the backend, Nuxt.js for the frontend, and Magic for authentication. Strapi, an open-source headless CMS, facilitates the creation of customizable content APIs, while Nuxt.js, based on Vue.js, is used for building production-ready web applications. The tutorial emphasizes using Magic's tools for passwordless authentication to enhance user experience and security, leveraging DID tokens for managing access to resources. The step-by-step guide covers setting up the Strapi backend, integrating Magic for secure login, and developing the Nuxt.js frontend to interact with the backend, including creating, updating, and deleting todos. The tutorial also introduces the use of a loader animation with the 'epic-spinners' package to enhance the user interface. The project aims to provide developers with a comprehensive understanding of integrating these technologies to build a functional and secure web application.

The article, written by Ukpai Ugochi through the Write for the Community program, explores the importance of process managers in software development, particularly in maintaining uptime and efficiency in applications like Strapi, a headless CMS for NodeJS-based applications. It underscores the necessity for automation in delivering value-added products promptly, as customer trust can be compromised by downtimes. The piece elaborates on various NodeJS process managers such as PM2, Forever, StrongLoop, and Supervisor, detailing their installation, configuration, and application in a Strapi environment to ensure continuous operation and manageability. Ugochi also shares insights from her journey from marine engineering to software development, encouraging others interested in the field.

The article, authored by Ukpai Ugochi through the Write for the Community program, provides a detailed guide on building and deploying a simple e-commerce application using Strapi and Vue.js, hosted on Render. It begins by explaining the ease of using Strapi, an open-source Headless CMS, for managing Node.js-based applications with minimal coding and the integration of frontend frameworks like Vue.js, a JavaScript framework, to create web applications. The article further outlines the steps to create a Strapi project, including setting up API endpoints and managing store items, followed by the development of the frontend using Vue.js 3, Bootstrap 5, and Material Design 2.0 UI KIT. It emphasizes using the fetch method to pull data from the Strapi backend into the Vue.js application, utilizing the v-bind directive and conditional rendering for displaying store items. Finally, the article discusses deploying the application on Render, detailing the process of creating a Render account, setting up services, and successfully deploying both the backend and frontend, while highlighting the benefits of Strapi in simplifying application management and deployment.

MoneyGeek, established in 2016, focuses on enhancing financial literacy by providing content and tools to aid in making informed financial decisions. To achieve this, the company, led by head of product and technology Todd Mulholland, collaborated with a third-party development team to implement Strapi as their CMS and Gatsby as their web framework, prioritizing user experience and performance. By employing React, Strapi, and Gatsby, MoneyGeek effectively creates templated, detailed guides and interactive calculators on financial topics, optimizing for search engine performance to attract users without relying on paid advertising. This approach has allowed them to quickly iterate on content, leading to significant revenue growth, with a focus on high-quality, user-centered content delivery. CEO Doug Jones emphasizes that their strategy revolves around creating exceptional content and experiences, eschewing traditional paid advertising methods.