CMS – Flatlogic Blog

22+ React Developer Tools to Increase Your Programming Productivity [Updated 2023]

Nastassia Ovchinnikova — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 13:16:24 +0000

As you can understand from the title of this article, the goal is to be more productive in developing React applications. That is why a long intro is unnecessary.

There are only two points that I want to highlight at the very beginning of the article:

This list is opinionated. That means first of all that you can make your additions. I am sure that it can be extended to 30 or even 40 React developer tools. That is why your comments on Facebook or Twitter are highly appreciated.
This article can be useful first of all to beginners. That is why I provide some additional historical or background information about React.js in some paragraphs.

React Developer Tools

Reactide

Github stars: 9662
Web-site: http://reactide.io/

Image source: http://reactide.io/

Reactide is an integrated development environment (IDE) for web developers using React.js. If you use this tool, you don’t need server configuration as well as build-tool. Reactide is a React developer tool, it is simply a desktop application that offers great opportunities for visualization thought live code editing.

Belle

Web-site: http://nikgraf.github.io/belle

Image source: http://nikgraf.github.io/belle/#/?_k=744r8m

This open-source library was built by the members of React community. Belle is a UI framework that was built because of the difficulties with creating a decent UI with React in a short period. Too much freedom with React can lead to a giant waste of time. And that is where the opinionated component library Belle comes in handy. You can easily customize these components, and think only about the features you need to have. Mobile support and consistent API complying with React are also two big pluses of this React dev tool.

react-styleguidist

Web-site: https://react-styleguidist.js.org/docs/getting-started

React development environment. You need to install webpack in order to use this tool. You can see some examples here and here.

React Material Admin

Web-site: https://flatlogic.com/templates/react-material-admin

Image source: https://flatlogic.com/templates/react-material-admin

Admin template is a great React development tool that simplifies the process of coding. The benefits of using admin templates are well known. This particular admin dashboard follows Google material design guidelines. It is completely jQuery and Bootstrap free and can be used for fast development of almost any kind of web application.

Basic Tables;
React Router;
Charts;
Authentication;
Basic Dashboard;
Notifications bar.

React Semantic UI

Web-site: https://react.semantic-ui.com/

Image source: https://react.semantic-ui.com/

There is an original Semantic UI library. And to use it in React you need to use a React integration of this library and Semantic UI CSS package. It will help to speed up the development process because of the prebuilt UI components. React Semantic UI is jQuery-free. As you probably know jQuery is a library for DOM manipulation. That is why it is unnecessary to keep real DOM in sync with virtual DOM (React uses JS representation of the real DOM).

https://flatlogic.com/templates

Among other features semantic UI React has:

Declarative API
Shorthand Props
Sub Components
Augmentation
Auto Controlled State

Profiler

Web-site: https://github.com/reactjs/rfcs/pull/51

Image source: https://reactjs.org/blog/2018/09/10/introducing-the-react-profiler.html

Two years ago the React team introduced Profiler. It gives you a summary of re-rendering of your app. You can increase your debugging performance using this “recording” your set of interactions with the help of this profiling feature. You will be able to see a visualization of re-render as well as screenshots of DOM update.

React Component Benchmark

Web-site: https://github.com/paularmstrong/react-component-benchmark

Image source: https://github.com/paularmstrong/react-component-benchmark

Do you remember react-addons-perf? This tool provided developers with insights about app performance. As the new version of React has been released you can no longer use react-addons-perf. React Component Benchmark is an open-source project that aims to solve the problem of getting an accurate benchmark metric. But it is important to understand that only large enough sample will give you a confident metric. The reason it’s happening like this is that this project does not hook into React directly. And because of this values are not accurate enough. That is why it is reasonable to run large samples using this React development tool.

React Developer Toolbox

Web-site: http://react-toolbox.io/#/

Image source: http://react-toolbox.io/#/

This is the best tool for developing Material Design UI. It has tons of responsive components that comply with Google Material Design guidelines. The exhaustive list you can find right here. React Toolbox is created on top CSS Modules, ES6, and Webpack. Documentation page contains all the live examples of each component so it’s very illustrative.

React Bootstrap

Web-site: https://react-bootstrap.github.io

You can make a case that bootstrap is the largest UI ecosystem in the world. So React-Bootstrap was built for compatibility with Bootstrap. This is one of the oldest libraries for React. It has Bootstrap core, rely on Bootstrap stylesheet and fully evolved side by side with React.js itself. If you want a set of accessible-by-default components React-Bootstrap is giving you much more possibilities than plain Bootstrap.

Admin Templates: Sing App React

Web-site: https://flatlogic.com/templates/sing-app-react

This fully responsive admin template was downloaded more than 1000 times. This template is versatile and was built by professional UI/UX experts. It has more than 60 ready-to-use components and provides you with intuitive framework. It can be useful for building such CRM, CMS, SAAS, etc.

Tens of Pages
Fully Responsive
8 Charts Library
2 Dashboards
Theme Support
E-Commerce Section
Static & Hover Sidebar
Fully Documented Codebase

Periscope

Web-site: https://github.com/shea-hawkins/periscope

Image source: https://github.com/shea-hawkins/periscope

There isn’t much to say about this open-source project. This is monitoring for Redux applications. You can view your app at all times and adjust the timeline range.

React Wastage Monitor

Web-site: https://github.com/MalucoMarinero/react-wastage-monitor

Image source: https://github.com/MalucoMarinero/react-wastage-monitor#react-wastage-monitor

This project helps you to manage performance issues by detecting wasted rendering time. To understand the importance of this tool you need to dive deep into the concept of . Implementing PureComponent stops the process called React reconciliation (you can read more here). And PureComponent only re-render when it’s necessary. If you rely on Redux managing to access possible performance mistakes you risk making a critical mistake. React Wastage Monitor ensures you never waste computation on unnecessary renders.

React Studio

Web-site: https://reactstudio.com/

Image source: https://reactstudio.com

React Studio is a useful tool for web developers and web designers. Web developers can enjoy clean JS code, good visual design representation that respects React.js concepts. You can design separate UI components using the code generator. A designer can enjoy responsive layouts that can be easily turned into React code, mobile preview and use it as a prototyping tool. You can have your clean code promptly with nothing extra.

Atom React Plugin

Web-site: https://orktes.github.io/atom-react/

Image source: https://orktes.github.io/atom-react/

This is support for the Atom Editor that helps highlight JSX code. JavaScript Syntax eXtensin without the plugin is very difficult to work with. With the addition of highlighter and code folding, you can make fewer mistakes. It will help you be more productive and makes your job easier.

React Developer Tool. Extension Pack

Web-site: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=jawandarajbir.react-vscode-extension-pack

Image source: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=jawandarajbir.react-vscode-extension-pack

As well as the previous tool this one is used to adjust your code editor. You can speed up the development process in Visual Studio using these seven extensions:

Code snippets;
An integrated npm;
ES6 snippets;
ESLint;
File paths;
IntelliSense for npm modules;
A search feature for node_modules.

React Style Guide Generator

Web-site: http://pocotan001.github.io/react-styleguide-generator/#!.

Image source: http://pocotan001.github.io/react-styleguide-generator/#!.

You need to maintain a consistent style across all the pages. When a big team is working on the same project all colors, typography, paddings should be consistent. To make a convenient style guide you can use React Style Guide Generator. And even if in a couple of years you will need to make adjustments or addons to your project you can simply give a developer or agency your style guide.

Flatlogic One React

Web-site: https://flatlogic.com/templates/one-react-template

Image source: https://flatlogic.com/templates/one-react-template

This is an admin template made with React 16 and Redux. The template has a responsive layout with tens of pages and hundreds of customizable components. The designers did a good job on this product. Flatlogic One React is a good basis for creating CMS systems, SAAS, Blog/Data management solutions, E-Commerce.

Tens of Pages;
Beautiful charts made with Amcharts, Echarts, and Apexcharts;
Fully responsive;
React 16;
Redux;
Login and Logout screens;
Notifications & Icons;
Flatlogic Typography & Icons;
2 Dashboards;
Google Maps Integrated, etc.

If you’re interested in more examples of a react template, Flatlogic team can offer them for you.

React Testing Library

Web-site: https://testing-library.com/docs/react-testing-library/example-intro

If you use create-react-app you have support of Testing Library. If you don’t, you can use npm

npm install --save-dev @testing-library/react

React Monocle

Web-site: https://github.com/team-gryff/react-monocle

Image source: https://github.com/team-gryff/react-monocle

When you work on some complex projects with tons of classes of components it is always hard to manage such a project and debug it. In this case, only a transparent structure of a project is a condition for the successful delivery of a project. React-monocle can visualize all the relationships of all the components and show you the hierarchies very fast.

React + Redux starter kit

Web-site: https://github.com/coryhouse/react-slingshot

Image source: https://github.com/coryhouse/react-slingshot

This starter kit implements React best practices. This includes:

Bundling;
Minification;
Testing;
Lintinting;
Hot reloading, etc.

The most valuable part of this project is the amount of developers expertise that was put is this boilerplate. You no longer need to make tons of difficult decisions starting from the structure of the project until the testing.

React Boilerplate

Web-site: https://www.reactboilerplate.com/

Image source: https://www.reactboilerplate.com/

When you start a new app very often create-react-app crosses your mind. But you can also use a boilerplate with all dependencies prebuilt. This ready-to-use was created by the community to maximize the development speed and therefore your effectiveness. React Boilerplate can easily work with well known Chrome Redux DevTools.

Storybook

Web-site: https://storybook.js.org

Image source: https://storybook.js.org/

Storybook helps you develop nice separate UI components. In case when you need to make some isolated from business logic this tool provides so-called sandbox. And that in this sandbox or playground (you can call it as you want) you can create components. So why it is called a storybook? Because it documents components as stories. Each story contains states. Each state can be may be compared with the visual test case. In the end, a story is simply a function. This function returns a value that is rendered to the screen.

https://flatlogic.com/templates

React-Sight

Web-site: https://github.com/React-Sight/React-Sight

Image source: https://github.com/React-Sight/React-Sight

This tool fully supports Router, Redux, and Fiber, and shows your app’s hierarchy. As well as previous visualization tool it requires to React Dev Tools that can be installed as an extension in Chrome.

Finally

JavaScript is famous for the number of tools that you can use. As time goes by you get overwhelmed and tired. You need to have a set of proven tools for your coding process. We offer you a series of articles about React.js development tools.

The post 22+ React Developer Tools to Increase Your Programming Productivity [Updated 2023] appeared first on Flatlogic Blog.

Best 10+ Headless CMS in 2024 – Comprehensive Guide

Eugene Stepnov — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 13:06:43 +0000

Creating and publishing high-quality content helps businesses grow, reach new customers, and provide them with a superior digital experience. On the other hand, crap content can even turn buyers away from your business.

In this regard, in 2023, in the past-COVID world, when the Internet began to live an even more active life, and online sales jumped several times, a new life began for CMS solutions. In fact, according to a report by MarketWatch, the CMS industry market size is projected to grow from USD 62.4 billion in 2020 to USD 116.2 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 13.3%.

In 2024, we also see a trend towards more and more active use of headless CMS, which allows companies and developers to deliver and manage content as quickly and conveniently as possible.

But with so many headless CMS options out there, it’s very difficult to find the right solution for a specific use case. In this article, you will learn what a CMS is, and the difference between headless and traditional cms, we will give examples of how and when it is advisable to use headless cms, and also consider how to choose headless cms. We’ve also compiled a list of the best headless CMs on the market, so you can compare them, see features, and finally choose the best headless cms that fit your needs.

What are headless cms?

But first, let’s figure out what is headless cms.

Head = Static codes on the front end, therefore, content can be displayed on just one device.

The term “Headless” means no front-end part. Accordingly, the headless CMS includes a back-end, a database, and an API that can be called to distribute content.

Publishing content via API allows you to deliver content to any device, browser, or application. This is the main advantage – you do not need to build the backend operation with the frontend for only one source.

In addition, there is no requirement for any hosts. Therefore, maintaining a headless CMS is easier than non-headless CMS. This leads to improvement of the workflow and collaboration.

To some extent, headless CMS is a division of decoupled CMS. Decoupled means that the front-end and back-end are managed separately. In a decoupled system, when content is created and edited in the backend of a website, it is transmitted through an application programming interface (API) and then published in the frontend of the website.

How headless CMS work

Let’s now figure out what exactly is under the hood of headless cms and how it all works.

Without a front-end content delivery layer and no content authoring interface, a headless CMS is like a repository of content that is accessed via a REST API or GraphQL API. As a result, the content inside the CMS is no longer tied to a particular template or delivery layer. Instead, it’s free to be sent to any channel or device using APIs.

This architecture means that data can be transferred to any part of the network after a request has been made to the repository using the API. This does create advantages for publishing across channels, but it can also create issues for non-technical users.

While a decoupled system does have a front-end system, headless CMS means that marketers and non-tech people face certain challenges in presenting content to users. In headless cms, you will not find preview or WYSIWYG editors, which imposes certain difficulties.

Difference between a Headless and a Traditional CMS

We have prepared a small table in which to compare Headless and Traditional CMS.

Aspect	Headless CMS	Traditional CMS
Frontend Flexibility	Highly flexible. Allows for the delivery of content to multiple platforms and devices via APIs.	Limited flexibility. Tied to a specific front-end system, making it more challenging to integrate with various platforms and devices.
Content Delivery	Delivers content via APIs (RESTful or GraphQL), enabling integration with any frontend framework.	Delivers content in a tightly coupled manner to a specific front-end presentation layer.
Security	Enhanced security as the content publishing environment is separate from the database.	Potential security risks due to the direct connection between the content management and delivery layers.
Scalability	Highly scalable due to the separation of front-end and back-end. Easier to manage and maintain.	Scalability can be limited by the coupling of front-end and back-end.
Development Speed	Faster development and deployment, as front-end and back-end can be developed and tested independently.	Slower development and deployment, as changes in the back-end may require corresponding changes in the front-end.
Customization	High level of customization as it provides more control over content presentation across different platforms.	Limited customization due to the integrated nature of content management and presentation.
Ease of Use	May require more technical expertise to manage and integrate various front-end platforms. Lack of WYSIWYG editors.	Generally easier for non-technical users due to integrated front-end tools like WYSIWYG editors.
Content Preview	Often lacks content preview capabilities, making it difficult for marketing teams to preview content before publishing.	Usually includes content preview features, allowing users to see how content will appear before going live.
Cost	Can incur additional development costs for managing multiple front-ends and integrating APIs.	Potentially lower initial costs, but can become expensive to modify or scale over time.
Examples	Flatlogic Web Application Generator, Strapi, Contentful, Sanity, Directus, Prismic	WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Squarespace, Wix

Why and when to use headless cms?

In short, we recommend using a headless CMS in the following cases:

When scalability is one of the main issues for your blog;
When you want to deliver content to multiple channels and platforms. If your business model is built around omnichannel content delivery and your content is available across multiple devices and platforms, then going headless over a traditional CMS is a good choice;

When Not to Use Headless CMS:

When your business model is one small website and you’re not planning any frequent or major updates, e.g. if you are running a single website populated with static content that changes infrequently, there might not be a lot to achieve with a headless CMS;
When you don’t need separate channels except for the website;

Also, before deciding whether to use a headless CMS, you should honestly ask yourself and your team Do we need a headless CMS?

Honestly, no one but you can answer that question. Right now headless CMSs are considered future-proof mainly because of a clear distinction between the content and presentation. But only understanding your short and long-term goals will help you choose the right content management system for your business needs.

So should you always choose a headless CMS over a traditional, monolithic CMS? No.

So in summary, should you always choose headless CMS over traditional? The short answer is no of course.

There are certain benefits and downsides to choosing a headless CMS. But there are use cases where it makes more sense than going with the traditional CMS. Below we’ve highlighted just a few of these.

As with any technology, there are certain benefits and downsides to using headless CMS. But definitely, nowadays more and more use cases appear when the use of headless CMS becomes justified. Thus, the decision of Headless CMS vs. Traditional CMS depends on your needs and how you are going to use it. Make sure to discuss this as you choose your SaaS content agency or content company for your eCommerce business. Above were some common use cases, but this list is incomplete since you always have to decide for yourself based on your resources and needs.

https://flatlogic.com

Pros and Cons of Headless CMS

Pros

Compatible and Flexibility: You can deliver your content whenever you want;
Security: As the content publishing environment isn’t accessible from the database, using this will prevent malware attacks;
Scalable: since the front end and back end are separated, there is no separate time needed for maintenance. This allows you to customize your website anytime without having to compromise the performance;
Faster time-to-market: You and your developers can test various hypotheses very quickly;
No need to learn specific development languages.

Cons

You need DevOps: you need a team to manage your content infrastructure and all the frontends you’re using to deliver content to different channels;
Added development costs;
Limited features for content creators;
No content previews: and it is very difficult for marketing teams to edit content.

Is a headless CMS secure?

A question that worries a lot of people is – are headless CMS safe? Unfortunately, traditional CMS is not that good at this point.

When choosing a headless CMS, you should first look at what technologies they use out of the box. The standard is to use OAuth2. Also, since headless CMS actively uses APIs, they should follow API security best practices.

How to Choose Headless CMS?

When choosing from numerous headless CMS, pay attention to the following questions:

Find out how your marketing department works and its objectives. How they deliver content and what features they need.
Pay attention to the developers too – ask their opinion.
Costs: Very few CMS are free (and we have a few here). Knowing what options are available and how far the tiers scale up will help you plan.
Can you scale content without falling off a price cliff?
How does the product manage files and image assets?

Best Headless CMS

Disclaimer: Flatlogic Web Application Generator

This article was written by the Flatlogic team. At Flatlogic, we also developed a kind of headless CMS – Flatlogic web application generator. With the help of Flatlogic, you can build a content management system based on different technologies and different designs, get the source code for yourself, and then customize it as you like and host it wherever you like.

https://flatlogic.com/templates/react

It works simply:

You choose your preferred technology stack: React, Vue, Angular, Laravel, Node.js, MySQL, PostgreSQL;
Choose your preferred design;
Define the database schema;
Generate your cms and get the source code.

An important point is that before you can download the project code, you can view it in your account.

Another advantage of the Flatlogic Web Application generator is that with our scheme editor, you can create not only different types of data but also create relationships between them.

Try it for free.

Strapi

Strapi is an open-source Node.js headless content management system, which means that the entire codebase is available on GitHub and thrives on contributors. Strapi generates a working RESTful API or uses GraphQL for developers in minutes after installation. Data is made available through a customizable API. It’s important to note that Strapi is a self-hosted, not a SaaS content management system. The company will introduce a hosted version shortly.

The primary goal of Strapi is to build a solid API while offering an intuitive admin panel. While Strapi has capabilities to ease the task of managing user sessions and applications, users have encountered occasional problems with the drag-and-drop interface and array data types.

Strapi allows you to define the content-type structure that you want, with the ability to define categories such as Text, Date, Media, Password, Relation, and Number. Apart from this, you can also edit the API code to personalize it even further.

Strapi also comes with auto-generated documentation, framework integration, and available plugin ecosystems.

TL;DR – Setting up a new project with Strapi is super easy and fast, and API creation is fast and very customizable.

Notable features

Built-in support RESTful and GraphQL APIs;
100% JavaScript for front-end and CMS;
Good admin panel for content editors, fully customizable;
Good plugin ecosystem;

The biggest drawback with Strapi is the pricing model itself. The free version only supports a limited number of users and roles — and it looks like the Enterprise edition will be the premium version that unlocks wider support.

The other problem is that relationships in the database still work not as expected. There are no built-in tools for migration data. There is no 2FA. It does not delete automatically unnecessary tables and columns from the database. Typescript is not supported, but we are in 2022

Storyblok

Storyblok is a visual editor for content teams. Storyblok is a pure headless SaaS CMS. This makes it easier for editors to make changes themselves, in a similar way to traditional website builders.

The CMS supports Vue.js, Gridsome, Laravel, Nuxt.js, Gatsby.js, React, Svelte, Next.js, Ruby, and Django, In terms of pricing free option is available, with packages ranging from $9 per user, per month.

Notable features

Support multi-languages by default;
Content workflows;
You can extend the functionality by using plugins.

Pros

Visual editor;
Data sources;
Component-based.

Cons

Not suitable if you want to use the CMS as a database.

DatoCMS

The notable thing about DatoCMS is that it is written in GraphQL and is API-based. GraphQL defines the operations supported by the API, including input arguments and possible responses, offering an unfailing contract that specifies the capabilities of an API.

DatoCMS also includes a visual content schema builder, webhooks, easy image manipulation, multilingual content, and other features.

If you want a CMS that’s easy to use and is highly agreeable with a wide range of other technologies, DatoCMS has a lot to offer. Even the free plan supports GraphQL API, and integrating with site generators like Gatsby or libraries like Next.js or React (used in Gatsby, of course) isn’t a problem.

Pros

Supports static site generators;
Easy to set up;

Cons

Compared to other CMS the range of features is narrow.

https://flatlogic.com/templates/react

Sanity

Sanity is one of the best headless CMS on the market, which is proven by using it by such companies as Nike, Figma, National Geographic, and others. Sanity is very flexible in terms of development.

Its customization is very deep, thanks to open-source support, numerous plug-ins, and the ability to create custom components as needed. Engineers can customize the editing environment using JavaScript and React and easily integrate the backend with powerful APIs and rich data modeling capabilities. The product comes with live previews, real-time collaboration, and a full version history out of the box. TL;DR – Sanity has much more freedom, but this requires more technical know-how.

Pros

Support many technologies including React;
Deep customization;
Previews for content teams.

Cons

Deep technical knowledge is needed to set up the product.

Directions

Directus is a great headless CMS if you have a current SQL database. It is written with vue.js, REST is used for the public API and it is powered by Node.js. Directus is open-source so you can use it free without any limitations. The product suite includes an admin app for editors, and a content API for developers, and can be self-hosted for free.

Directus is known for its flexibility in choosing libraries, tools, and stacks for your project. With Directus, developers can connect to content via API or SDK, directly to the database, or as a standalone application.

Directus also allows non-IT users to manage content through the Admin App. The platform has a strong version control system, allowing for rollbacks and retrieval of previous versions.

Notable features

Good customization;
30+ languages supported out of the box;
Built-in authentication;
No-code app;
It is fully decomposed and extensible.

Prismic

Prismic is a SaaS headless CMS trusted by many big companies such as Google, Netflix, and others. The product allows you to choose the technology, framework, and language and thereafter easily manage and deliver the content. It supports native integrations with eCommerce platforms.

The platform supports the following technologies Node, React, Next, Gatsby, Vue, Nuxt, etc., query content with either their RESTful API or GraphQL, and deploy with a hosting platform such as Zeit, Netlify, or Heroku.

On the other hand, it’s not a pure free open-source CMS. The basic version is free, but to feel all the power of this tool you need to pay for it.

Notable features

Internationalization out of the box;
Scheduling and previews are possible;
Supports many tech stacks.

Decap CMS

Another open-source headless system, Decap CMS, can be successfully used with any static generator for a more pleasant and faster web project. The tool is created as a single-page React app. Using Decap, the content is stored in your Git repository alongside your code for easier versioning, multi-channel publishing, and the option to handle content updates directly in Git. It also enables real-time previews, which helps ensure content is working as intended before being published.

Notable features

Git gateway;
Intuitive workflow for content teams;
Good UI for content makers;
Both web-based and command-line services are available;
Built-in rich text editor;
Can pull all the updates from Github and Gitlab automatically.

Contentful

Contentful is an API-driven headless CMS that focuses on content and the backend. It is considered one of the best systems for small to medium enterprises. You can edit content anywhere on any smart device and integrate it with other services such as Dropbox.

Contentful does not consider itself a CMS – it is a content infrastructure or CDN that delivers content. It allows you to create your content models and define your schemas to be displayed.

Notable features

Rich editor interface and intuitive content modeling;
Developers can manage and deliver content via APIs and are free to use their preferred languages and frameworks;
You can also integrate with other services like Dropbox;
Microservices architecture.

Agility CMS

Agility CMS stands at the forefront of revolutionizing personalized content experiences, offering an exclusive white-glove service deeply rooted in an unwavering commitment to the MACH architecture. Our cloud-native API-first approach not only ensures scalable content but also future-proofs it, laying the groundwork for seamless and forward-thinking customer interactions.

Distinguished as the singular Headless CMS with integrated Layout Management, Agility provides unparalleled control over content placement, eliminating duplication and fostering an intuitively user-friendly experience. Our platform effortlessly integrates with various systems, empowering businesses to craft cohesive and immersive customer journeys across a myriad of channels.

In our unwavering dedication to businesses facing unique challenges, Agility presents a flexible, user-friendly, and highly extensible platform. This commitment extends to a groundbreaking Headless CMS+ experience, challenging conventional norms by showcasing the compatibility of layouts within a headless framework. This approach guarantees a streamlined and efficient content management experience for developers and editors alike.

With Agility CMS, businesses don’t just adopt a platform; they embrace a collaborative partner committed to transforming their digital landscape. Our focus on personalized solutions, combined with the robustness of MACH architecture and white-glove service, solidifies Agility CMS as the go-to choice for those seeking modular solutions finely tailored to their distinctive needs. Unlock your brand’s voice, overcome unique challenges, and elevate your digital presence with Agility CMS.

Buttercms

Butter CMS is a headless CMS that enables the smooth transfer the data from old traditional CMS. ButterCMS can integrate with any framework and also has SDKs + Framework plugins for Ruby, Rails, NodeJS, PHP, Laravel, .NET, Python, Django, Javascript, React, and more. ButterCMS also boasts features such as custom content types, a media library, a CDN for assets, a testing environment, webhooks, and more. It uses flexible content modeling, supports multi-sites and environments, comprehensive revision histories, scheduling, and much much more.

Notable features

SEO support;
Installing and integrating requires very little time;
Built-in WYSIWYG editor;
Migration service from traditional CMS;
CDN support;
Powerful admin interface.

On average, good SaaS-based CMS for larger companies, but with some performance issues as users said.

Conclusion

In the article, we’ve discussed what headless CMS is, how to choose them, and the difference from traditional CMS. We’ve also looked at the best headless CMS on the market. We also figured out that at present, the future belongs to headless cms, since you need to deliver content to different devices. In conclusion, we can say for sure that choosing the right headless CMS directly affects your business. All this means the future is bright for the headless approach and we can expect a great many things to come.

We will be helpful if you support us on Twitter (if it’s still alive), LinkedIn, Facebook, and ProductHunt!

Wow! We are already in second place on @ProductHunToday

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The post Best 10+ Headless CMS in 2024 – Comprehensive Guide appeared first on Flatlogic Blog.

How to Make a Headless CMS for Dating App Like Tinder

Katarina Harbuzava — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 14:05:17 +0000

Introduction

Hello, dear reader! Happy to see you in this article that, we are sure, you will find most helpful. We will show you the way to create a headless CMS for a Tinder-like app. The best thing is, it requires no, and we emphasize strongly – absolutely no, coding.

“How can it be possible?” – you are probably thinking right now. Bear with us, as here is how. You can do this using a brand new Full Stack Web Application Generator by Flatlogic. It gives you the most awesome powers – creating fully functional apps without writing a single line of code in a few easy steps. In fact, we have sat down with a person who has never written a single line of code in his life with the goal of creating a Tinder-like app to prove the above-mentioned point. And let us tell you that the point was proven right.

But we are getting a little bit ahead of ourselves. Let’s get back on track, – “Why would you need a Tinder-like app in the first place?”

Why create a Tinder-like dating app

Why create a Tinder-like dating app in 2021?

Tinder’s monthly traffic is about 75 million users around the world, with almost 8 million from the United States.
Source: https://bedbible.com/tinder-statistics/

There are actually a couple of pretty grounded reasons to create an app that allows you to choose between different variants of the same category, which is the stripped-down purpose of apps like Tinder. A couple of these reasons are:

Creating a competing app

Yes, there is already T i nder. Yes, it is a hugely popular dating app, to say the least. The monthly traffic of Tinder is 75 million users around the world, with almost 8 million from the United States. But here lies its most vulnerable point – its size does not allow it to be precise. To draw an analogy, using Tinder is like being in the open sea, trying to catch a specific species of fish. It is possible, but less likely that you are going to catch that specific fish purely because of the wide array of fish that lives in the sea.

And you can have equipment like geolocation and age filters, but there is still no way to secure more particularities. And that’s where your app can come into play. Your app can be more precise, give more search options such as fishing in the exact spots of the sea where the needed fish lives. Moreover, it is always good to have more players on the market in order to promote progress in the field.

It does not have to be about dating

The overall stripped-down concept of Tinder, which we have mentioned in the previous point, is solid. It is a way to filter through great quantities of information. And that way, it allows you to not only train your on-the-spot decision-making skills but to do it quickly. Your Tinder-like app can be about pretty much anything: selling cars, adopting pets, or even choosing between job applicants. The possibilities are extremely varied.

Gamification possibilities

Marketing is an undoubtedly important part of today’s business. Whether a company is improving social media presence or launching a podcast, it gives them the opportunity to reach out to a wider audience. And gamification is quite an effective marketing strategy, which allows your potential clients to engage more deeply in your product by interacting with it. And, once again Tinder-like apps give you an opportunity to gamify your potential client’s experience with the product. For example, an app like this can be made into a decision-based game.

And that’s not even close to unlocking the full potential of such an app format. But we would be here all day and half a night if we tried to do it full justice. So, what we suggest is creating a Tinder-like app’s CMS with the help of Flatlogic’s Full Stack Web Application Generator

Creating CMS with Web App Generator

As we’ve already said, we’ve actually sat down with a person that has zero knowledge about coding to do this part of the whole process to prove that it is easy. And here’s a little walkthrough that this person has come up with after this experience that you can also follow to create your Tinder-like app if you would like to.

Step №1. Find Full Stack Web App Generator

This step is quite simple and straightforward. What you need to do is to go to flatl o gic.com/generator and here you are. As you will see there, you are able to create apps on React, Vue, and Angular. Boldly press the “Create your app” button and go to Step №2.

Step №2. Name Your Project

Once again, a simple step, which as you will see, can be said of the whole process. What you need to do here is to name your project and go forward to the third step by pressing the “Next” button.

Step №3. Select Your Project’s Stack

The third step leads you to the basis of the headless CMS for your dating app, which is the project’s stack. Flatlogic’s Full Stack Web Application Generator provides you with a multitude of Stack choices for backend, frontend, and database. The choices for the front are:

React
Angular
Vue

The choices for the backend are:

Node.js
Python

Java, Python, and .Net backends are under development now and will be available a bit later.

And as for databases, the present variants are:

MySQL
PostgreSQL

In the free version of the Generator, you could use all of the variants of the backend stack, Node.js for the front and MySQL and PostgreSQL for the database. So, the choice kind of made itself when it came to our “lab rat’s” Tinder-like app. And, after that, it was up to the fourth step.

Step №4. Choose a design for your Tinder-like app’s CMS

No app is truly finished without a nice and slick design. And that’s doubly true for Tinder-like apps, as to why would you want to find a partner on an unfinished building site. Well, once again, you could want to do that, and kudos to you for sticking to your own ways, but if we speak broadly, the chances of such an occasion are exceptionally slim. That’s why most apps have eye-pleasing designs that lure their customers in. And that’s also why Flatlogic’s Full Stack Web Application Generator provides an opportunity to choose from a number of ready-made designs and all you have to do is choose the one you find most fitting for your purposes.

This is exactly what our inexperienced friend did, setting his choice on the transparent design version, judging that the dark tones of this option would fit rather nicely into the whole selection and matching process, as it would contrast beautifully with the bright and vibrant colors of the photos, whilst also complementing the dark ones. And that’s not to mention that it was just very stylish. After that was done and dusted, it was time to go to step number 5.

Step №5. Create the app’s database schema

This is as close to coding as we’ll get, so this step will be more difficult for our non-techie friend. But, with a bit of tinkering around and a bit of a spark of excitement in his eyes, he got down to work.

The first thing this step required was to select a ready-made scheme from the variants offered, which include such entrees as:

Blank, which effectively means creating a Database Schema from scratch;
E-commerce;
Time tracking reports;
Book store;
Blog;
Chat (messaging);
Social Network.

The closest thing to Tinder from the above-mentioned variants would actually be the Chat option. That’s because Tinder is not a full-blown social network, but rather a messaging app with an added layer of setting up and presenting profiles and other choice-related necessities. So, what is definitely needed in the case of creating a Tinder-like app is the ability to swipe left or right to make a negative or positive decision. An app like this would also need to be based on pictures and descriptions. Now we get on to setting up our Database Schema.

We start by adding a couple of points to our “user” Table. They are:

User ID, which would be of int Type and should be unique to each user;
Liked Users, which would have similar attributes of int Type and is unique to each user.

The rest is already set up for our Tinder-like app in the Chat (messaging) database schema preset. After that, we just need to tinker with the chat rooms the tiniest bit.

What we need to do in the chat rooms portion of our schema is also change its properties to int Type and give make each chat room unique as each dialogue between the users should be separate from the others and we do not need the ability to create group chats (we don’t judge and we are not prudes in any way, our app is just not of that variety).

And that is pretty much it! All you need to do after that is to review your choices and press the “Create Project” button. After that, you just wait for Full Stack Web Application Generator to do its secret magic and download it.

As it comes to our inexperienced friend, he learned nothing new about actual coding. Except that it can be done effortlessly and quickly with the help of Flatlogic’s Full Stack Web Application Generator. Especially when it comes to setting up database schemas, as it came off easy, but required just a smidgen of imagination. So, as you can see, using Flatlogic’s Full Stack Web Application Generator is so simple that even a person with no developing experience whatsoever can do it.

Now when your dating app like Tinder is created and ready for deployment, don’t shy away from actually booting it up and seeing the results. You can see our finalized and usage-ready app on the screenshot below.

Conclusions

Now that our educational article about building CMS for dating apps like Tinder comes to an end, let’s set out a few take-away points:

1. Apps like Tinder have quite a potential despite what you may initially think. Yes, its primary goal in the user’s mind is to find dates or people to chat with, but, as we’ve already discussed, its actual implementation can be much wider. And that’s because its primary function – simple “yes or no” voting, is easily understandable and highly usable. So, you can use it according to your project’s actual needs.

2. Creating a CMS for your Tinder-like app can be done pretty easily and effortlessly with the help of Flatlogic’s brand new Full Stack Web App Generator. All you, as its creator, have to do is take five self-explanatory steps, that we have taken together in this article.

And that’s it for today’s article. We really hope you have found the text useful. Create your own vibrant and beautiful CMS for your dating application with the help of Web Application Generator and feel free to read up on more of our articles!

Get ahead in your React.js job search with our Top 20 interview questions [Quiz]

Alexander Rubanau — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 09:29:44 +0000

A Guide to Answering the Most Important React.JS Developer Interview Questions

Question #1. What are the major advantages of React.JS?

Answer #1 · SEO-friendliness, · Virtual DOM, · reusable components · and one-way data flow

You are correct! All of these advantages are pivotal to ReactJS: · Being SEO-friendly allows your project to show better organic search results in order to attract users and drive business goals; · One-way data flow allows for a simpler and more stable code, as in React.JS’ structure parent data cannot be affected by any changes made to child elements; · React.JS isolates each and every component, which, in turn, means that all the components of the code are perfectly reusable and will not affect all the copies of that component if any changes are made to it; · And last but not least, React uses Virtual DOM. If any changes are made, it does not rewrite the entire DOM tree and updates the manipulated element. As a result, it renders React.JS’ Virtual DOM much more efficient and faster performing.

Answer #2 · Being maintained by Google, · Two-way data binding · Usage of TypeScript

Take a deep breath and let the stress go, as you seem somewhat confused. Easiness to learn and virtual DOM are React.JS’ advantages, whilst usage of TypeScript and two-way data binding are Angular’s. You are near the right track, but be more attentive to the next question!

Question #2. What are the main features of React.JS you would like to list?

Answer #1 MVC Architecture, Less Code Framework, Dependency Injection, Directives

While all of these features are worth writing home about, they are the main features of Angular. And, also, some type of Dependency Injection is possible in React.JS, it is far from being a feature and requires lots and lots of tinkering around.

Answer #2 JSX, Event Handling, Virtual DOM, Computed Properties, Template

Answer #2 You are close, but no cigar on this one, as this answer is, in fact, a mix of Vue.JS’ and React.JS’ main features. Let’s clear the smog a little: both Vue.JS and React.JS use virtual DOM and to great result, we might add, but where the first uses Templates, the second goes with JSX. React.JS also does not have computed properties out of the box (also, you can compute it pretty quickly). Event Handling also differs in React.JS and Vue.JS, also they both use virtual DOM, instead of traditional one.

Question #3. What are the major disadvantages and limitations of React.JS?

Answer #1 JSX, Poor Documentation, View Part

Answer #1 Bravo for not being afraid to list JSX as one of the main disadvantages of React.JS, as it can be described as both a blessing and a curse. JSX can be considered a barrier, especially for new developers, as it greatly complicates the learning curve. As for the View Part, you should never forget and never shy away from mentioning the fact that React.JS only covers the UI Layers of the whole app in your interview, so the project would still need other technologies for the full toolset. And the third major React.JS’ limitation is its poor documentation, which stand from constant development, which renders full proper documentation impossible.

Answer #2 Steep learning curve, Limited SEO options, Speed of development

Answer #2 Once again, the devil is in the details. While the steepness of React.JS’ learning curve is quite significant and the speed of development is bringing its fair share of problems too, React.JS is extremely SEO-friendly.

Question #4. What are the differences between React.JS and other Java scripts?

Answer #1 React.JS: uses MVC framework, has eazy Real-time data steaming, has the largest ecosystem of open-source libraries

Answer #1 Unfortunately, you are wrong on this one. All of these features differentiate not React.JS, but Node.JS. It’s also worth mentioning here that Node.JS is used for creating backend, while React.JS covers only the UI side of the question.

Answer #2 React.JS: uses TypeScript, uses MVC framework, has Built-in support for AJAX/HTTP/ Observables

Answer #2 We urge you to pay closer attention. React.JS does not use TypeScript, it uses JavaScript, hence the JS in the name.

Question #5. What are the major two types of components that can be declared in React, and when should you use one over the other?

Answer #1 Smart Components and Dumb Components. You choose Smart Components when you need a component that is able to manage its own state and Dumb component when there is no need for state managing and/or the component is stateless.

Answer #1 The descriptions of and reasoning behind choosing these components are correct, but we do not use Smart and Dumb components in React.JS. Instead, the two major types of components in React.JS are Functional and Class components.

Answer #2 Functional Component and Class Component. You should choose Class Components when you need the data to be transferable from one component to the other and Functional Component for JavaScript functions.

Answer #2 You are right! Components in React basically return a piece of JSX code that tells you what should be rendered on the screen. Thus, these two component types are the ones we use.

22/23

The post Get ahead in your React.js job search with our Top 20 interview questions [Quiz] appeared first on Flatlogic Blog.

CMS – Flatlogic Blog

22+ React Developer Tools to Increase Your Programming Productivity [Updated 2023]

React Developer Tools

Finally

Best 10+ Headless CMS in 2024 – Comprehensive Guide

What are headless cms?

How headless CMS work

Difference between a Headless and a Traditional CMS

Why and when to use headless cms?

In short, we recommend using a headless CMS in the following cases:

When Not to Use Headless CMS:

Pros and Cons of Headless CMS

Pros

Cons

Is a headless CMS secure?

How to Choose Headless CMS?

Best Headless CMS

Disclaimer: Flatlogic Web Application Generator

Notable features

Notable features

Pros

Cons

Pros

Cons

Pros

Cons

Notable features

Notable features

Decap CMS

Notable features

Notable features

Notable features

Conclusion

How to Make a Headless CMS for Dating App Like Tinder

Introduction

Why create a Tinder-like dating app

Creating CMS with Web App Generator

Conclusions

Suggested articles

Get ahead in your React.js job search with our Top 20 interview questions [Quiz]

A Guide to Answering the Most Important React.JS Developer Interview Questions