Category: Technology

More Craft CMS Features: Matrix and Its Powerful Friends

Posted on by galaxy-admin
Craft CMS’s consistency can be seen in its regular updates & latest features. Matrix is one of those early features that helped Craft dominate the CMS game. Matrix is the protagonist of the Craft’s story since its inception but there are some unsung heroes that need some attention too.

Categories & Tags in Craft CMS

Categories and tags is one of the most powerful features of Craft CMS for content classification. It allows you to organize your content by defining a taxonomy beforehand. You can create category groups from which, the categories are assigned to different entries.

Define Taxonomies with Category in Craft CMS

To define a Taxonomy you have to create a parent group to accommodate different categories in it. Go into categories section in settings. Inside it you can create a parent category group to define a taxonomy.

Meta level categorization with Tags in Craft CMS

Craft supports folksonomy as well. You can categorize the content with the help of electronic tags to define a folksonomy. The process of creating tags and tag groups is same as the categories. Create a folksonomy from the settings. Assign to the entries in the tag field. Tags provide meta level categorization which also helps in SEO. Categories & tags will help you create a content structure which makes your content consumable.

Matrix in Craft CMS

In our earlier blog about ‘why to choose Craft’ we listed Matrix as one of the defining features of Craft CMS. The feature lets you create and manage content blocks. You can add, reorder, and move content blocks; be it text, code, or rich media. And the coolest thing about the content blocks is that the reordering doesn’t affect the code in the template. One of the key benefits of the matrix field is that you don’t have to rely on predefined themes and their content structures. The only problem with the thematic approach is that you have to make-do with whatever the theme designer deemed right. The sections are made of fields, which are made with content blocks and using these content types we create entries. The matrix is a multi functional field which can accommodate almost every type of entry.

Where to find the Matrix?

You can find the matrix in the sections where you define field type and the amount of blocks the field is going to have. Just select matrix from the field type drop down and configure it accordingly. If you want a minimalistic powerful website with necessary content elements then Craft’s Matrix field is the answer.

Image Editor in Craft CMS

Before Image Editor’s introduction in Craft 3, the only options to edit the images were through Image Transforms or with plugins like Tiny image. Craft’s inbuilt Image Transform lacked essential editing elements and was only helpful in defining universal image rules. Image editor on the other hand provides a rich editor which lets you crop, rotate, flip, and straighten images. You can even manually set focal points for responsive images. Edits don’t affect the quality of the image and can be overwritten or saved as a new asset. You can access the image editor from assets in the control panel:
  • Open control panel
  • Click on the assets
  • Select an asset
  • Click on the drop down with a gear icon on it
  • Select edit image

Image Source:craftcms.com

Edit image option will open the image editor for the selected asset. Overwrite the changes with save button or save the image as a new asset.

Plugin Store in Craft CMS

Plugins are mini applications for added functionality. There are more than 200 plugins in Craft CMS’ plugin store, each one enhances Craft in one way or another.

Image Source:craftcms.com

Plugins are infamous as vulnerability of WordPress but that’s not the case with Craft because:
  • It has One-click installation and updation.
  • It has centralized license management.
  • It allows you to try a plugin before you buy it, on a non-public domain like Craft.test.
  • It has a 30-day return policy on paid plugins licences.

One-Click Updates in Craft CMS

All the functionalities are a waste if you have to update them one by one. Craft solves this problem like a real problem solver via one-click update feature. Craft alerts you in the control panel with a notification badge and its clever designing allows the system to notify according to the update priority. For example; if it’s just an incremental update, it would just show a notification badge and if it’s a critical update the control panel will turn red. Update priority is one of the most practical & essential elements on Craft CMS.You can’t possibly miss a critical update with the control panel turning red. Critical updates are meant for security enhancements or to fix a vulnerability. Skipping them leaves your website vulnerable to attacks. Craft’s one-click update provides all the incremental and critical updates in a ready-to-install package. It is easy that way and no one skips any important updates.

Relations with entities in Craft CMS

You can link entries, assets, categories/tags, & users — the four relational field types — using Craft’s Relationship engine. For example you can relate a case study with the services page section to show which services were used during the development process.

Creating relationships in Craft CMS

  • Create a new entries field
  • Select the sources from which entries will be taken
  • Drop the new field in the layout of the desired section

Image Source:craftcms.com

You can find the new category entries field in the section, while creating a new entry. Now you can relate content elements to each other. These basic Craft features have made website development a complete new ballgame. We have partnered with agencies and companies for extensive Craft CMS projects. To know how we roll our dices, ping us here.

Debug Tool in Craft 3: Here’s all you need to know about it

Posted on by galaxy-admin
Before introducing the Debug Tool in Craft 3, Craft CMS made you install a separate web-based application, Web-Console. You could run shell commands on your server to check for errors and missing elements in the written code. Not a fancy deal though! Especially when Craft 3 was designed to be a problem-solver. The lack of a debug functionality was a major issue and ergo, Debug Tool was introduced. The coolest thing about this overlay toolbar is that you can diagnose particular pages on the spot. It shows you all sorts of essential things; number of users, logs, database enquiries, errors, time and memory.

Enabling the Debug Toolbar in Craft CMS

Make sure you have the admin login. Once you’re logged in, head to the ‘my account’ section in the drop down where it reads your username in the top left of your Control Panel.
You’ll find an option to change your preferences in the account section. Apart from the language and ‘week start day’ preference, you’ll find two check boxes with a description of what each one does. You can select either or both according to your usage and when and where you want the toolbar to appear.
  • Show the debug toolbar on the Front end
  • Show the debug toolbar on the control panel
Check the desired boxes, save and continue. Enable devmode to grant unrestricted access to all the useful statistics and elements of the tool. Otherwise, the tool will only show errors and warnings.

The Craft 3 Debug Toolbar

A collapsed overlay panel will appear in the bottom of your page. It reads Craft’s C from the logo itself. You can press on it to expand it. That overlay panel is Craft 3 debug toolbar. It shows you a handful of information and helps you keep a check on your page in real time. You can interact with the information shown in the toolbar by further expanding it half way through the page with a click. To use it in a separate tab, click on the “C”. The full version of the toolbar accommodates more information making it easier to keep track of all the errors, logs, and discrepancies.

Craft 3: Debug Toolbar Functionalities

The debugging toolbar is not for bug fixes only. It offers other perks too:
  • Timeline — It is basically a graphical presentation of your page’s performance. A graph of time and space vs the queries. It keeps track of your page’s load-time and memory used.
  • User — It provides information about users and their sessions.
  • Router — A table of rules that Craft checks before routing to a particular template.
  • Request — It shows all sorts of information from Parameters to headers to sessions and server global variables.
  • Logs — You can find all the error and warning related logs here.
  • Deprecated — Shows deprecation errors.
  • Profiling — Monitor your page’s performance with information about load time and peak memory usage.
  • Database — Shows the Database queries. It can be sorted by time and duration.
  • Asset Bundles — It contains the information of the assets being used.
  • Mail — It keeps a mail log if you’re using a mail tool on Craft.
Debug Tool provides you with crucial information about your website in real time. People who are migrating from Craft 2 will find this tool very useful because it eliminates the dependency on web console to monitor errors and logs. Craft’s minimalism has already made us a fan. These precise features with high functionality make it our favorite CMS. Our development shop is open for all kinds of Craft projects. Ping us here if you are looking for a Craft partner.

How to Setup a New Project in Craft CMS 3

Posted on by galaxy-admin
There are two ways you can set up a new project in Craft 3, vis-a-vis, via Composer and Manual. Both the methods require extensive technical expertise & understanding of Craft CMS. With Composer method you have to know your commands and what you’re doing with them but in case of the manual method you just have to perform some simple operations.

Composer Method in Craft CMS

If you have a good understanding of Craft CMS, then you can setup a new Craft project with the some terminal commands. Though, before installing Craft with composer, do make sure that you’re running Composer version 1.3.0 or above. Here are the essential steps: Check the Composer version composer -V Run this command in case your Composer needs updating composer self-update When you’ve confirmed that you’re running a compatible version of the Composer, run the following command (substitute with the path where Composer should create the project): composer create-project craftcms/craft <PATH> The composer will do all the work and it will display a success message. Another way is to do it manually.

Manual Method to setup Craft CMS

You will have to download the archive from Craft’s website. Choose the archive format you’re familiar to work with. Extract the archive where you want your Craft project to be saved. Then follow these 5 steps:

Step 1: Setting up permissions

When you’re doing the manual setup, you have to download and extract the Craft archive in the desired place. The extraction will provide you with a Craft directory which has these files in it: config/… storage/ templates/ vendor/… web/… .env .env.example composer.json craft craft.bat LICENSE.md README.md Out of these files, there are some files for which PHP needs access permissions for different users to write on it. The files are: .env Composer.json Composer.lock config/license.key storage/* Vendor The permissions are defined on the basis of the relationship between the system user that the PHP is running as and ownership of the folders/files.
  • If they are the same user, use 744.
  • If they’re in the same group, then use 774.
  • If you’re not sure, then use 777.

Step 2: Securing the project with a security key

You have to set up a security key to encrypt the data of your project. Every project in Craft has a unique one. You can also use same security key for multiple environments running Craft. You can set a unique security key using the terminal or with a password generator. The password generator will help you to create a cryptographically secure key. Now you need to insert the generated key in your .env file. Open the .env file and insert the security key in between the quotes where it says: SECURITY_KEY=” “ Save the file.

Setting the security key with terminal

Run the following command in your project’s root directory: ./craft setup/security-key.

Step 3: Creating a database

Craft 3 supports MySQL 5.5+ and PostgreSQL 9.5+. So you can choose your database accordingly. But there are some recommended database settings:
  • For MySQL Default Character Set: utf8 Default Collation: utf8_unicode_ci
  • For PostgreSQL Character Set: UTF8

Step 4: Setting up a web server

With the database done setting up. You need a web server on which you can host your Craft project. Make sure you set the path of it’s document root to- web/directory(name of the directory) You will need to update your hosts file if you’re not using any local hosts like MAMP. You can find your respective host files here
  • For macOS/Linux/Unix: /etc/hosts
  • For Windows: \Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
Enter http://<HOSTNAME>/index.php?p=admin in the address bar of your browser (substitute <HOSTNAME> with your web server’s host name). Just to check if the setup works. If there are no errors, Craft’s Setup Wizard will show!

Step 5: Running the setup

You can either run the setup from terminal or from the browser. In the terminal after running the setup command and telling the installer ‘how to connect to the database’, your installation should take care of itself. Browser setup on the other hand provides an interactive installer to setup your Craft.

With Terminal

Open your terminal to run the command ./craft setup Answer the questions about how to connect to your database to start the installation. After the installation, you can access your new Craft project.

With Browser

Open your browser and enter http://<HOSTNAME>/index.php?p=admin (substitute <HOSTNAME> with your web server’s host name) in the address bar of your browser to find Craft’s installer. Follow the instructions and your Craft should be up and running in few minutes. I. Accept the license agreement II. Enter the Database information III. Create an admin account IV. Enter the preferred system name, URL and language V. Finish You’re all set to tweak the website from your Craft control panel. If you’ve followed every step mentioned in this tutorial then you should be able to fire up your Craft projects right away. Both the methods require expertise in Craft CMS. You can connect with us here for further assistance and queries.

How To Get Started With SEO In Craft CMS?

Posted on by galaxy-admin
Forget the gold rush days of keyword stuffing and black-hat tactics. Today’s SEO landscape is a carefully cultivated ecosystem, and Craft CMS stands tall as a fertile ground for organic growth. Craft CMS, known for its flexibility and user-friendly interface, offers a fertile ground for implementing effective SEO strategies. This guide explores how to harness the full potential of SEO within Craft CMS, ensuring your website not only ranks higher in search results but also meets the evolving expectations of both search engines and users.

Setting the SEO Foundation in Craft CMS

To ensure your Craft CMS site ranks well in search engine results and offers an outstanding user experience, focusing on foundational SEO settings is critical. Let’s explore some of the essential steps for optimizing your Craft CMS site, providing a more detailed and structured approach to each key area.

1. Enhancing SEO with Built-in Fields

Utilizing Meta Titles and Descriptions:

Craft CMS is equipped with specific fields for meta titles and descriptions, crucial for telling search engines what your page is about. To make the most of these:
  • Craft Compelling Meta Titles: Keep them under 60 characters to ensure they display fully in search results. Incorporate main keywords at the beginning and your brand name towards the end.
  • Write Descriptive Meta Descriptions: Aim for about 160 characters, using active voice and including a call-to-action. Mention primary keywords naturally to improve relevance and click-through rates.

2. Customizing URLs for Enhanced SEO

Implementing SEO-Friendly URL Structures:

Craft CMS offers the flexibility to tailor your URLs, a feature you should leverage to boost your SEO:
  • Include Relevant Keywords: Ensure URLs reflect your content’s primary keywords, enhancing relevance and searchability.
  • Maintain Simplicity and Readability: Use hyphens to separate words, keep URLs short, and avoid unnecessary parameters or numbers.
  • Follow a Logical Structure: Organize your content hierarchically, using URL paths that indicate the relationship between pages, which helps users and search engines navigate your site more effectively.

3. Maximizing Visibility with Rich Snippets

Implementing Schema Markup:

Schema markup is a form of structured data that you can add to your Craft CMS site to help search engines return more informative results for users:
  • Identify Appropriate Schema Types: Depending on your content, choose from a variety of schema types like Article, Local Business, Event, or Product.
  • Use Craft CMS Plugins: Tools like SEOmatic for Craft CMS can simplify the process of adding schema markup to your site, automating much of the work and ensuring your pages stand out in SERPs with rich snippets.
  • Test Your Implementation: Utilize Google’s Rich Results Test tool to verify that your schema markup is correctly implemented and visible to search engines.

Advanced SEO Techniques in Craft CMS

Here are the strategies to master advanced SEO techniques for enhanced visibility and user experience of your Craft CMS site.

1. Site Speed Optimization

Why Site Speed Matters:

A fast-loading website is essential for both SEO and user satisfaction. Google prioritizes site speed in its ranking algorithm, understanding that users prefer websites that load quickly.

How to Optimize Site Speed in Craft CMS:

  • Optimize Images: Use Craft CMS’s built-in image transformation capabilities to serve images at the correct size and format, reducing unnecessary file size without compromising quality.
  • Implement Caching: Craft CMS supports several caching strategies, such as template caching, that can significantly reduce load times by storing copies of dynamic content for faster retrieval.
  • Minimize and Combine Files: Minify CSS and JavaScript files to eliminate unnecessary characters. Consider combining multiple files into one where possible to reduce the number of HTTP requests.

2. Mobile Optimization

The Importance of Mobile-Friendliness:

With over half of global web traffic coming from mobile devices, having a mobile-optimized site is non-negotiable for SEO success.

Achieving Mobile Optimization in Craft CMS:

  • Responsive Design: Ensure your Craft CMS theme is responsive, meaning it automatically adjusts to fit the screen size of the device it’s being viewed on. Craft CMS’s templating system allows for flexible design implementation.
  • Touchscreen Readiness: Make sure all elements are easily navigable on a touchscreen, with adequately spaced links and easily accessible navigation menus.
  • Speed Considerations: Mobile users often rely on cellular data, making site speed even more critical. Apply all site speed optimization strategies with a mobile-first mindset.

3. Strategic Content Creation and Management

Content’s Role in SEO:

Quality content drives engagement, shares, and backlinks, all of which are critical factors in SEO rankings. Consistently publishing relevant, high-quality content positions your site as an authoritative source in your niche.

Maximizing Content Impact in Craft CMS:

  • Keyword Optimization: Research and integrate relevant keywords naturally into your content, titles, and meta descriptions to improve visibility.
  • Content Structure: Use headings (H1, H2, H3) to structure your content for easy readability. This not only benefits users but also helps search engines understand the hierarchy and relevance of your information.
  • Update Regularly: Keep your content fresh and up-to-date. Regular updates signal to search engines that your site is active, encouraging them to crawl your site more frequently.

Leveraging SEO Plugins and Tools in Craft CMS

The integration of Google Analytics and Google Search Console with Craft CMS sites offers valuable insights into traffic patterns, keyword rankings, and user behavior, enabling data-driven decisions to refine SEO strategies. Craft CMS’s ecosystem includes powerful plugins like SEOmatic, which simplify tasks like generating sitemaps and optimizing meta tags, ensuring your site is fully optimized for search engines.

Boost Your Craft CMS Site with Strategic SEO Implementation

As we navigate the digital landscape of 2024, the significance of SEO in crafting a successful online presence cannot be overstated. By implementing the strategies outlined in this guide, you can utilize the full potential of your Craft CMS site, ensuring it not only ranks high in search results but also delivers an exceptional user experience. However, SEO is an ongoing journey that requires expertise, dedication, and a keen eye for evolving trends. This is where Galaxy Weblinks comes in. Our team of SEO specialists and Craft CMS experts are equipped to take your website to the next level. From strategic SEO planning to execution and monitoring, we provide comprehensive solutions tailored to your unique needs. Ready to enhance your site’s SEO and drive measurable results? Contact Galaxy Weblinks today for a free discovery call. Let’s collaborate to ensure your Craft CMS site is perfectly aligned with your business goals and poised for success in the competitive digital arena of 2024.

How To Create A Content Builder In Craft CMS?

Posted on by galaxy-admin
The digital marketplace of 2024 places a critical demand on brands to transcend the confines of static, rigid templates and deliver exceptional, personalized customer experiences. Content Builder in Craft CMS emerges as a revolutionary tool, enabling businesses to create customized, engaging content without the constraints of coding. This innovation allows for the crafting of immersive experiences tailored to the unique needs and preferences of consumers, marking a significant leap towards greater flexibility and creativity in content creation. The shift away from one-size-fits-all website templates to dynamic, personalized content reflects the evolving expectations of today’s digital audiences. With Craft CMS’s Content Builder, brands are empowered to construct captivating, code-free content landscapes, fostering deeper connections with their audience. This tool is indispensable for any brand aiming to stand out in the competitive digital environment of 2024, offering a pathway to crafting content that resonates and truly engages.

Why Do You Need a Content Builder?

Using Craft CMS’s Content Builder brings several key advantages that can transform how you create and manage content:

Making Content Creation Easy for Everyone:

Content creation isn’t just for developers anymore. A 2023 report from HubSpot shows that 74% of marketers see creating engaging content as their biggest challenge. The Content Builder lets people without technical skills, like marketers or business owners, jump into content creation. This change means quicker content updates, more flexibility, and content that really connects with your audience. Imagine your marketing team putting together dynamic landing pages or your sales team customizing product pages on their own, without needing a developer.

Letting Your Creativity Flow:

Forget being stuck with standard templates. The Content Builder gives you the freedom to drag and drop elements, designing layouts that show off your brand’s personality and meet your audience’s interests. Use text, images, videos, forms, and more to create anything from interactive landing pages and personalized product showcases to engaging blog posts or fun learning modules. This tool lets your creativity shine, helping you stand out.

Boosting Your Website’s SEO:

In today’s online world, being visible on search engines is crucial for drawing in organic traffic and leads. The Content Builder helps you cleverly include keywords, headings, and links in your content. This not only engages your audience but also boosts your site’s search engine ranking, bringing more potential customers your way. Great content leads the way, and the Content Builder equips you to craft content that’s both engaging and discoverable.

Building Your Content Piece by Piece:

Here’s how to make the most of the Content Builder:

Choosing Your Tools: 

Craft CMS offers a wide range of field types to help you put your content together. There are Matrix fields for flexible layouts, Rich Text fields for stories, Assets for beautiful visuals, and even Live Data fields for up-to-date content. Picking the right tools is the first step to captivating your audience.

Mapping Out Your Content: 

Before you start creating, take some time to plan. Think about the layouts you want, identify elements you might reuse, and consider how to guide users through their journey on your site. Know what your audience enjoys, set clear goals for your content, and understand how it fits into your wider marketing strategy. Good planning makes sure your content always lands well.

Making It User-Friendly: 

Design with your audience in mind. Aim for layouts that are easy to get around on any device, use visual cues to draw attention, and make sure your calls to action stand out. The best content looks great, is easy to access, and gets users to take action.

Adding Extra Features: 

Take your Content Builder further with plugins. Look into SuperTable for detailed layouts, Feed Me for auto-updating content, or Formidable for interactive forms. Plugins are your secret weapon, enhancing your Content Builder and giving you new ways to connect with your audience. By making content creation more accessible and allowing for greater creativity, Craft CMS’s Content Builder is essential for businesses aiming to make an impact in the digital world of 2024.

Real-World Success Stories:

See how the Content Builder has already made a big difference for businesses and their customers:

RedSky Travel

This popular adventure travel agency started using the Content Builder to make unique landing pages for each travel destination. These pages have fun interactive maps, custom trip plans based on what the visitor likes, and forms that update in real time to let you book your adventure right away. This approach makes it easier for travelers to find exactly what they’re looking for, leading to more people reaching out to book trips. In fact, RedSky Travel’s inquiries went up by 30% after they began using the Content Builder, proving it’s a game-changer for offering personalized experiences and getting more bookings.

Green Thumb Garden Supply

This online gardening store uses the Content Builder to put together product pages that not only look great but are also interactive. They feature galleries full of images, detailed specs, and care guides for plants that change based on where the customer lives. This hands-on way of showing products boosts customer interest, helps them understand products better, and, most importantly, increases sales. Green Thumb Garden Supply noticed a 25% increase in the value of the average order after bringing in the Content Builder, showing how it can make product pages more engaging and encourage customers to spend more.

Crafting the Future with Galaxy Weblinks

In 2024, making your website stand out is crucial. With Craft CMS, you can create a site that really connects with your audience. This isn’t just about technology; it’s about bringing your digital vision to life. Galaxy Weblinks is here to help you do just that. We have the expertise in Craft CMS to help you build a website that not only looks great but also engages your visitors. Think of us as your partner in making your website more than just another URL. Ready to make your website truly engaging? Get in touch with Galaxy Weblinks. Let’s make your site something special together.

Craft CMS Vs WordPress: Why Choose Craft?

Posted on by galaxy-admin

We are not saying that we do not like WordPress but old man has to move the order to pave way for new and what better than Craft CMS to do so.

The key difference is how both the CMSs approach development. WordPress is a have-it-all and pick what you need approach, while Craft is ripped to basics so that you have a blank slate to build what you need.

Craft CMS is minimalistic, it’s simple, it’s dynamic, and offers key features. In fact, our developers have chosen right and wrong enough times to pick a final side.

You might not believe us right away so here’s what made us a fan.

Fields in Craft

Craft is a boon if you love neat organization. With Custom Fields you can get second level of control over your content type. Different content types ask for different formatting and layouts. Custom Field lets you define those types.

Craft’s Custom Fields & Sections make it easier to manage different types of content while WordPress makes up for it using plugins like ACF (Advanced Custom Fields).

Matrix block model in Craft

Matrix is like Legos, you can use the building Blocks to create a desirable layout for your content. It is a fun way to create complex layouts with ease. The rearrangement of these blocks is even easier. The blocks can be rearranged with a simple drag and drop without affecting the code in the template. You can define field types in the blocks.

WordPress’ ACF plugin adopts heavily from the Matrix content blocks of Craft for custom layouts but it isn’t as efficient as the Matrix.

Live Preview in Craft

Craft’s Live Preview allows you to make changes in real time. You can see the changes as you make them. It splits the screen, showing you the changes in real time on one side of the screen while you make those changes in other.

Craft’s Live Preview lets you review the changes in real time while in WordPress you will have a separate tab open for every little change you make.

Sections in Craft

With Craft you can create different sections for different content types:

  • ‘Single’ section for unique content requirement.
  • ‘Channel’ section for streamlined content with an order.
  • ‘Structure’ section for content type which follows a predefined structure.

As Homepages have unique content requirements, they’re made in the Single section. News and Case Studies need to be ordered by date so they are made in the Channel section while a page like Services needs a predefined structure which can be achieved in the Structure Section.

Craft completely focuses on Content Management and makes it easier for your users to consume content & design distinctively. WordPress on the other hand doesn’t have any such feature.

Localization in Craft

When in Rome, speak as Romans do. Because Craft conveniently lets you. Localization is a powerful Craft feature. It lets you present content on a website in a specific language to target specific audience. The feature proves to be very useful when your audience is of different nationalities. Localization can be achieved by setting up and enabling locales. You can simply switch to the desired locale from the sidebar of the edit entry section, even in a particular section.

Localization translates your page’s content according to your target audience. WordPress relies on heavy plugins that interrupt with the security too.

Relations in Craft

Craft’s relationship engine allows you to form relations between posts with entry fields. You can create relations within the entries. Make an entry field determine the field type and update the template code. Drag, Drop, done. It’s that easy in Craft.

Craft’s Relationship engine allows you to form relations between post types while in WordPress you will be creating a separate category and some PHP tweaks or a plugin.

One-Click Updates in Craft

Craft’s update feature is highly underestimated. It provides the critical updates vis-a-vis features, improvements, bug fixes, security enhancements, and plugins in a single easy-to-install package.

Whenever there is a new update in Craft, it will appear in the control panel as a notification badge. You can download the update just by clicking on the badge. Craft even takes the precautionary measure of taking a backup of your data before installing any update package. Pretty clever! Isn’t it?

You can just go through the brief about the bug fixes, security enhancements, and improvements which come with the package before actually installing the package.

Craft’s One-Click update feature literally updates everything in a single click while in WordPress you have to update every other element almost exclusively.

Security in Craft

Since Craft’s one-click update feature is so efficient, users don’t delay the most important part of keeping a CMS safe, Updates.

It’s just a matter of a click and Craft takes care of the rest.

Craft CMS provides freedom of customization, central update system, and state-of-the-art security, all at a one-time fee of $299. WordPress on the other hand is free, at least initially. For the added security — which is a necessity — you’ll have to pay up to $500/month.

Looking at the vulnerabilities that the dependency on plugins bring, Craft CMS does not only look like a safe bet but also a smart decision.

Want to know more about either of the CMSs? We can help you decide sooner and decide better. Head here and drop all your queries.

If you are interested in learning h

Data Security Matters: Know Everything about GDPR Requirements, Compliances, and Deadline

Posted on by galaxy-admin
“Personal data shall be processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorized or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage, using appropriate technical or organisational measures” ~GDPR Article 5, clause 1(f). From May 25, 2018, organizations will be dealing with penalized under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) if they violate its privacy laws. EU parliament approved and adopted the GDPR in April 2016 and it will be implemented next month, forcing numerous organizations to change their data protection policy. The deadline is May 25, 2018. It will also restrict companies from circulating data to the third parties to control unwanted marketing and reduce the risk of data selling.

What is GDPR?

GDPR is a regulation to protect the personal data and privacy of EU citizens for transactions within 28 member states of EU or even outside. It regulates the exportation of personal data outside EU. Also, it give users more control over how the organizations use their personal data. If companies fail to comply with the rules, they have to pay hefty penalties.

What all data does GDPR protect for the users?

Identity information like name, address and ID numbers

  • Web data such as location, IP address, cookie data etc.
  • Health data and genetic data
  • Biometric data
  • Racial data or ethnic data
  • Political opinions
  • Sexual orientation

Why did EU Parliament adopt this regulation?

The users in EU were doubtful on how companies treat their personal data, creating a mistrust in the users. According to the WARC survey, 85% users say they would boycott a company that showed disregard for protecting consumer data.

Are you under the risk of GDPR?

Any company that stores or processes personal information of EU citizens within EU states will drop under GDPR. Even if your company does not have a business presence within EU, but processes personal data of EU residents you are under the GDPR. A company with more than 250 employees or less, whose data processing impacts the freedom of data subjects will also be affected. A survey from PwC showed that about 92% of the US companies consider GDPR a top data protection policy.

What will the General Data Protection Regulation cost your company?

According to a PwC survey mentioned above, 68% of the US-based companies expect to spend $1 million to $10 million to meet GDPR requirements. Another 9% expect to spend more than $10 million. There’s a huge group of third party vendors that have access to this personal data across the globe. GDPR made it very clear that the companies need to ensure that all their third party vendors adhere to GDPR and process the data accordingly.

The client contract must reflect the regulatory changes such as:

  • Regulatory fines: EU is long known about its willingness to levy steep fines for regulatory non-compliance. In case a data breach is reported, not having contracts in place might work drastically against the company.
  • Operational: Have you decided the plan of action or the data flow with the third-party vendors? If not, it is not clear how you will be operating under GDPR.
  • Vendor management: According to GDPR, you must know how your vendors operate, what security framework they use, and how they process the user data. Without such critical knowledge, you don’t know the risk they present.
Do your vendors present a transparent process when it comes to data processing? Does your contract clearly mention the data usage guidelines? If not, it is clearly an indication that you don’t know what your vendors are doing with the data, which leads to a larger management issue.

Implications to breach of contract:

In case of non-compliance with GDPR a company can be penalized up to €20 million or 4 percent of global annual turnover, whichever is higher. The question is how the penalties will be assessed? According to the agreement, the regulators will swiftly act on a few companies found to be not in compliance with the GDPR to send out a message. This will help organizations to assess the penalties related to GDPR. The companies must report data breaches to supervisory authorities and individual affected by a breach within 72 hours of threat detection. The GDPR requirements will also force the companies to change they way they process, store and protect user’s personal information.

Are you ready with a robust data protection framework?

Here is what you need to do:
  1. Involve all the stakeholders — Just IT cannot set-up a data security infrastructure. Get hold of anyone and everyone in your organization who collects client’s information.
  2. Conduct a session for all your stakeholders in the process — Explain your stakeholders what is the importance of GDPR and how can it make a change in the organization’s process. Tell about the consequences and how regulation can affect the company.
  3. Create a data protection plan — Many companies have already created a data protection plan, but it’s time to review them once again.
Mobile-first VS GDPR — Mobile devices are one of the major hurdles setting up a strong security framework. According to a survey of IT and security executives by Lookout, Inc., 63% of employees access personally identifiable information (PII) of customer, partner, and employee, using mobile devices. This creates a gap, making unique set of risks for GDPR non-compliance. Companies facing GDPR compliance requirements must look for viable mobile threat defence solutions to protect EU PII, enabling them to achieve risk mitigation. This requires few steps:
  • Identify risks on EU data that mobile devices can present
  • Implement risk-based conditional access policies
  • Prepare GDPR’s “72 hours threat notification” process
  • Apply powerful security features around data transfer.
If your organization is on a growth stage focusing on clients based in EU, you surely need to work a lot on your security framework. Still thinking where to start from for the GDPR compliance? We can help you out. Get in touch with us here. Take the next step before it’s too late

Running Outdated Drupal? You Need to PATCH NOW!

Posted on by galaxy-admin
Are you using outdated Drupal version for your website? Your website is open to hackers now! Everyone is calling it Drupalgeddon2! Here is the big news, Drupal recently found a major security vulnerability in their older versions. They have decided to release an URGENT security update, even though the 7.x, 8.3.x & 8.4.x are no longer supported now. The security vulnerability might give hackers access to your data and can take away your control from the website. Focusing on these issues, Drupal introduced an urgent security patch to address a highly critical security vulnerability. The designated flaws CVE-2018-7600 was found in the software’s core, and affects the older versions. Drupal produced patches for their older versions of its latest software – 7.x, 8.3.x, and 8.4.x. This will save you from database updates and quickly update without the possible side effects of a minor version update. What to do next if you are using Drupal 7.x, 8.3.x & 8.4.x.? Get hold of your developer and get the security release implemented immediately!
DO NOT PUT IT ON YOUR TODO LIST. GET IT DONE NOW.
The community has been expressing concerns over security in outdated versions and this is just the first wave. After you are done with the security release, plan on migrating the website to the latest version. Safety is the choice you make! Connect with our Drupal security expert now. You can read more about the official security release here –

Google Rolls Out Mobile-First Indexing for Web Content

Posted on by galaxy-admin
Google recently announced Mobile-First Indexing after a year and half of extensive experimenting and testing. The search engine giant will start migrating sites that follow best practices for Mobile-First Indexing. Google’s algorithm will now prioritize websites with a mobile version when searched from a smartphone. It will now consider mobile sites as the first node to the websites, especially when a query is fired from the mobile platform. This will surely increase the traffic for companies having mobile websites being crawled from the Smartphone Googlebot. Websites that only have a desktop version will experience a major downfall in mobile traffic, even if they have a high ranking on the search engine because Google does not maintain separate indices for different version of the websites. The websites using responsive web design or dynamic serving will generally be set for mobile-first indexing. For sites that have non-AMP and AMP pages, Google will prefer the mobile version of the non-AMP page for indexing. To make the change easier and smooth, Google will be notifying sites that are migrating to mobile-first indexing via Search Console.

What does it change for you?

Companies with ‘desktop-only sites’ will have downfall in their primarily mobile audience. It might not affect your ranking but you will need responsive websites and mobile-friendly content to perform better in mobile search results. The update is a part of Google’s announcement that said that beginning in July 2018, slow loading content will perform less as Google will be optimizing for speed. Long story short, you will have to make some amends! For more details on how you can get your website optimized for better performance after the update, contact us.

Tool Alert: UI Faces: Easier Design Process IS Everything

Posted on by galaxy-admin
Dear fellow designers, have you ever felt serendipitous? (yeah yeah I will monitor my Word Porn consumption). That is how I felt when I found UI Faces. The tiny little tool solves one of the most boring, if not major problems of the designing process. It’s an ode to all the hours that our brethren & sistren had lost while looking up for the right avatar of the UI Mockup. UI Faces is a simple aggregator of people avatars that you can use in your design mockups. It has got a whole collection of beautiful & diverse people who let you use their face in your design (faith in humanity, restored). You can save time & energy and keep your sanity to continue the rest of the design process. Every single picture on the tool is processed and tagged with age, gender, emotion, and hair color. You can easily filter for quick search and sort them by your requirements. No fuss and fume. Even my Scrum Master seemed impressed so you can take his word, if not mine. The users who have submitted their photos are aware that their pictures will be used. Also, as every picture on the website is reviewed personally by Alex, there are no copyright issues. Great guy tbh! You can use all the avatars either by the good ole’ copy-paste, API, and Sketch plugin. Easy peasy and quick! Also, this baby belongs to Mighty Alex, so go give him a shoutout!