Category: Web Application

Ensuring Product Success with Configuration Management in 2024

Posted on by galaxy-admin
In the fast-paced digital landscape of 2023, product managers face a similar challenge. Delivering flawless customer experiences within evolving environments and tight timelines feels like conducting a perpetual high-wire act. Features and functionalities might grab the spotlight, but it’s Configuration management that silently orchestrates product success. Gartner forecasts a 25% increase in global IT spending on CM tools by 2024, a resounding testament to its growing importance. The cost of misconfigurations is staggering: a 2023 Ponemon Institute study reports that 82% of organizations suffered data breaches due to configuration errors, each costing an average of $4.24 million. CM emerges as the key component that synchronizes software systems, ensuring every process works together for delivering the best outcome. But let’s delve deeper, understanding the capabilities and challenges of implementing CM in product development. .

Key Benefits of Using Configuration Management

  1. Achieving Precision: 
Imagine managing hundreds of servers, each a unique set of specific settings. Without CM, every change becomes a risky operation with inconsistencies and instability. Configuration Management enforces uniform configurations across environments, minimizing errors and guaranteeing consistent product performance. This, as evidenced by Salesforce’s migration to Kubernetes, resulted in a 60% reduction in deployment time and a 60% decrease in infrastructure costs through CM-driven standardization. Here’s the technical breakdown: CM utilizes tools like Puppet or Chef to define and enforce desired configurations across disparate servers. These tools leverage code repositories, like Git, to store and version control configurations, enabling quick rollbacks and easy collaboration. The result? A streamlined workflow with reduced human error and a predictable, reliable product experience for customers.
  1. Establishing Version Control: 
Configurations evolve subtly, often leaving no trace. But CM acts as a version control mechanism, meticulously recording every tweak, rollback, and milestone. This audit trail empowers you to rewind to the moment a bug emerged, pinpoint the issue, and confidently fix the problem. This ensures the complete elimination of product stumbles which often become quite frustrating for customers. Think of CM as a sophisticated version control system for your entire software infrastructure. Tools like Ansible Tower or Jenkins X provide detailed logs and audit trails, documenting every configuration change and user action. This allows you to pinpoint the exact change that introduced the bug, rollback to a stable version, and fix the issue without impacting customers.
  1. Ensuring Agility With Safeguards: 
Speed is critical in today’s digital age, but unchecked velocity can lead to disaster. CM injects agility into the equation while building in essential safeguards. Automated testing frameworks, like GitLab’s CI/CD pipelines, act as digital guardrails, simulating real-world scenarios and identifying vulnerabilities before they reach production. You can sprint ahead with your product, knowing potential glitches are caught before impacting users. Imagine automated testing frameworks like Selenium or Cypress meticulously simulating user interactions and system workflows. These frameworks test new features and configurations before deployment, identifying performance bottlenecks, security vulnerabilities, and potential bugs. Configuration management integrates seamlessly with these tools, ensuring only thoroughly tested features and configurations reach production, allowing you to innovate at lightning speed with confidence.
  1. Improved Control:
Gone are the days when Configuration management was solely the domain of tech wizards. Modern platforms, like Terraform or HashiCorp Cloud Platform, have empowered product managers to directly manage configurations. This newfound autonomy translates to faster issue resolution, increased team ownership, and a collaborative fine-tuning process, ensuring your product delivers a consistent, resonant experience. Think of self-service portals and intuitive user interfaces that allow product managers to manage key configurations without writing complex code. Tools like Ansible Galaxy or Chef Supermarket provide pre-built modules and blueprints for common configurations, empowering non-technical team members to take ownership and contribute to the product’s success.

Limitations of Configuration Management

While CM basks in well-deserved praise, it’s crucial to acknowledge areas where it might lack.
  1. Difficulty in Choosing The Right Tool: 
The Configuration management landscape is a crowded marketplace, with each tool vying for your attention. But choosing the right instruments can be overwhelming. Implementing incompatible solutions across diverse environments creates complexity, negating the very benefit of standardization. Consolidation and platform integration become crucial here, ensuring your CM implementation works perfectly.. Imagine having a separate tool for managing servers, another for network configurations, and yet another for cloud resources. This creates chaos and inefficiency, hindering collaboration and obscuring the overall system health. Platforms like AWS Config or Microsoft Azure Automation Center offer comprehensive solutions that encompass diverse infrastructure components, reducing tool sprawl and streamlining CM processes. Integrating monitoring and visualization tools like Prometheus or Grafana further enhances visibility, allowing you to proactively identify and address potential issues before they impact performance or security.
  1. Automation’s Blind Spot: 
Automation is Configuration management’s key tool, but over-reliance can be dangerous. Blindly trusting automated scripts can obscure underlying configurations, making debugging a black box. Manual intervention and human oversight remain vital, preventing your product from becoming a victim of automation errors. CM systems rely on complex scripts and automated workflows, but relying solely on automation can lead to unforeseen errors and unintended consequences. Regular manual audits, code reviews, and testing remain essential to ensure automated processes are aligned with desired outcomes and prevent potential misconfigurations from going unnoticed.
  1. Lack Of Actionable Insights: 
Configuration management systems generate vast amounts of data, but extracting actionable insights is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Integrating analytics and visualization tools, like Splunk or ELK Stack, is crucial. They transform raw data into clear reports and actionable alerts, enabling you to proactively identify trends, predict issues, and fine-tune your product’s performance before customers identify issues. CM can integrate with powerful analytics platforms that analyze performance metrics, configuration changes, and user behavior. These tools present data in clear dashboards and actionable alerts, allowing you to identify resource bottlenecks, track trends, and proactively address potential issues before they impact the customer experience.
  1. The Security Bottleneck: 
While CM bolsters security by enforcing compliance, it’s not an impenetrable fortress. Misconfigured tools themselves can become vulnerabilities. Continuous vulnerability scanning and penetration testing, like those offered by Qualys or Rapid7, are crucial to ensure CM isn’t the weakest link in your security chain. Think of CM as a fortified castle, with layers of defenses to protect your system. However, neglecting regular security checks and penetration testing leaves vulnerabilities even in the strongest defenses. Continuously scanning for vulnerabilities in CM tools and configurations, simulating real-world attacks through penetration testing, and patching identified flaws promptly are crucial to ensure your CM system doesn’t become the gateway for security breaches.

Mastering CM Implementation in 2024

Effective Configuration managemennt is more than just a technical solution; it’s a strategic philosophy. It’s about harnessing automation’s power while acknowledging its limitations. It’s about empowering teams while retaining human oversight. It’s about embracing data while extracting its wisdom. At Galaxy Weblinks, we understand this intricate dance. Our team of seasoned product managers and CM experts, armed with cutting-edge tools and real-world experience, can help you:
  • Develop a data-driven CM strategy aligned with your product roadmap and business goals.
  • Design and implement a tailored CM solution that meets your specific needs and challenges.
  • Integrate CM seamlessly with your existing development and operations workflows.
  • Empower your team with training and resources to actively participate in CM processes.
  • Continuously monitor and optimize your CM system for efficiency and security.
By partnering with Galaxy Weblinks, you can transform your product from an unorganized mess to a well managed solution, delivering remarkable experiences to your customers while navigating the evolving digital landscape with confidence and efficiency. Contact Galaxy Weblinks today and let’s explore how we can help you improve your product with CM implementation.

Choosing the Right QA Tool for Your Organization

Posted on by galaxy-admin
In the ever-changing world of software development, quality is your greatest defense. This truth holds even more weight in today’s tech-driven landscape, where a startling 75% of software projects encounter obstacles due to insufficient QA. These challenges can lead to delays, customer dissatisfaction, and in some cases, total project failure. Consider a well-known tech company’s recent software release. Overlooked bugs resulted in a staggering 60% loss of user trust and significant financial repercussions. This incident underscores the pivotal role of QA tools in safeguarding an organization’s digital assets. Selecting the right QA tools is not a mere checklist item; it’s a strategic choice that shapes your software’s reliability and your organization’s reputation.

The Evolved Role of QA Tools in Software Development

Comprehensive Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance (QA) in software development has come far beyond traditional bug detection. Now, it represents an overall approach to software quality, encompassing functionality, performance, and user experience. QA tools like Selenium and Appium extend their capabilities to ensure that applications meet comprehensive quality standards, not just in terms of code correctness but also in user satisfaction and business relevance.

Software Reliability and Business Continuity

Reliability is a keystone of modern software. QA tools are vital for preempting failures and ensuring software robustness. Performance testing tools, for instance, stress-test applications to verify their capability to handle real-world pressures, safeguarding against potential downtimes that could disrupt business operations.

Aligning with User and Business Needs

Today’s QA tools also focus on user experience and business alignment. They assess how well the software aligns with end-user expectations and business objectives, ensuring that the final product delivers a seamless user experience and supports the organization’s strategic goals. This approach moves QA from a purely technical domain to a strategic business function.

Factors to Consider in QA Tool Selection

When selecting QA tools, it’s important to consider several key factors that determine their suitability for specific software development needs:
  1. Functionality and Scope: Assess the tool’s ability to cover various testing needs — from functional and performance testing to security and usability testing. The tool should align with the specific types of testing your software requires.
  2. Integration Capabilities: Evaluate how well the tool integrates with other software development tools and systems. This includes compatibility with existing development environments, Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, and issue tracking systems.
  3. Automated Testing Efficiency: Consider the level of automation support the tool provides. This includes the ability to create, execute, and manage automated test scripts efficiently, which is crucial for Agile and DevOps practices.
  4. Performance Analysis and Reporting: Examine the tool’s capabilities in performance analysis and its ability to provide detailed, actionable reports. Effective reporting can significantly aid in identifying performance bottlenecks and areas for improvement.
  5. User Experience Feedback: Ensure that the tool offers features for user experience testing, such as feedback on app responsiveness and usability, which are vital for ensuring the software meets end-user expectations.
  6. Scalability and Flexibility: The tool should be scalable to accommodate growing project needs and flexible enough to adapt to changing requirements and technologies.
  7. Cost-Effectiveness: Evaluate the tool’s cost relative to its features and the value it brings. This includes considering the total cost of ownership over time.
  8. Community and Support: A strong user community and reliable customer support can be invaluable for resolving issues and learning best practices.

Implementing Efficient QA Practices

Within the field of Quality Assurance (QA), the use of efficient practices depends on a thorough comprehension of the wide range of software testing instruments that are in the market. Every tool has a distinct collection of features designed to fulfill different testing requirements. Given the variety of possibilities available, choosing and utilizing the tools that best meet the objectives and needs of a given project will require careful thought.

Understanding the Diversity of Software Testing Tools

The range of software testing tools available to QA teams is extensive and varied, each designed to address different aspects of the testing process:
  • Automated Testing Tools: 
These tools, like Selenium or QTP (QuickTest Professional), are designed to automate repetitive testing tasks. They are invaluable in accelerating the testing process, particularly in Agile and DevOps environments where rapid iteration is a norm. Automated testing tools are capable of running a suite of tests quickly and consistently, ensuring that new code changes do not break existing functionalities.
  • Performance Testing Tools: 
Tools such as JMeter and LoadRunner specialize in evaluating the performance and scalability of applications. They simulate various user loads on applications to check how the software behaves under stress conditions. This includes assessing response times, throughput, and resource utilization, which are critical for applications expected to handle high user traffic or data processing.
  • Security Testing Tools: 
With the increasing importance of cybersecurity, tools like OWASP ZAP and Burp Suite have become essential. They help identify vulnerabilities such as SQL injections, cross-site scripting, and other security threats. These tools are critical in the early detection of potential security breaches, thereby safeguarding applications from exploitation.
  • Functional Testing Tools: 
Functional testing tools check the application against functional requirements/specifications. Tools like HP ALM (Application Life Management) enable teams to test the application’s functional integrity and ensure it behaves as expected.
  • Mobile Testing Tools: 
As mobile applications become ubiquitous, tools like Appium and Espresso provide frameworks for testing mobile applications across different devices and operating systems. They assess factors like app stability, user interface responsiveness, and compatibility across devices.
  • API Testing Tools: 
Tools like Postman and SoapUI are tailored for testing the functionality, reliability, performance, and security of APIs. They are crucial in modern software architectures where microservices and API-led integrations are prevalent.

Actionable Insights for QA Tool Selection

Selecting the right Quality Assurance (QA) tools is a critical decision that should align with an organization’s broader business objectives. This alignment ensures that the QA process not only checks for software quality but also contributes to achieving strategic goals. Each organization, depending on its size, industry, and development methodology, will have different priorities that dictate their choice of QA tools.

Aligning QA Tools with Business Objectives

The selection process should start with a clear understanding of what the business aims to achieve with its software products. This understanding will guide the choice of tools to ensure they add value in the right areas.
  • Startups and Rapid Deployment:
For startups or businesses that prioritize rapid deployment and frequent releases, speed is of the essence. Automated testing solutions that can quickly execute a suite of tests become invaluable. Tools that offer quick setup, easy script creation, and fast execution help these companies maintain their agility and speed to market.
  • Large Enterprises and Comprehensive Coverage:
Larger organizations or those dealing with complex, high-stakes software may prioritize thoroughness and reliability. They might lean towards QA tools that offer extensive coverage, comprehensive reporting, and integration capabilities. This ensures that every aspect of the software is rigorously tested and that the tools integrate seamlessly into larger, more complex development environments.

QA for Agile Development: Embracing Flexibility

Agile development methodologies require a different approach to QA. The tools chosen should complement the flexibility and speed of Agile processes.
  • Support for Quick Modifications: 
Agile projects involve frequent changes and iterations. QA tools in this environment need to be able to quickly adapt to changes in the software. Tools with easy-to-update test cases and the ability to re-run tests efficiently are crucial.
  • Facilitating Collaboration: 
Agile also emphasizes collaboration among cross-functional teams. Tools that facilitate easy sharing of test results, collaborative bug tracking, and integrated communication channels can enhance team synergy and efficiency.

Continuous Integration and QA: Streamlining the Process

In DevOps and Continuous Integration (CI) environments, the integration of QA into the development pipeline is essential. The right tools can automate the testing process and provide immediate feedback, which is crucial for maintaining the quality of the software throughout the development lifecycle.
  • Support for Continuous Integration: 
Tools that seamlessly integrate with CI pipelines enable teams to automate testing as part of the build process. This integration ensures that any code changes are immediately tested, reducing the likelihood of bugs making it to production.
  • Providing Immediate Feedback: 
In CI/CD (Continuous Deployment) environments, immediate feedback on the quality of code is crucial. Tools that offer real-time results and alerts enable developers to quickly address any issues, thereby maintaining a high quality of code throughout the development process.

Latest Trends in QA Tools

  • Shift-Left Testing: Early Integration for Faster Feedback
Integrating QA tools earlier in the development lifecycle, known as shift-left testing, allows for faster feedback and bug detection, reducing the mean time to repair (MTTR).
  • AI-Powered Testing: Enhancing Automation and Accuracy
AI-powered testing tools use machine learning for automated test case generation and defect identification, improving test coverage and automation ROI.
  • Cloud-Based and Low-Code/No-Code Testing
Utilizing cloud platforms offers scalable testing infrastructure, while low-code/no-code tools democratize testing access, catering to non-technical users.

Real-World Applications

Organizations like Netflix use chaos engineering tools to ensure service resilience, while Amazon leverages AI-powered testing for improved feedback and test coverage. Microsoft’s comprehensive testing strategy across various platforms and Airbnb’s utilization of mobile testing tools highlights the diverse applications of modern QA tools.

Enhance Software Quality with Galaxy Weblinks

As industry giants like Netflix and Amazon demonstrate with their use of chaos engineering and AI-powered testing, the right QA tools are crucial for innovative software delivery and enhanced user experience. Microsoft’s thorough testing across platforms and Airbnb’s focus on user experience highlight the importance of detailed QA practices in the digital world. Choosing QA tools is a strategic decision critical for software quality and user trust. At Galaxy Weblinks, we understand the vital role of QA in achieving software excellence. Our approach, enriched with industry insights and advanced QA strategies, ensures your software not only meets but surpasses modern digital standards, boosting user satisfaction and business success. Book a discovery call with us and get to know how we can help you enhance your software quality and grow in the digital world.

Outsourcing QA | A Doomsday prepper’s guide to an apocalypse-ready webapp

Posted on by galaxy-admin

You might be familiar with Murphy’s law which says ‘Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong’. Software isn’t immune to that. But that’s often the last of your worries because the plate’s always full!

Well, not anymore!

Prepping your webapp via a professional third party QA vendor

QA is like checking your life jacket before diving. There are professionals that run quality tests to eliminate the possibilities of a malfunction.

Delegating QA to a professional third party is not a bad idea. If you’re thinking of adding or improving a QA process in your existing SDLC, then there are two ways of doing that. One is to go with an inexperienced local team and another option is to outsource professionals.

An experienced QA engineer is aware of all the possible errors and prepares test cases accordingly.

It’s not safe out there and you must be on-guard at all times.

The right & only way to outsource QA or any help for that matter

Clear communication.

It is vital for coordination. While hunting, Preppers require patience and coordination to hunt. Their coordination through communication determines if they’ll eat or sleep hungry.

You need to think of outsourcing as co-operative hunting. Communication is the key.

50% of the problems are instantly solved with an active and fitting communication channel. That’s the only way both the parties would know what’s expected of them. Fluent and relevant dialogues can lead to result-driven partnerships.

Start by talking about these aspects:

  • Project requirements
  • Defects in software products during all stages of the development process
  • Product quality evaluation
  • Product’s usability

Delegation gets more done.

Don’t “Alpha to Charlie, we need cover!” your vendor. Just plain communication would do

An elaborate plan is one common thing in every prepper’s guide. The plan is made keeping every possible worst case scenario in mind.

Your engagement model is that plan.

Start by defining the type of outsourcing your project requires. Incremental outsourcing allows you to mitigate your risks by dividing work into smaller, more manageable projects. Total outsourcing involves outsourcing multiple projects and programs to a service provider.

Beware of these fatal threats. It might kill your webapp

Pokeberries might look tempting and edible but they’re poisonous.

A webapp is like the wild. There are things that look friendly and consumable but are not. Here’s a handy list of common things that are used to steal user data and are poisonous for your webapp.

1. Cross site scripting (XSS)

Hackers can use malicious scripts across the site to redirect your users to other phishing sites. Via these phishing sites they can extract customer’s information and exploit their machines.

2. Cross site request forgery

Using cross site request forgery hackers can link their malicious website on your webapp. These links when clicked on, compromises user credentials and other personal information.

3. Code injections

Code injections are rather common, they are used to alter the functioning of a webapp and make it crash.

4. Server side includes (SSI) injections

Server side injections are like code injections but more severe. As the name suggests it’s injected on server side.

5. Authorization bypass

Authorization for webapps acts like biometric access control. A successful bypass means the breach of protected information, which can lead to misuse of website data.

Not roughing up your webapp can lead to:

  • Terrible speed
  • Subpar performance
  • Compromised UX
  • High bounce rate
  • Reduced search engine ranks
  • Payment interface issues
  • Loss of potential customers & sales

Testing before sending it out there in the wilderness

Browser Compatibility Testing

Test the traps with something (exclude yourself) after deploying. QA reduces the risks of failure.

Different browsers render websites differently. Bug fixes and critical changes make it more difficult to find a sweet spot for compatibility. QA engineers test all the platforms that your website will run on.

Testing on multiple devices is essential because people use mobiles devices more than computers. Compatibility issues lead to poor performance and it can decrease traffic and affect conversion.

Performance and user experience is one of those things that will instantly affect your business.

With comprehensive compatibility tests you can prevent loss of potential customers & sales. Better loading speeds and lower bounce rates aid in better SEO ranks too.

UX Testing

See the world with a survivor’s eyes and walk in their shoes. That’s how you come up with unusual solutions.

UX testing is seeing your webapp with your user’s eye. With test case scenarios you’re taking a walk in their shoes.

Use real time user-behaviour data to improve user flows and fix abnormalities within the webapp. With the help of UX testing you can determine if your design, user flow, and copy are working as intended.

Functional Testing

Functional testing surfaces friction in your webapp, if any. It also reveals crucial issues of your website’s functionality like UI problems and substandard user experience.

Using functional test case scenarios, QA engineers can compare the functionality of your website against the defined scope.

Load & Performance Testing

This testing uses staging servers to determine maximum load & performance. It’ll help you figure out if you have delayed server responses, crashes, and other potential problems.

Load and performance tests are designed around your business requirements, server configuration, historical traffic on your website, anticipated future traffic of your website.

JMeter and Loadrunner are used to simulate traffic to test your website. These tests help QA engineers to identify key performance indicators for your webapp and server.

Security Testing

You can manually get rid of bugs and faults but new ones keep appearing hence the automated tests for passive safety.

QA engineers use a mix of manual and automated testing techniques on your staging servers to identify security vulnerabilities on your website.

Test Automation

Selenium does the bug hunting for your webapp. It uses test scripts to mimic the user interface over and over. You don’t have to live test manually every time there’s a small change.

Although not all aspects of website could run using automated testing, even if some vital checkpoints are automated, it saves manpower cost to a huge extent.

QA can protect your webapp and cut costs at same time

Your website’s content assets and customer information are key drivers for your success. Security vulnerabilities can cause loss of data, customers, and reputation. A QA team can save your webapp, customers, and sales. Wise men say

“Better safe than sorry”

QA can reduce 30-40% costs of maintaining the quality of the webapp.

We’re no Doomsday preppers but we do have a team of QA/QC engineers that leave no margin for errors and makes your webapp apocalypse-ready.

Say hi, we can make your product fit enough to survive.

Mastering the Art of Data-Driven Web Designing

Posted on by galaxy-admin
A scenario where a simple tweak in web design, informed by user data, skyrockets a company’s sales by 70%. This isn’t a rare occurrence in the era of data-driven design. Such transformative results are becoming increasingly common, as businesses utilize the power of data to revolutionize their web presence. In a landscape where over 90% of online experiences begin with a search engine, the impact of web design on user experience and business success is monumental. Consider how Spotify, through data-driven design, increased its monthly active users by focusing on personalized experiences. This article will explore how leveraging data in web design is not just a trend but a necessity for modern businesses.

The Pillars of Data-Driven Web Design

Understanding the core aspects of data-driven design is essential for any web professional:

Web Design Analytics:

Understanding user interaction patterns is critical. Web design is no longer just about creating visually appealing layouts. It’s about using analytics to understand how users interact with your site. Tools like Google Analytics provide insights into user behavior, enabling designers to make informed decisions. Implement analytics tools to track user behavior on your site and use these insights to tailor the user experience. Google’s Material Design, for example, was developed using extensive user data, leading to designs that resonate more effectively with users. Even, Amazon uses analytics to personalize user experiences, it has set a benchmark in e-commerce, contributing to its massive success.

Leveraging User Experience Data in Design Decisions:

Data is invaluable in creating user-centric web designs. The heart of data-driven design lies in understanding and implementing user experience data. This includes studying how users interact with your website and what drives their decision. Heatmaps optimize website areas for increased engagement, while regular user surveys and usability tests gather feedback for continuous improvement in web design. Google’s AMP project and Airbnb’s redesign demonstrate data-driven design efficacy, enhancing mobile browsing experience and doubling booking rates, respectively.

Web Development Strategies Grounded in Data:

Web developers may create websites that are both technically solid and easy to use by incorporating data into the creation process. Keep an eye on how quickly your website loads and make necessary optimizations; even a small delay of a few seconds can result in a marked increase in bounce rates.

A Data-Driven Approach for Conversion Rate Optimization: 

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is crucial for online businesses, as it helps understand user actions and improves conversion rates. A/B testing can lead to significant improvements, as seen in an online bookstore’s checkout process. Data-driven strategies, like Amazon’s constant experimentation, can also enhance conversion rates by continuously testing and optimizing website elements.

Responsive Design Analytics for a Seamless User Experience:

For a seamless user experience across all devices, responsive design is essential. Analytics can help understand user interactions, leading to better cross-platform experiences. A news portal’s mobile layout optimization resulted in a 50% increase in engagement. As mobile usage increases, optimizing mobile experiences is essential. Google’s study found 53% of users leave sites taking longer than three seconds to load.

Leveraging Behavioral Analytics for a Deeper Understanding:

Behavioral analytics offers insights into user behavior on websites, enabling more nuanced design strategies. For instance, Spotify’s personalized playlists and Netflix’s recommendation algorithm have significantly increased user engagement. By analyzing user behavior patterns, companies can create more engaging and intuitive web designs, uncovering user motivations and implementing tools to track and analyze user behavior.

The Significance of UI/UX Design Data in E-commerce

The user interface and experience are crucial in e-commerce. Efficient and user-friendly online purchasing can be achieved by analyzing UI/UX design data. Reduce cart abandonment by streamlining the checkout process with the help of customer journey data analysis.

Website Performance Metrics: The Backbone of User Experience

One of the most important aspects of UX is website speed. Making sure your website satisfies user expectations requires tracking metrics like load time and responsiveness. To guarantee a positive user experience, regularly check and improve the functionality of your website.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Web Design

Advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning are elevating data-driven design to unprecedented levels. Massive volumes of data can be analyzed by AI algorithms to forecast user preferences, which results in more efficient and customized online experiences.

Boost Your Web Presence with Galaxy Weblinks

Mastering data-driven web design is about understanding and utilizing the power of data to create websites that not only look good but also perform excellently. Galaxy Weblinks stands at the forefront of this revolution, blending creative design with cutting-edge data analysis to deliver websites that are not just visually stunning but also incredibly user-centric and business-effective. Let us help you transform your digital presence into a dynamic, data-driven platform that propels your business forward.

Is WordPress 5.0 Following the Craft CMS Path with Gutenberg?

Posted on by galaxy-admin
In today’s digital era, where websites have become the lifeline of businesses and bloggers alike, the choice of a Content Management System (CMS) can make or break your online presence. WordPress, known for its user-friendliness and extensive plugin library, has been a go-to choice for many. However, the release of WordPress 5.0 with the Gutenberg Editor raised questions and comparisons with another rising star in the CMS world – Craft CMS.

A Shift in the WordPress Landscape

The WordPress landscape, which has been evolving consistently, took a significant turn with the introduction of WordPress 5.0 and the Gutenberg Editor. WordPress powers over 43% of all websites on the internet. That’s a staggering number, showcasing its dominance in the CMS world However, the Gutenberg Editor brought a new way of content creation to WordPress users. It aimed to simplify the process with a block-based approach, allowing users to build and customize content with ease. While this change was intended to make content creation more intuitive, it raised concerns among the WordPress community.

Craft CMS: A Rising Challenger

On the other side of the spectrum, Craft CMS has been gaining traction for its flexibility and developer-friendly features. Craft CMS offers a blank canvas for developers to create highly customized websites, making it a compelling choice for businesses and developers who require precise control over their websites.

Real-World Example

To illustrate this shift, consider the case of Jane, a small business owner running an online boutique clothing store. She had been using WordPress for years, enjoying its ease of use. However, when Gutenberg Editor was introduced, her routine changed. Initially intrigued by the block-based approach for showcasing her clothing products, Jane faced a learning curve, leading to a temporary decrease in productivity. She had to invest hours in understanding the new system, affecting her ability to focus on her business. Now, let’s look into the case of Mark, a blogger using Craft CMS for his technology blog. Mark appreciated Craft CMS for its developer-friendly approach and precise control over website design and functionality. The transition to Craft CMS was seamless for Mark, allowing him to continue publishing tech articles without interruption. His blogging experience remained smooth and uninterrupted.

The Numbers Speak

Now, let’s explore some numbers to better understand this shift. WordPress 5.0 adoption faced initial challenges, with some users hesitating to upgrade due to concerns about compatibility and workflow disruptions. On the other hand, Craft CMS witnessed a steady rise in popularity, particularly among developers looking for a more robust platform.

Craft CMS and WordPress Adoption Rates

  • WordPress, as mentioned earlier, continues to dominate the CMS market with a staggering 43% market share.
  • Craft CMS, although not as widely adopted as WordPress, has been growing steadily and is becoming increasingly popular among developers and businesses.

Simplifying the Decision-Making Process

So, what should you choose for your website? In the end, everything comes down to your own requirements. Let’s break down the decision-making process further:

WordPress 5.0:

Pros:

  • Vast Community: WordPress boasts a massive community of users and developers, resulting in extensive plugin support and resources.
  • Simplicity: WordPress is known for its user-friendly interface, making it accessible to beginners.
  • Ecosystem: It offers a wide range of themes, plugins, and integrations.

Cons:

  • Learning Curve: The transition to Gutenberg may require some users to adapt to a new way of content creation.
  • Customization Limitations: While WordPress is highly customizable, Craft CMS offers more granular control over design and functionality.

Craft CMS:

Pros:

  • Flexibility: Craft CMS provides a blank canvas for developers, allowing for precise customization and control.
  • Developer-Friendly: Developers appreciate Craft CMS for its coding flexibility and robust features.
  • Performance: Craft CMS is known for its speed and performance, ideal for high-traffic websites.

Cons:

  • Smaller Community: Craft CMS has a smaller community compared to WordPress, resulting in fewer plugins and themes.

Your CMS Partner

In the world of CMS, one size doesn’t fit all. Whether you lean towards WordPress, Craft CMS, or any other platform, what matters most is choosing a solution that aligns with your goals. At Galaxy Weblinks, we understand the nuances of WordPress, Craft CMS, and various other CMS options. We offer comprehensive CMS services, including WordPress Web Development and Craft CMS solutions, tailored to your unique requirements. Partner with us to navigate the CMS landscape effectively and make the right choice for your digital journey.

Angular 7 upgrade | What will you miss if you ignore?

Posted on by galaxy-admin

Angular 6, released earlier in May 2018 didn’t offer much improvements on the performance part. It was mainly focused on making Angular migration-friendly. Google dropped Angular 7 just after four months of development and it seems to make up for that part of the framework.

The upgrade was released on October 18 followed by an incremental update 7.1 on November 28.

Angular 7 version upgrade is not a feature-intense update, instead it focuses on the core framework. As a result you get better performing applications with small packages and faster response.

The long-due Ivy compiler is still under works but other things were delivered as promised.

CLI prompts

Angular CLI can prompt users to help them make decisions. ng new prompts users of routes and styles to use, while ng add @angular/material asks users what theme they want and if they want gestures or animations.

Performance

Application performance has been improved by automatically adding or removing the reflect metadata polyfill, making applications smaller in production.

Angular Material and CDK (Component Dev Kit)

Angular 7 features virtual scrolling, for dynamically loading and unloading items from DOM according to the visible parts of the lists. Also, applications can be fitted with a drag-and-drop capability. Angular Elements components now support content projection via slots.

Why Angular 7?

Why not when it offers brilliant perks like these.

  • Comes with better mobile and desktop application support.
  • Application packages are smaller and efficient.
  • CLI prompts help you make decisions and code faster.
  • Angular 7 now features budget bundle. It warns when application exceeds the default size
  • Fast rendering of large lists with virtual scrolling
  • Upgrade takes less than 10 minutes for most of the apps.

Things that were further improved with the latest incremental update Angular 7.1

  • A bug fix to the Ivy compiler so it now can generate inputs and aliases properly. The compiler had been generating an outdated input property format.
  • Also in the compiler, a bug fix generates a relative path only in summary file errors.
  • Previously, errors in the summary file included absolute file names.
  • The compiler now can mark an InvokeFunctionExpr as pure.
  • For the core of the framework, a static dependency to @angular/compiler has been removed from @angular/core.
  • A regression in the router has been fixed in which the navigateByUrl promise did not resolve on CanLoad failure.
  • For service workers, typing has been added to the public API guard and lint errors have been fixed.

Planning an Angular 7 upgrade? Mind these prerequisites.

For apps that are running on Angular 6 & RxJS 6 use this command:

$ ng update @angular/cli @angular/core

And for the apps running Angular Material

$ ng update @angular/material

Upgrading Angular is a hassle-free process but more often than not version upgrades can mess your app’s current state. Upgrade failures are universal for every software so it is highly advised that you perform the upgrade with the help of an Angular expert. Speaking of which, you can get in touch with us.

Craft & its Plugins | A transforming workflow

Posted on by galaxy-admin
We like to think of Craft CMS as a Transformer (one with BumbleBee as his friend) and plugins as its Jet Pack. And every time we develop a plugin for Craft, it helps our Craft projects reach client’s expectations. Craft is a powerful CMS and its developers have left a lot of scope for extensibility. Plugins do the things that Craft CMS cannot. In our workflow Craft plugins help us do more than what Craft can do. Often our clients steer clear of plugin development because of the extra work and vulnerabilities it brings. That’s not the case with Craft plugins. You can read about plugin vulnerabilities in our Craft Vs WordPress blog. Before diving into our plugin development workflow you should know about Composer and Pluginfactory. Craft CMS 3 is highly dependent on the Composer for its development. Composer is a PHP package manager that helps Craft with PHP dependencies. Pluginfactory on the other hand is a different tool altogether it creates scaffolding for plugins. We use the scaffolding to configure our code in it. After defining the need we get on to the business of building the plugins. Craft documentation has a pretty straightforward approach to plugin development. Being big fans of Craft’s coding techniques we looked no further for inspiration. Our plugin development process is as simple as Craft’s.

Building “The Jet Pack” for Craft CMS

Image credit: pixabay

Nomenclature for the assembly

Like the parts of a Jet Pack, parts of the plugin should be named in a consistent format so that they can be identified easily. We follow the naming guidelines whether we’re naming packages or handles. It is safe and efficient to follow a particular nomenclature.

According to the Craft’s documentation-

  • Plugin handle must have lowercase letters, numbers, and dashes. All in Kebab case
  • Package name should have Craft- prefixed to it, after the ‘/’

Creating blueprint for “The Jet Pack”

Image credit: matej

Before we found out about pluginfactory, like every other developer we used to make our plugin structure manually. Pluginfactory creates a skeleton for your plugin in just a few clicks. It is created by a Craft developer named Andrew Welch. The scaffolding on pluginfactory are made using the Yeoman generator.

Details needed to create the scaffolding

  • API version
  • Plugin name
  • Description
  • Initial version
  • Plugin vendor
  • Plugin author
  • Author URL
  • Github name
When the structure is ready we feed our code into it and voila! Our plugin is ready.

Installing “The Jet Pack”

Image credit: jaguarmena

Plugins are written as composer packages. For Craft to recognize the plugin we have to install it as a composer dependency of the project. The installation depends on the nature of plugin whether it’s local or public. If it’s local we install it by configuring the composer.json and adding a new path repository record. The path must point toward the plugin’s root. If a plugin is made for a public release then it can also be installed directly via composer. After registering the plugin as a new composer package on Packagist, a require package command in composer fetches the package and installs it.

Final word: Plugins are essential

Image credit: jaguarmena

Plugins are not a crucial part of a CMS but it sure is important to achieve something out of the box based on client’s requirement. We find plugins to be extremely powerful and time-saving. The most important function of a plugin is to eliminate tedious and repetitive tasks by automating it. Some examples might put its importance into perspective.
  • SEO plugins make search engine optimization easier
  • E-commerce plugins improve customer journey.
  • Analytic plugins help with insights on page performance
  • Text and image editor plugins provide rich editing functionalities
If you’re looking to transform your Craft CMS experience — visual or performance — then plugins can help. As for the development of the plugin, talk to us here.

Drupal 8.6 update. What’s new?

Posted on by galaxy-admin

Keeping up with the promises made during earlier announcements, Drupal released the 8.6 version on September 5. The update comes with significant additions.

Drupal 8.6 now supports MySQL 8. Also, with this update a monolingual Drupal 6 site can be migrated to Drupal 8 directly from the user interface. Multilingual website migration using the UI is still under development. Apart from these changes, other important changes are listed below.

Easier Drupal installations

Installations on Drupal have been made easier. There are two ways to install Drupal.

  1. A quick start command installs Drupal within 2 minutes using PHP’s built in web server and SQlite database.
  2. Drupal’s installer now recognizes existing configurations and provides an option to install updates for that configuration.

Test environment to showcase features

Image source: drupal.org

Drupal now provides an easy-to-install test environment in a demo website called umami. The demo profile can be used to showcase Drupal’s data modeling, listing, page composition, and content moderation capabilities to prospects. It will also help in onboarding new users.

Support for remote media types

Image source: drupal.org

This Drupal update adds support for remote media types. You can now easily embed YouTube and Vimeo videos.

Experimental features

Image source: drupal.org

Workspace module and layout builder are some of the experimental features that are introduced with this update.

Workspace module lets you work on different projects simultaneously. You can segregate your projects using workspaces.

Content layout builder is an under-development experimental version. The stable version will be a powerful tool against authoring challenges.

Drupal 8.6 update package brings some much-needed additions to the table, such as:

  • Nightwatch.js and Prettier is added to make it more familiar to Javascript and PHP developers.
  • Tests are converted from SimpleTest to PHPUnit.

Whereas, JSON API was skipped in this update.

Any updates, whether it’s incremental or critical, means a mandatory upgrade for the older versions. Drupal will end support for Drupal 6 but support for Drupal 7 will continue.

Upgrade to Drupal 8.6 now.

Get in touch with our Drupal experts here!

Magento 1 End Of Life: It’s time to migrate to Magento 2

Posted on by galaxy-admin
Magento announced that it is pulling the plug on Magento 1 in April 2017 at the ‘Meet Magento’ conference in Prague. The announcement caused a frenzy amongst developers and business owners. However, Magento later cancelled the End of Life and announced an 18-month notification policy for the EOL date. Even though the End of Life has been delayed, it’s high time you start planning Migration to Magento 2. Magento’s team will provide support for Magento 1.13.x and 1.14.x Enterprise editions, but only till June 2020. The support for Magento 1 community edition is no longer available. End of support on Magento 1 means that there will be no further development. With no security patches, your business and data will be at risk. This would leave your website vulnerable to hackers. Apart from security you might also face the following issues if you decide to delay the upgrade:
  • Increased maintenance costs
  • Lack of support for extensions
  • PCI compliance issues
  • Lack of speed (Magento 2 is faster)
Magento has provided you with the timeframe to understand the database, compatibility, and integration needs for a smooth migration and upgrade. As most of the current Magento websites are running on Magento 1, the users currently have two options:
  • Start planning the migration to Magento 2
  • Stick with Magento 1 for a while till a glitch makes it urgent.
Moving to Magento 2 will change your website’s game. It easily handles huge traffic and aids faster checkouts. As per previews, the stores in Magento 2 load 30–50% faster than Magento 1. Magento 2 solves the problem of slow page loading speeds and checkouts, resulting in lesser transaction failures and more business! As Magento 2 is based on a different architecture, the migration will be a time-taking process. It is highly advised to get a team of Magento experts on board and get on with it. Bottomline, GET IT DONE NOW! DO NOT PUT THE UPGRADE ON PENDING TASK LIST! Migration to Magento 2 is a walk in the park if you have right development partners onboard. Get a Magento expert here!

ACF vs Visual Composer website builder: Which is better?

Posted on by galaxy-admin
Building a WordPress website? The WordPress community provides you with plenty of options. You can either make an easy one using WordPress themes or a custom one using website builders. A website builder is the most convenient way to make a personalised website. WordPress community provides you with a ton of free and paid builders as per your needs and levels of expertise. Once you make up your mind on what you plan to do with your website, then you can chalk-out the structure and the elements that you’re going to need for the website to function. After locking in your requirements, you can choose your website builder. We recommend using two of our recent favorites.
  • ACF
  • Visual Composer

ACF

Image Source: advancedcustomfields.com

The interface of the Advanced Custom Fields is simple. It lets you create dynamic fields for individual elements of your website. Installation and activation of ACF adds Custom Fields to your WordPress dashboard. From the Custom Fields menu you can take full control of your edit screen & custom field data. The minimalistic interface of ACF can be mistaken for an under equipped website builder. You can make some of the most complex and powerful websites with ACF. The best thing about ACF’s interface is that it doesn’t try to overwhelm you. It only shows the functions that you need. ACF gives you the full control of your website right from header to footer. You can build individual elements of your website with custom fields. There are 25+ different field types to choose from, vis-a-vis. text, image, gallery and WYSIWYG editor. These fields are dynamic. You can use them to give your client an easy way to update their website according to their liking.

Visual Composer

Image Source: visualcomposer.io

It has a clean and modern interface which allows you to make basic layouts with ease. The interface lets you work on different elements of the website, right then and there. Visual Composer has a floating window which pops up every time you’re trying to add or edit an element. The window is movable and resizable, you can place it anywhere if it’s obstructing your view. Visual Composer gives you the best of both worlds with its backend and frontend editor. While building, you can easily choose from the ready-made layouts of landing page, call to action page, feature list, description page, service list or a product page. Adding elements in the website is also easy with the element window. The drag and drop visuals come at a cost of short codes. Migrating to another website builder or uninstalling Visual Composer leaves short codes in the content, rendering it unreadable. Fixing these short codes is an another chore on its own.

Which one do we prefer over another, you ask?

Well it’s a tough choice but…ACF! ACF and Visual Composer are serving two different audiences. ACF is focused on developers. Visual Composer on the other hand targets the people with little to no knowledge of website development. In case of both the builders. the audiences don’t need to have an extensive coding knowledge. Visual Composer focuses on making the website building experience as easy as it can be. Visual Composer is not made for complex websites it will only provide you with enough elements to get your website up and running.

Why ACF?

ACF does a commendable job with its active development and incredible support. The developers are constantly working to keep the plugin current. The heavily themed interface of Visual Composer is slow. The floating window takes time to load the elements, and the builder shows glitches when you switch from frontend to backend. Visual Composer is affordable for personal license but expensive for client work. ‘Advanced Custom Fields’ is more affordable and provides value for money. Another thing that doesn’t work in Visual Composer’s favor is that the pre-sales service and overall support for Visual Composer is terrible. It comes as no surprise that ACF has 900,000+ active installations compared to Visual Composer’s 500,000+. You can save your time and money with theme-based websites but you might not get the exact thing you’re looking for. Themes are designed keeping a universal requirement in mind. Your unique requirement might not fit in those templates everytime. But, if you have unique requirements and want the best for your website, then website builder is the right bid. Making custom websites is a hectic process. We can make that process easier. Our expert development team knows website builders like the back of their hands. Hit us up here if you’re looking for WordPress development partners.