From Bomb Blasts to Tenements: GatsbyJS and Decoupled CMS

Static site generators have become increasingly popular for the past years, and GatsbyJS has quickly brought the component-based approach of React to static publishing. Using a decoupled architecture,  developers can create immersive, performing, and SEO-friendly websites without giving up their favorite CMS.

We’ll look at some of the reasons why Bluecadet chose a static publishing solution for some of our recent projects. We’ll cover the basics of GatsbyJS, and how to pull data from a decoupled CMS. In addition, we'll be looking at how to use GraphQL to query data into your static site.

We’ll include lessons learned (including GraphQL gremlins and Gatsby gotchas) from shipping two decoupled GatsbyJS sites:

• Outrider.org, which dives into big sociopolitical themes such as nuclear proliferation and climate change

• TheHouseOnHenryStreet.org, which tells the story of Lillian Wald and the Henry Street Settlement in New York City

The talk is intended for intermediate developers with some familiarity with React, and will cover:

• Setting up your Drupal site with the GraphQL module
• Creating a basic Gatsby site
• Querying data from Drupal