How We Built a Custom Cloud-Native CMS for a News Agency

The Challenge

Our client was a news agency that operated multiple websites covering different topics and regions. They needed a content management system (CMS) that would allow them to easily publish articles to any of the websites that they managed, as well as properly distribute access to the journalists. They also wanted a CMS that was fast, reliable, and cost-effective.

They were using systems like WordPress and Drupal, but they were not satisfied with them. They faced several problems, such as:

Server errors, timeouts, and lags that slowed down their editorial workflow and frustrated their users
Security vulnerabilities and maintenance issues that required constant updates and patches
Limited customization and scalability that prevented them from creating unique and engaging experiences for their audiences
High infrastructure costs that ate into their profits

They wanted a CMS that was tailor-made for their needs and that could handle their growing traffic and content volume.

The Solution

We proposed to build a custom cloud-native CMS for them, using a combination of the microservices and monolith design patterns, or as we like to call it internally, "micromonliths". This approach provided us with a good tradeoff of better developer experience and better scalability and availability.

We used the following technologies to build the CMS:

Python as the backend programming language, because of its simplicity, readability, and versatility
React as the frontend framework, because of its component-based architecture, performance, and popularity
Next.js as the server-side rendering and static site generation tool, because of its ease of use, SEO-friendliness, and support for hybrid pages
Docker as the containerization platform, because of its portability, isolation, and consistency
Kubernetes as the orchestration system, because of its scalability, resilience, and automation
Cloudflare as the CDN and edge network, because of its speed, security, and reliability

We divided the CMS into two parts: the core and the plugins. The core was a monolith that handled the common functionalities, such as authentication, authorization, content creation, editing, and deletion. The plugins were microservices that handled the specific functionalities, such as content delivery, analytics, notifications, and integrations. The core and the plugins communicated via RESTful APIs.

We deployed the CMS on a cloud provider, using Docker and Kubernetes to manage the containers and pods. We used Cloudflare to serve the static assets and cache the dynamic content at the edge, reducing the load on the origin servers and improving the performance and availability of the websites.

The Results

The custom cloud-native CMS that we built for the news agency was a success. It delivered the following benefits:

Improved speed: The CMS was faster and more responsive than the previous systems, thanks to the use of Next.js, Docker, Kubernetes, and Cloudflare. The editors could publish articles faster and the users could access them faster.
Improved reliability: The CMS was more reliable and resilient than the previous systems, thanks to the use of Kubernetes and Cloudflare. The CMS could handle traffic spikes and failures without downtime or data loss.
Improved cost-effectiveness: The CMS was more cost-effective than the previous systems, thanks to the use of cloud-native technologies and Cloudflare. The CMS reduced the infrastructure cost by more than 60%, while increasing the performance and availability of the websites.
Improved customization: The CMS was more customizable than the previous systems, thanks to the use of micromonliths and plugins. The CMS allowed the news agency to create unique and engaging experiences for their audiences, as well as integrate with other services and platforms.

The news agency was very happy with the CMS and the results. They reported an increase in their traffic, engagement, and revenue.

The Future

We are not done yet. We are working on integrating AI into their solution that will help them write faster as well as help them identify more attractive topics where they should put their focus. We are also working on a more customized and improved analytics suite that will give them deeper insights into their performance and audience behavior. We are confident that these features will further enhance their CMS and their business.

Conclusion

We are proud of the custom cloud-native CMS that we built for the news agency. It was a challenging and rewarding project that showcased our skills and abilities. We learned a lot from it and we are looking forward to building more cloud-native solutions for our clients. If you are interested in working with us or learning more about our services, please contact us today. We would love to hear from you.