CraftCMS Overview

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT | Recorded: 2022-01-27 | Verify against current system state

Abstract¶

Comprehensive overview of Craft CMS administration for AANP website. Covers key plugins and features: Retour for 404 redirect handling, SAML SSO integration with Aptify for member authentication, Freeform for contact forms and data collection, GraphQL API for potential headless CMS usage. Also covers SEOmatic for search optimization and social sharing, image transforms with focal point cropping, global fields for site-wide content updates, and member-only content restrictions. Site migrated from Joomla to Craft CMS built by Mighty Citizen.

Key Procedures¶

• Monitor and fix 404 errors using Retour plugin
• Review SAML SSO user attributes from Aptify
• Create and manage forms using Freeform plugin
• Export form submissions to Excel/CSV
• Configure SEO settings for pages and social sharing
• Set image focal points for intelligent cropping
• Update global fields for site-wide content changes
• Restrict content to members using lock domain settings
• Manage cloud storage assets in Google Cloud
• Schedule Craft CMS updates with Mighty Citizen support

Notable Statements¶

• 0:01:31 "This site is pretty new. We just put it into production like a year ago or two years ago."
• 0:02:38 "Mighty citizen was not thrilled about that option. They wanted us to go with craft."
• 0:03:03 "Craft CMS has an open source license... it's much more cost efficient."
• 0:04:03 "You get basically nothing. You have to create every single field."
• 0:11:00 "When the SAML request comes back as authenticated, it ties into a user."
• 0:17:31 "These images, none of them live on the server. These are all stored at a Google storage drive."
• 0:26:52 "What I can do is say his face is the most important part. And I can identify this as the important part of the photo."
• 0:28:28 "Whenever membership numbers change, they can just change it here and it populates everywhere."

Systems & Configurations¶

Systems Mentioned¶

• Craft CMS (version 3)
• Joomla (previous/archived site)
• Aptify (member database, SSO provider)
• Google Cloud Storage (assets)
• Amazon S3 (alternative storage option)
• SendGrid (email delivery)
• AddSearch (site search)
• AddThis (social sharing)

Specific Configurations¶

Credentials/Access Mentioned¶

• Craft CMS admin access
• SAML configuration (PHP knowledge required)
• Google Cloud Storage credentials
• AddSearch admin dashboard
• AddThis configuration dashboard

Errors & Troubleshooting¶

• Issue: 404 errors from old Joomla URLs
• Cause: URL structure changed during migration
• Resolution: Use Retour plugin to redirect to new URLs

• Timestamp: 0:07:06

• Issue: Image cropping cuts off subject

• Cause: Default center crop doesn't know important area
• Resolution: Set focal point on image to preserve important area

• Timestamp: 0:26:52

• Issue: Craft CMS update breaking changes

• Cause: Version incompatibilities
• Resolution: Test in QA first, coordinate with Mighty Citizen
• Timestamp: 0:19:10

Transcript Gaps & Quality Notes¶

• IT team knowledge transfer session with Keith
• Discussion of potential task handoff for CMS updates
• Workflow plugin purchased but not implemented (too complex)
• GraphQL API discussed for potential future headless CMS use
• Member groups JSON field for web user group access control
• Linux server environment (not Microsoft)
• Pluralsight training mentioned for SEO learning