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4 August, 2024 //

The Dream Stack: Pivale's Perfect Web Package

#Advice
#Backend
#Drupal
#Frontend
#Security & compliance
#WordPress

Barry Fisher, Founder and CEO at Pivale Drupal agency - a man with dark hair, a neat beard, moustache and glasses.
Written by Barry Fisher Founder & CEO

Barry is our founder and CEO, responsible for delivering on our mission statement and ensuring successful digital transformation for our clients. Barry oversees the majority of our consulting and digital transformation projects.

Looking to create the perfect website? It’s not just about how it looks, but how it works, performs and evolves with your business. For any serious business of a certain size, prioritising security is a must. While WordPress has its merits, security isn’t one of them. Beyond safety, a fast, reliable, and easy-to-manage site is crucial. That’s where our "Dream Stack" comes in, offering the ideal recipe for digital success. Let’s dive into the five key components that make up this ideal package.

1. Cloudflare – Secure Your Website

Security is an essential part of maintaining robust web presence. With Cloudflare acting as both your security guard and speedy assistant, you can be sure that your visitors enjoy the best experience while your data stays secure. Keep your website safer from cyber threats, speed up load times, and ensure your site is always available, even during traffic spikes.

Setting up Cloudflare requires moving your DNS provider, but the benefits far outweigh the effort. With Cloudflare, your site gains a web application firewall, bot protection, and a global content delivery network (CDN) that caches content closer to your users, making your website load faster no matter where they are. And the best part? There's a free plan, so there’s really no excuse for not using it.

2. Drupal – Secure Your Vision

Next, we have Drupal, the powerhouse content management system (CMS) that puts flexibility and control in your hands. Managing multiple websites can be frustrating, but the beauty of Drupal is that it lets you take charge of maintenance, security, and compliance. Need to roll out a new site? Easy. With Drupal, you truly become the boss of your brand.

Drupal goes beyond just building websites. Its robust security is what really sets it apart. Unlike other CMS platforms that rely on a patchwork of third-party plugins, Drupal's security is built into the core and constantly monitored by a dedicated security team. This transparency and commitment to safety are why many of our clients choose to migrate from WordPress to Drupal.

We regularly try out new CMS platforms to ensure we're always offering the best advice, recommendations, and services to our clients, but none have come remotely close to matching Drupal. Its flexibility and scalability are simply unmatched.

3. Upsun (previously Platform.sh) – Excellent Hosting and Web Performance

Your website's hosting can make or break its performance, and that’s where Upsun comes in. It provides an environmentally friendly, robust hosting environment that scales with your needs. It's designed to support complex applications and high-traffic websites without compromising speed or security.

Upsun gives you peace of mind that your site is in good hands, with seamless scalability and top performance. It is worth the investment in your website's future, ensuring it's always running smoothly, no matter how big your business grows.

4. Plausible – User-friendly Analytics Platform

When talking data, most businesses have heard of Google Analytics. For some years, it was the go-to solution for many, including us! Understanding how visitors interact with your website is crucial for making informed business decisions. However, it’s becoming increasingly cumbersome and overwhelming, with too many screens showing the same information.

Enter Plausible, an easy-to-use analytics platform that gives you the insights you need without any unnecessary extras. It's great at providing just the right tools to understand your website's performance, without the clutter that often comes with other analytics tools. And... it runs completely without cookies, which means you don't have to block it based on the user's cookie consent rules.

One of Plausible’s standout features is its respect for privacy. It doesn’t track users across the web, so your visitor’s privacy is protected. It's lightning fast, thanks to a script that’s a fraction of the size of Google’s and you own your data. Whether you self-host or use their cloud service, Plausible ensures that your data remains yours. It's the analytics platform you didn't know you needed, but once you try it, you'll wonder how you managed without it.

Creating the Dream Stack, One Step at a Time

In an ideal world, every website would be built with Cloudflare, Drupal, Platform.sh, and Plausible. But we know that not everyone is ready to dive into the full package. That’s why we offer flexible options. If you’re not ready to commit to the entire Dream Stack, starting with Cloudflare and Plausible can make a world of difference to your website’s security and data accuracy.

At Pivale, we’re passionate about building websites that are not just beautiful, but also secure, fast, and user-friendly. Our Dream Stack is the culmination of years of experience, designed for you to get them most out of your online presence. Interested in learning more?

Book a chat with us today we’d love to help you build your dream website.

What am I missing if I don't use Cloudflare?

With Cloudflare, you secure your website. Keep your website safe from cyber threats, speed up load times, and ensure your site is always available, even during traffic spikes. Gain a web application firewall, bot protection, and a global content delivery network (CDN) that caches content closer to your users, making your website load faster no matter where they are. And the best part? There’s a free plan, so there’s really no excuse for not using it.

What am I missing if I don't use Drupal?

With Drupal you secure your vision. It is the powerhouse content management system (CMS) that puts flexibility and control in your hands. Managing multiple websites can be frustrating, but the beauty of Drupal is that it lets you take charge of maintenance, security, and compliance. Need to roll out a new site? Easy. With Drupal, you truly become the boss of your brand.

Drupal goes beyond just building websites. Its robust security is what really sets it apart. Unlike other CMS platforms that rely on a patchwork of third-party plugins, Drupal’s security is built into the core and constantly monitored by a dedicated security team.

What am I missing if I don't use Upsun?

With Upsun you get excellent hosting and web performance. Website hosting can make or break your websites performance, and that's where Upsun comes in. It provides an environmentally friendly, robust hosting environment that scales with your needs. It’s designed to support complex applications and high-traffic websites without compromising speed or security.

Upsun gives you peace of mind that your site is in good hands, with seamless scalability and top performance. It is worth the investment in your website’s future, ensuring it’s always running smoothly, no matter how big your business grows.

What am I missing if I don't use Plausible?

Plausible provides a user-friendly analytics platform that gives you the insights you need without any unnecessary extras. It's great at providing just the right tools to understand your website’s performance, without the clutter that often comes with other analytics tools.

One of Plausible’s standout features is its respect for privacy. It doesn't track users across the web, so your visitor’s privacy is protected. It’s lightning fast, thanks to a script that’s a fraction of the size of Google’s and you own your data. Whether you self-host or use their cloud service, Plausible ensures that your data remains yours. It's the analytics platform you didn’t know you needed, but once you try it, you’ll wonder how you managed without it.

Are there other aspects of the Dream Stack?

  1. You'll most likely need a Consent Management Platform (CMP). Most people think of this as their cookie banner to comply with UK/EU GDPR requirements, specifically those that fall under the e-Privacy Directive. Even if you're not based in a privacy aware jurisdiction that requires this, we recommending assessing whether any of your website visitors and customers are from such countries as you may still be required to protect those users' rights. We currently recommend and implement Cookiebot for this reason for most our clients.
  2. A CMP often ties in with a Tag Manager solution, such as Google Tag Manager (GTM), however, it's not the only one around. Cloudflare Zaraz is a solution that can meet tag requirements in a different way - notably server-side tag additions to your websites.
  3. A managed email provider is an important part of your website stack, especially if you plan on sending email notifications or have enhanced interactions on your website. It is far better to use a dedicated SMTP email service, such as Sendgrid, Mailgun, Resend.

There are other ancillary services which didn't make our top 4 of our "Dream Stack", but in any case - ask us about your specific requirements and we can advise which service best suits your needs. Pivale can even manage these on your behalf, if you'd like.

 

Barry Fisher, Founder and CEO at Pivale Drupal agency - a man with dark hair, a neat beard, moustache and glasses.
Written by Barry Fisher Founder & CEO

Barry is our founder and CEO, responsible for delivering on our mission statement and ensuring successful digital transformation for our clients. Barry oversees the majority of our consulting and digital transformation projects.

Pri Scarabelli, Frontend Developer at Pivale digital transformation agency - a woman with dark hair, glasses, and a big smile

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