Open Source (2022–present)
Since 2022, my focus has shifted from web development with Kirby CMS to Nuxt. Since the alpha phase of Nuxt 3, I have been actively following the meta-framework on GitHub. Over time, I have created several open source projects for my own use in my projects, which I have been maintaining ever since:
- unlazy: 🪧 Universal lazy loading library for placeholder images leveraging native browser APIs
- @nuxtjs/plausible: 🎟️ Plausible Analytics integration for Nuxt
- nuxt-api-party: 🐬 Securely connect to any API with a server proxy and generated composables
- nuxt-prepare: 🦎 Build actions for Nuxt
- nuxt-vitalizer: 🪿 Instantly better LCP scores in Google Lighthouse
- nuxt-kirby: 🫧 Kirby CMS integration for Nuxt with KQL support
- nuxt-gtag: 🔸 Google Analytics & Google Ads integration made easy
Usage of My Plugins
After years of developing and maintaining my Nuxt modules, I became curious to know who might be using my plugins. I identified a handful of projects that use my packages.
Nuxt Plausible
From a UX perspective, cookie banners are a thorn in my side. That's why I rely on Plausible, a tracking solution that complies with DSGVO and doesn't obstruct the user's clicking around on a website.
For a side project (Dachsbau) I wrote a module to connect Nuxt with Plausible as easy as possible. I later outsourced the initially internal plugin as a Nuxt module. Unexpectedly, I was offered to make the module available as an official Nuxt module. Sure!
What makes me most happy is that Nuxt.com uses it itself.
Nuxt Kirby
I now only use Kirby CMS as a headless CMS in my projects. Front-end development with meta frameworks such as Nuxt can be deployed universally across different providers, and in my opinion it offers a more pleasant developer experience than traditional Kirby websites.
However, when it comes to content editing, no other CMS comes close to the flexibility of the Kirby panel – despite one or two systems claiming to be tailor-made for the headless approach. This is why I continue to use Kirby and customise panels depending on the scope and use case.
A few npm packages provided Kirby integration for Nuxt. However, they were all only compatible with outdated Nuxt versions. To meet my own needs, I set out to create the perfect solution. It was my first Nuxt module and it was a steep learning curve. Nevertheless, I created a comprehensive module that is also used by larger commercial websites.