A Faster, Better Future for Superdesk Publisher with Progressive Web Apps
Superdesk Publisher, the “head” designed for publishing with our headless CMS Superdesk, is making a big leap forward. Based on the latest Progressive Web App (PWA) technology, the Publisher newsroom software will soon offer an all-new, mobile-first experience for content with the following features:
• Lightning-fast performance, with little to no loading time even for graphic-heavy websites
• Responsive display for phone, tablet, or any other mobile device
• Offline availability of content when a user is not online or has limited connectivity
• Enhanced discoverability of content, as PWA-based sites are easier to find online, with built-in support for AMP and SEO optimisation out of the box
• The ability to send push notifications and let users add a site to their home screen
The key benefit of PWA technology is that it makes websites indistinguishable from native mobile apps for users — but doesn’t require them to download or install anything.
For publishers, this new rendering option in Superdesk Publisher offers an instant mobile strategy without the need to develop a native mobile app — an effort that eats up an average budget of €50.000 while offering very little return. (Most users spend 80% of their time in just a few of the apps they have already installed on their devices.)
PWA technology complements the existing feature set of Superdesk Publisher to make it an even more flexible, future-proofed newsroom publishing platform.
From the perspective of our tech stack, the main benefit of adding support for Progressive Web Apps is flexibility. With this option, publishers can:
• Use the Twig and Symfony-based templating engine that is the current default in Superdesk Publisher
• Publish via their legacy systems including WordPress and Django
• Co-develop a PWA front end with us based on NextJS and Hasura
At the same time, editors and newsroom managers can still take advantage of the content presentation options already available in Superdesk Publisher. These include manual or automatic generation of content lists and integrated widget support, which keeps content on the front page of a website continually updated and fresh.
Interested in seeing Superdesk Publisher in action? Sign up for a demo here.
