Next Portfolio Starter

A portfolio starter using:

• next.js
• tailwindcss
• storybook
• netlify cms

⚠️ READ THIS ⚠️ This starter is currently a WIP. There's a bunch of stuff getting added at the moment. You're free to take it and use it if you like as-is. But, there will be some large changes with regards to how things work. Also, there are a lot of features on the way which are useful:

• 404
• Reading time
• Persisted theming
• MDX components
• Code block highlighting
• RSS
• Contact forms

This starter is intended for exported static sites. Think of it like an opinionated hybrid of 11ty with React. It's intended to be used with Netlify. That gives us the opportunity to use all of the Netlify "perks" such as CMS, forms, functions, analytics, etc. with ease. All that whilst still being able to use the DX of Next.js.

Use Netlify CMS Locally

Relies on netlify-cms-proxy-server and using local_backend is a beta feature discussed here.

• TODO:: Check if this works on a fresh non-netlify initialised repository. Write up the steps required.

Image Optimisation Options

Image optimisation isn't straight forward. You've got options here. I've tried to cover the bases how I might go about it. The cool thing is, you can use both. They're not mutually exclusive. But, they do work differently.

Using Image with sharp optimisation

Going with this option means that you use images normally as you would by putting them inside /public. However, you use the Image component located at @/components/image.

<Image
  className="w-24 h-24"
  src="/images/awesome.jpg"
  alt="An awesome picture"
  width={250}
  height={250}
  sizes={['(max-width: 400px) 100px', '250px']}
/>

It's like a normal img but you can pass it sizes. And these sizes get applied to source elements within a picture element. At build time, any images that need to be, get optimised. Under the hood, sharp processes images in the public folder that use this component. The output directory defaults to enhanced/images.

For example, at build time, the component above renders.

<picture data-sizes="(max-width: 400px) 100px,250px" class="block w-24 h-24">
  <source
    type="image/avif"
    srcset="/enhanced/images/awesome_100.avif 100w,/enhanced/images/awesome_250.avif 250w"
    sizes="(max-width: 400px) 100px,250px">
  <source
    type="image/webp"
    srcset="/enhanced/images/awesome_100.webp 100w,/enhanced/images/awesome_250.webp 250w"
    sizes="(max-width: 400px) 100px,250px">
  <source
    type="image/png"
    srcset="/enhanced/images/awesome_100.png 100w,/enhanced/images/awesome_250.png 250w"
    sizes="(max-width: 400px) 100px,250px">
  <img
    src="/images/awesome.jpg"
    alt="An awesome picture"
    class="h-full w-full object-cover"
    loading="lazy"
    decoding="async"
    width="250"
    height="250">
</picture>

Need to pass styles down to that nested image? Use the imgProps prop to pass things down.

<Image
  className="w-24 h-24"
  imgProps={{
    className: "h-full w-full object-cover",
  }}
  src="/images/awesome.jpg"
  alt="An awesome picture"
  width={250}
  height={250}
  sizes={['(max-width: 400px) 100px', '250px']}
/>

You can optimise in various formats supported by sharp. Export a config from n3xt.config.js with the formats you want to use.

module.exports = {
  images: {
    types: ['avif', 'webp', 'png'],
  },
}

NOTE:: This is all very opinionated. I'd recommend digging into the components and the image optimisation code. Tweak transforms/img-optimisation.js to your tastes.

---

This method works by building the project using next build as normal. But, it then scrapes the build output and generates optimised assets before export. Assets are only generated when needed. If they already exist, they aren't generated again unless deleted.

Using next/image

Now for next/image. It works the same as usual. But, you'll hit issues if you try exporting with the default loader. Using a CDN for images that use next/image is the option here. But, you don't want to use up all your bandwidth whilst working on your site!

For this, use environment variables. Store the path for your CDN provider in .env.local.

And then switch between loader based on process.env.NODE_ENV. For example, with cloudinary.

module.exports = {
  images: {
    loader: process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production' ? 'default' : 'cloudinary',
    domains: ['res.cloudinary.com', 'localhost'],
    ...(process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' && {
      path: process.env.CLOUDINARY_PATH,
    }),
  },
}

The caveat here is that you must mirror the media paths from your CDN provider to your public folder.

For example,

https://res.cloudinary.com/<username>/image/upload/images/awesome.png

Would map to.

/public/images/awesome.png