Products for the digitally distracted →

Release Notes

October 13, 2025 — v2.0.0, Complete Site Modernization

🎉 Major Release

This release represents a comprehensive modernization of the StoryBuild website, including SEO optimization, individual product/book pages, enhanced discoverability, and complete data architecture refactor.

🆕 Individual Product Pages (17 Products)

  • Unique URLs for each product (e.g., /shop/cowboy-sam-his-dog-gus-artic-exploration)
  • Image Carousels with thumbnail navigation for multiple product photos
  • Full Product Details including dimensions, descriptions, pricing
  • Purchase Options - Stripe, Amazon, and PDF sample downloads
  • Breadcrumb Navigation for easy site navigation
  • Enhanced Schema.org Markup for each product
  • Mobile Responsive design

Product Categories:

  • Leather Goods (4 products)
  • Product Journals (7 products)
  • Dot Grid Journals (3 products)
  • Draw Your Own Adventure (3 products)

📚 Individual Book Pages (3 Books)

  • Unique URLs for each book (e.g., /books/i-build-for-people)
  • Chapter Previews with images and summaries
  • Flexible Reading Options: Read Online (books.story.build), Read on Substack, Buy on Amazon
  • ISBN Integration for better discoverability
  • Chapter Schema Markup as hasPart in Book schema
  • Publication Dates and metadata

Published Books:

  1. I Build for People - 10 chapters with Substack links
  2. Theological Musings - 10 chapters with full summaries
  3. Outside Looking In - In progress on Substack

📊 SEO & Discoverability Enhancements

Schema.org Structured Data:

  • Product Schema with brand, SKU, pricing, dimensions, ISBN support
  • Book Schema with author, publisher, ISBN, chapters as hasPart
  • Organization Schema (StoryBuild + Begin the work, LLC)
  • Website Schema with search functionality
  • Breadcrumb Schema on all pages
  • ProductList Schema for shop categories

Sitemap & Robots:

  • sitemap.xml generated with 23 pages (3 static + 17 products + 3 books)
  • robots.txt updated with sitemap reference
  • npm script for easy regeneration: npm run generate-sitemap

🔍 Google Analytics 4 Integration

New Analytics Service tracking:

  • Page Views: Product pages, Book pages
  • User Actions: Add to cart, Amazon clicks, PDF downloads, Category filters
  • Reading Engagement: Chapter clicks, Substack links, Image carousel interactions
  • Events: view_item, add_to_cart, file_download, select_content, view_item_list

🏗️ Architecture Improvements

New /src/data/ Directory:

  • products.json - All 17 products with complete metadata
  • books.json - 3 books with chapters and ISBNs
  • comics.json - Draw Your Own Adventure items
  • productImages.js - Centralized product image imports
  • bookImages.js - Centralized book/chapter image imports
  • README.md - Complete data structure documentation

Benefits:

  • Easy to add/edit products without touching components
  • No duplicate code
  • Single source of truth
  • Automatic schema generation from data

🐛 Bug Fixes

  • Fixed Duplicate Product IDs: All products now have unique IDs (1-18)
  • Fixed Image Sizing: DYOA books display larger, proper aspect ratios
  • Fixed Stripe Button Loading: Improved script loading and error handling

🎨 UI/UX Improvements

  • Product pages with left-aligned buttons, special deal banners
  • Book pages with 55%/45% column split for better reading
  • Chapter summaries with images and thin dividers
  • Shop grid with improved hover effects
  • Mobile-optimized responsive design

📱 Responsive Design

  • Product images constrained to viewport
  • Chapter summaries stack vertically on mobile
  • 3-column → 1-column grid on small screens
  • Touch-friendly image carousels

📚 ISBN Integration

  • Cowboy Sam & His Dog Gus (Vol 1): 979-8-218-05397-0
  • Mermaid Marissa & Gerald the Shark (Vol 1): 979-8-218-05398-7
  • Cowboy Sam Arctic Exploration (Vol 2): 979-8-9995428-1-6
  • I Build for People: 979-8-9995428-0-9
  • Theological Musings: 979-8-9995428-2-3

📈 SEO Impact

Before:

  • All products shared one URL (/shop)
  • No deep linking to specific products
  • Limited product-specific SEO

After:

  • Each product/book has unique, indexable URL
  • Deep linking enabled for sharing
  • Product/book-specific meta tags and schema
  • AI assistants can directly reference products
  • Google can show rich snippets with pricing

Version: 2.0.0 | Released: October 13, 2025 | Status: Production Ready