Products for the digitally distracted →

Release Notes

November 13, 2025 — v2.1.0, Vite Migration & SEO Improvements

🚀 Major Infrastructure Update

Migrated from Create React App (CRA) to Vite for faster builds, better development experience, and improved SEO capabilities. This migration ensures proper Open Graph tag rendering for social media sharing.

⚡ Build System Migration

  • Migrated to Vite: Replaced CRA with Vite for faster builds and HMR
  • Updated Entry Point: Changed from src/index.js to src/main.jsx
  • JSX Support: Configured Vite to handle JSX in .js files
  • Image Imports: Converted all require() calls to ES6 imports
  • Prerendering: Created custom Puppeteer-based prerender script to capture React Helmet meta tags

📚 New Features

Book Category Page:

  • New /books route showcasing all published books
  • Grid layout with book covers, titles, and authors
  • Click-to-navigate to individual book pages
  • Amazon purchase links for each book
  • BookListSchema structured data for SEO
  • Breadcrumb navigation
  • Analytics tracking for page views

🔍 SEO & Open Graph Improvements

Meta Description Format:

  • Books: "Book Title, by Author, Published by StoryBuild." (short) + full description (OG)
  • Products: "Product Name, Published by StoryBuild." (short) + full description (OG)
  • Static Pages: "Page Title, Published by StoryBuild." format

Open Graph Tags:

  • Fixed OG image URLs to use correct book cover images (not gallery images)
  • Improved product image URL handling for Vite-processed assets
  • Enhanced prerender script to wait for React Helmet tag injection
  • Updated all pages (books, products, release-notes, return-policy) with consistent OG tags

🐛 Bug Fixes

  • Fixed Schema.js: Updated image URL handling for Vite-processed images
  • Fixed Footer Links: Changed to relative paths for dev mode compatibility
  • Fixed Image Imports: Replaced all require() with ES6 imports (shop.js, BookPage.js, ProductPage.js, books.js)

📦 New Build Process

Build Commands:

  • npm run build - Builds Vite app and generates sitemap
  • npm run preview - Starts preview server for testing
  • npm run prerender - Captures static HTML with OG tags (requires preview server)
  • npm run dev - Start Vite dev server (replaces CRA start)

Deployment:

  • Build outputs to build/ directory (same as before)
  • Prerendering required for proper OG tag capture
  • Firebase hosting configuration unchanged

✅ What's Preserved

  • All existing design and styles
  • All content (books, products, pages)
  • Stripe payment integration
  • Google Analytics and Pinterest tracking
  • All routes and React Router setup
  • Schema.org structured data

📈 Performance Improvements

  • Faster build times with Vite
  • Instant HMR in development
  • Better code splitting and optimization
  • Improved asset handling

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