Milkshake Festival: from Nuxt 2 to Next.js in four weeks

Objective

The old site was struggling

Some pages threw server errors and caching wasn't set up properly. With a sudden spike in visitors, that became a real risk.

I had three goals: faster pages and better Core Web Vitals, lower data transfer costs during peaks, and a CMS the team can work in without a developer.

Execution

Prebuilt with ISR

In Next.js I used Incremental Static Regeneration. Pages are built ahead of time, so they load instantly. When something changes, only that page is regenerated in the background.

A tighter content structure

I reorganised the content in DatoCMS. Pages now have a fixed structure, so editors can't accidentally break a layout. Images and video got a better setup too, especially for the Lookbook, which holds a lot of photos and video.

Live previews

Editors see a live preview of the page they're editing in DatoCMS, and it updates every time they save. Checking happens while they work instead of afterwards.

A custom migration tool

Moving all the content over by hand wasn't an option. I wrote an export and import tool that moved everything from the old DatoCMS project to the new one, including about 7 GB of images and video. I migrated in small batches and checked each one by hand. The old site stayed online the whole time.

Result

Live after four weeks

Four weeks later the new site was live. Pages load faster, there are fewer places where things can go wrong, and caching cuts unnecessary data transfer when it gets busy. The team works in a tidier DatoCMS and sees what they publish before it goes out.