This April, the Netlify team has been making tons of product improvements and we’ve got lots of helpful updates to share with you! To help you sort through the flurry of announcements, we thought it was a good time to share all the new things you can do with Netlify.
This is a re-publishing of our product changelog newsletter sent to subscribers earlier this month. Sign up to receive future product news and updates!
Faster build times for large sites with On-Demand Builders
We’re excited to announce On-Demand Builders, a new solution to improve build times for large sites on Netlify. Along with the proposal for Distributed Persistent Rendering (DPR), this release represents the first step forward in a significant evolution of the Jamstack architecture to support larger websites and faster development cycles—across any JavaScript framework.
Test drive Netlify beta features with Netlify Labs
The Research team at Netlify has been hard at work with the Product, Design, Engineering, and Developer Experience teams to help improve your overall experience in the Netlify app. That’s why we’re rolling out Netlify Labs, an in-app beta testing area that will help us get even more great feedback from the most important people—you!
Use Next.js to build websites and web apps with Netlify
With the Essential Next.js Build Plugin, we now auto-detect when you use Next.js on Netlify, so you don’t have to manually install anything to get all of the features you love in Next.js working on the platform. Just build and deploy your site to Netlify as usual and we’ll handle the rest.
More Netlify Product Updates
- New TypeScript support for Netlify Functions - We’re happy to introduce native TypeScript support for serverless functions! Previously, Netlify only supported JavaScript and Go. Learn more
- Netlify dark mode is finally here - It’s no secret that dark mode is becoming more common on the web across applications because of its accessibility benefits and user preferences. Now any Netlify customer can turn on dark mode, giving you more options to fit your preferences. Check it out
- Modern, faster Netlify Functions - We’ve been working on some improvements to Netlify Functions that will give developers better and faster serverless workflows. In the spirit of sharing progress earlier and more often, we want to let you in while we’re still developing this feature and use your feedback to create the best possible experience. Read the post
- Zero-config deploys for Netlify Functions - It’s now easier to get started with Netlify Functions because you no longer need to configure a functions directory. Instead you can create a new directory in your site repo. Learn more
- Netlify Functions playground and examples site - Those looking to explore serverless functions may find the Netlify Functions playground and examples site helpful. It includes a long list of serverless examples from around the web and includes a playground section where you can explore simple function examples and interact with them directly. Check it out!
- Linkable log lines now available in deploy logs - Ever wanted to share a link to a specific line in a deploy log? Now you can! Visit a deploy for a Netlify site and select the line numbers to the left of each line, or press Shift and select a range of lines. The resulting URL is shareable, so you can point your teammates directly to a relevant process or error in the log! Read the post
- Function logs color coding & auto-scroll pause - We’ve made some enhancements to function logs to help you identify and mitigate function invocation issues more easily. Finding important information is difficult when function logs scroll by quickly. Now you can pause the log auto-scroll with the click of a button and review the output at your own pace. Read the post
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- Next.js and Netlify for a better and faster Backlinko website
- From semantic CSS to Tailwind - Refactoring the Netlify UI codebase
- Incremental Static Regeneration: Its Benefits and Its Flaws
- Learn how Netlify Redirects give you control over CDN-level routing
- Terminology explained: Atomic and immutable deploys
We can’t wait to see how these new product capabilities and articles will help your team create even more incredible websites and web apps. To stay up to date on changes like these, head over to the updates category in Netlify Support Forums, click on your profile icon, and then the bell icon to receive real-time notifications. We can’t wait to see what you build next!
