Branches Foundations

Course Home
1. Branches in Contentstack
3m 30s
2. Creating Branches Overview
4m
3. Creating Branches
10m
4. Working with Branches | About Aliases
8m 15s
5. Deleting a Branch
7m 30s
6. Comparing Branches
5m 15s
7. Merging Branches
12m 30s
8. Environments and Branches
4m 30s
9. Case Studies With Branches
7m 45s
10. Limitations of using Branches
3m 15s

Environments and Branches

Environments

An environment in Contentstack refers to the content delivery destination where you publish and deploy the entries of your application or website.

When you create an environment, it acts as a target for publishing your content. For example, you might have separate development, staging, and production environments.

Environments allow you to manage different deployment scenarios and ensure your content reaches the right place.

Note: When working within branches, any environment created within a branch will be available across all the other branches of the stack.

Branches

Branches enable you to manage your work effectively by separating “in-progress” work from live and stable jobs in the production environment.

Instead of working sequentially, teams can work in parallel using branches, which is especially beneficial in aiming for higher release velocity.

Changes made within different branches do not affect the main branch, allowing for isolated development and testing.

In summary, branches facilitate collaboration, version control, and streamlined workflows within your Contentstack project.


1. Environments for Content Preview on UAT:
   - Purpose: Environments serve as staging areas where content changes can be previewed before they are deployed to the live production environment. The UAT (User Acceptance Testing) instance, in particular, allows stakeholders to review and validate content updates, ensuring they meet the desired standards and do not introduce any issues.
   - Workflow: Content changes are first implemented and tested in a preview environment. Once validated, they are promoted to the UAT environment for further scrutiny. Stakeholders such as content editors, quality assurance teams, and project managers can access the UAT instance to preview the changes and provide feedback. After any necessary adjustments, the approved changes are finally deployed to the live production environment.
   - Benefits: Using environments for content preview on UAT helps minimize the risk of introducing errors or inconsistencies to the live site. It provides a controlled environment for testing and validation, allowing stakeholders to ensure that the content changes align with business requirements and user expectations before they go live.
2. Branches for CI/CD in Content Modeling:
   - Purpose: Branches are utilized within a CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) process to facilitate collaborative content modeling and integration changes. Developers create separate branches, such as a Dev branch, to work on specific features or updates without affecting the main production environment.
   - Workflow: Developers start by creating a Dev branch from the existing setup. They then implement content modeling changes, integration enhancements, and other modifications within this isolated environment. Automated testing and manual validation ensure the changes meet quality standards and do not disrupt existing functionality. Once validated, the changes are merged into the main branch, where the live editorial team can review and approve them for deployment to the production environment.
   - Benefits: Branches streamline content development by providing a structured approach to managing changes. They enable developers to work independently on different features or enhancements, reducing the risk of conflicts and allowing for parallel development efforts. By incorporating CI/CD practices, teams can ensure faster and more reliable deployments of content types change updates.
3. Environments for Content Segregation:
   - Purpose: Environments can be leveraged to segregate content based on specific use cases or platform requirements. For example, organizations may need to deliver platform-specific content tailored for mobile and web environments. Creating separate environments associated with each platform allows content to be managed and delivered independently, ensuring a consistent and optimized user experience across different channels.
   - Workflow: Content authors create and manage platform-specific content within designated environments, each configured with its delivery token. This token is used to authenticate requests and ensure content is delivered to the appropriate platform. Content segregation allows for granular control over content distribution, enabling organizations to tailor content strategies and optimize engagement based on the characteristics of each platform.
   - Benefits: Utilizing environments for content segregation enables organizations to manage and deliver platform-specific content effectively. It supports targeted content delivery, enhances user engagement, and simplifies content management workflows by providing dedicated environments for each platform-specific use case.