New Song Chapel Platform
Building a full-stack church platform with a custom admin CMS for managing news, media, and community communication.
Project Overview
New Song Chapel required a modern digital platform that could serve both as a public website and an internal content management system. The platform needed to allow administrators to publish news updates, manage a media gallery, and provide visitors with easy ways to connect with the church.
The Problem
The church previously relied on manual communication channels and lacked a centralized platform for publishing updates, sharing event photos, and engaging visitors online. Managing content required technical intervention, which slowed down communication with the church community.
The Approach
I designed and developed a full-stack platform using Next.js, MongoDB, and Cloudinary that allows administrators to manage news articles and gallery media through a custom admin dashboard. The platform also includes a contact system powered by the Resend API, enabling visitors to easily reach the church.
PRODUCT EXPERIENCE
Built to solve real operational challenges.
Admin Content Management System
A secure admin dashboard that allows church administrators to publish news updates and manage gallery content without requiring technical knowledge.
Dynamic News Publishing System
Administrators can create and publish news articles that appear instantly on the public website, enabling the church to share announcements and community updates.
Gallery Media Management
The platform includes a gallery management system where admins upload event photos and ministry images using Cloudinary for optimized media delivery.
Visitor Contact & Communication
A contact system powered by the Resend API allows visitors to send messages directly to the church with reliable email delivery.
Dark mode
The platform includes a dark mode feature that allows users to switch to a dark theme for improved readability in low-light environments.
Responsive Community Experience
The platform is fully responsive, ensuring that visitors can browse news updates, view galleries, and connect with the church seamlessly across mobile, tablet, and desktop devices.
Admin Content Management System
A secure admin dashboard that allows church administrators to publish news updates and manage gallery content without requiring technical knowledge.
Dynamic News Publishing System
Administrators can create and publish news articles that appear instantly on the public website, enabling the church to share announcements and community updates.
Gallery Media Management
The platform includes a gallery management system where admins upload event photos and ministry images using Cloudinary for optimized media delivery.
Visitor Contact & Communication
A contact system powered by the Resend API allows visitors to send messages directly to the church with reliable email delivery.
Dark mode
The platform includes a dark mode feature that allows users to switch to a dark theme for improved readability in low-light environments.
Responsive Community Experience
The platform is fully responsive, ensuring that visitors can browse news updates, view galleries, and connect with the church seamlessly across mobile, tablet, and desktop devices.
Engineering Highlights
- Custom admin CMS for managing news articles and gallery media
- MongoDB-backed dynamic content architecture using Mongoose
- Cloudinary image upload pipeline with automatic optimization
- Serverless email delivery integration using the Resend API
- Component-based frontend architecture using Next.js App Router
Challenges & Lessons
- Designing an admin workflow that allows non-technical users to manage website content
- Implementing optimized image uploads using Cloudinary transformations
- Handling environment-specific API URL resolution between development and production
- Improving search engine indexing through sitemap generation and Search Console integration