Alex Luttringer, Technical Director of Sydney-based web development agency Croissant & Baguette, has always been particular about the tools he uses for his website projects. After using CloudCannon for several projects — with more on the way — he's a huge fan.

Two of the main reasons for his preference are the easy-to-use developer configuration and client editing interfaces that CloudCannon provides. Alex had faced a range of performance and service issues with the solutions offered by both WordPress and Forestry — the CMS options previously used on some of his client sites.

With CloudCannon’s Git-based CMS, however, Alex has peace of mind that his websites will never be vendor-locked, and that all of Croissant & Baguette’s clients will have an intuitive way to add and manage content on their static sites, whichever static site generator (SSG) they use.

Getting set up for success

CloudCannon is Alex’s CMS of choice because of its user-friendly backend, fast builds, and flexibility. With CloudCannon, Alex is able to provide his clients with websites that are easy to manage, fast, and unique. The platform has also sped up the way Alex and his team work, allowing them to be more efficient and productive while also focusing on development and design work:

That's the beauty of CloudCannon. I don't have to do anything anymore! Our clients are doing everything themselves …. They can change literally everything.

CloudCannon not only leverages the performance gains of the world’s most popular SSGs, its user-friendly interface and Visual Editor makes it easy for clients to manage their own websites. Take Croissant & Baguette’s client site Fiducian, for example:

With Hugo and CloudCannon, Fiducian loads on average ten seconds faster than it did previously. Fiducian’s editors can build entirely new and on-brand landing pages in just minutes — a task that had been complex and time-consuming, if not impossible, on the old WordPress site.

Building and configuring with CloudCannon

Another feature that Alex loves about CloudCannon is its ability to provide fast builds. This is a major selling point for Alex's clients, as quick turnarounds mean their websites can be up and running. In particular, Alex praises the speed of building with Hugo and SvelteKit, the two static site generators he uses for most static site projects. With CloudCannon's visual editing integration with both SSGs, Alex is able to build static websites quickly and efficiently, and be confident that the editing experience for his clients will be consistent and intuitive.

Further, the flexibility and customization options offered by CloudCannon are unmatched. Alex notes that CloudCannon has a robust system that supports content blocks and components, which allows him and Croissant & Baguette Creative Director Kayci Scaggs to design and build out websites that are unique and tailored to their clients' needs. This ensures that the websites they build are not only fast and easy to manage, but also visually stunning, with a range of features that are tailored to each client's individual requirements.

Migrating to CloudCannon

Croissant & Baguette had previously used Forestry, a now-defunct Git-based CMS. Faced with the prospect of Forestry ‘sunsetting’ in early 2023, Alex found that migrating was very easy: “CloudCannon is amazing … all I had to do is change a few things here and there.” (And with CloudCannon’s new site import tool that reads both Netlify CMS and Forestry configuration files and translates them to a cloudcannon.config.yml file, there’s now even less to change!)

And as for Croissant & Baguette’s clients, they’re equally happy about the move. With CloudCannon’s Visual Editor they can see the changes they’re making rendered live on their site, and they’re completely empowered to edit existing content, add assets, and build new pages from the components Alex has created:

Our clients are so happy about the move from Forestry to CloudCannon. Now they can see what they are editing and move things around with such a nice interface. I don’t have to do anything for the clients once the site is set up, they can do everything themselves.

Partner success

Croissant & Baguette were early members of CloudCannon’s Partner Program, and also one of the first CloudCannon Expert agencies. Croissant & Baguette has already received new business through their association with CloudCannon, and Alex has appreciated the direct line to CloudCannon support engineers.

I’m a big fan of CloudCannon — I really like everything about it. It’s always a joy to work with CloudCannon.

From the CloudCannon side of the table, we’ve been excited to watch Partners and Experts like Croissant & Baguette grow and flourish with our tools, and bring our intuitive visual editing to a wide range of clients.

Ultimately, CloudCannon has helped Alex and his agency to become more efficient and productive. By providing a fast, user-friendly platform that offers a range of customization options, CloudCannon has become an essential tool for Alex and Kayci. Croissant & Baguette use CloudCannon to build websites that are not only high-performing but also visually appealing, ensuring that their clients are always satisfied with the end result.

About Croissant & Baguette

Croissant & Baguette is a boutique digital agency based in Sydney, Australia. They specialise in digital transformation and innovation, with a focus on best practices, performance, and premium quality projects.