2025-08-15T16:30:28.0000000Zhttps://world.optimizely.com/blogs/bob-davidson/Optimizely Worldhttps://www.blendinteractive.com/thoughts/lessons-learned-from-building-an-optimizely-saas-site/2025-08-15T16:07:11.0000000Z2025-08-15T16:30:28.0000000Zbob@blendinteractive.com

I’ve been building websites in content management systems for almost 20 years now. And the majority of those sites have been built in what we might call a traditional, coupled CMS, where a single application is responsible for both the management and rendering of content. But like so many, I’ve been diving to headless, specifically building a new site in Optimizely’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) headless offering.

https://www.blendinteractive.com/thoughts/cloudflare-edge-logs/2025-02-14T14:30:27.0000000Z2025-02-14T14:31:00.0000000Zbob@blendinteractive.com

Optimizely is introducing the ability to access Cloudflare's edge logs, which gives access to some information previously unavailable except through support. Access and analysis can be a bit clunky, so Blend's Director of Development Bob Davidson provides some strategies for getting the most out of these logs.

https://www.blendinteractive.com/thoughts/how-blend-uses-homemade-development-tools/2023-03-13T20:26:56.0000000Z2023-03-13T20:31:13.0000000Zbob@blendinteractive.com

Whether building websites and applications or repairing tractors, tools are at the center of life. Director of Development Bob Davidson believes in “the right tool for the right job,” but sometimes the right tool is not at hand. Sometimes it makes sense just to make your own.

https://www.blendinteractive.com/thoughts/2022-omvp-summit-review/2022-10-24T14:45:42.0000000Z2022-10-24T15:00:59.0000000Zbob@blendinteractive.com

The Optimizely Most Valuable Professional (OMVP) program is designed to promote collaboration and expertise among Optimizely developers. This year was Bob's first year as an OMVP — and these are his thoughts.

https://www.blendinteractive.com/thoughts/content-references-in-xhtmlstrings/2022-02-02T13:35:55.0000000Z2022-02-08T22:01:48.0000000Zbob@blendinteractive.com

XHtmlString properties are more than just HTML, they include HTML, internal links to content, embedded blocks, personalization, and more. Blend's Director of Development Bob Davidson takes a brief look at the internals of XhtmlString properties and the fragments that make them.

https://www.blendinteractive.com/thoughts/multitenant-episerver-sites-on-iis-express/2022-01-14T14:00:00.0000000Z2022-02-05T00:01:10.0000000Zbob@blendinteractive.com

IIS Express allows for fast, license-free local development. But, it has its downsides as well. Blend's Director of Development Bob Davidson explains how to navigate IIS Express in order to bind multiple Episerver sites and languages in this Coding with Bob video.

https://www.blendinteractive.com/thoughts/optimizely-release-notes-november-december-2021/2022-01-03T18:00:00.0000000Z2022-02-05T00:01:13.0000000Zbob@blendinteractive.com

The following release notes highlight major or interesting changes in Optimizely's products in November and December 2021.

https://www.blendinteractive.com/news/integrating-azure-ad-with-optimizely-cms-12/2021-11-09T15:27:01.0000000Z2021-11-10T13:01:20.0000000Zbob@blendinteractive.com

Blend's Director of Development Bob Davidson talks through how Optimizely integrates with Azure Active Directory after the introduction of Optimizely CMS 12.

https://www.blendinteractive.com/news/building-an-episerver-site-from-scratch-part-1/2021-07-01T14:00:00.0000000Z2021-08-04T21:31:06.0000000Zbob@blendinteractive.com

While most new developers tend to learn on the job through maintenance projects, Blend believes that there's a lot of value in learning how to spin a site up from scratch. This Coding with Bob video provides some guidance on how to do just that.

https://www.blendinteractive.com/news/meta-properties-for-on-page-editing/2021-06-08T13:45:00.0000000Z2021-08-04T21:31:07.0000000Zbob@blendinteractive.com

While on-page editing within Optimizely + Episerver is a powerful tool, by default it continues to hide some important metadata. This Coding with Bob highlights how to programmatically surface meta properties within on-page editing.