Blog posts by Bob Davidson2025-08-15T16:07:11.0000000Zhttps://world.optimizely.com/blogs/bob-davidson/ Optimizely World Lessons Learned from Building an Optimizely SaaS SiteI’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.2025-08-15T16:07:11.0000000ZBlog post Cloudflare Edge LogsOptimizely 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.2025-02-14T14:30:27.0000000ZBlog post How Blend Uses Homemade Development ToolsWhether 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.2023-03-13T20:26:56.0000000ZBlog post 2022 OMVP Summit ReviewThe 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.2022-10-24T14:45:42.0000000ZBlog post Content References in XhtmlStringsXHtmlString 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.2022-02-02T13:35:55.0000000ZBlog post Multitenant Episerver Sites on IIS ExpressIIS 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.2022-01-14T14:00:00.0000000ZBlog post Optimizely Release Notes — November / December 2021The following release notes highlight major or interesting changes in Optimizely's products in November and December 2021.2022-01-03T18:00:00.0000000ZBlog post Integrating Azure AD with Optimizely CMS 12Blend's Director of Development Bob Davidson talks through how Optimizely integrates with Azure Active Directory after the introduction of Optimizely CMS 12.2021-11-09T15:27:01.0000000ZBlog post Building an Episerver Site from Scratch - Part 1While 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.2021-07-01T14:00:00.0000000ZBlog post Meta Properties for On-Page EditingWhile 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.2021-06-08T13:45:00.0000000ZBlog post