AfdCMS
A content management platform built with production in mind. AfdCMS is a custom content management system developed by Ask For Dowding. It brings together straightforward content administration, secure access and a carefully controlled approach to releasing software. The aim was not simply to build a place to edit pages, but to create a platform that could be maintained, deployed and supported with confidence.
At a glance
- THE PRODUCT
- Custom CMS with secure administration
- THE CHALLENGE
- Build a maintainable application and a reliable release process
- THE OUTCOME
- A production application with structured deployment practices
The challenge
Content management can be deceptively simple. Editing a page is only one part of running a website. The underlying application must also handle authentication, files, configuration, upgrades and the risks that accompany every new release. For AfdCMS, I wanted to avoid a system held together by plugins and manual deployment steps. The objective was a deliberately structured application with clear ownership of the code, its infrastructure and the way it reaches production.
The solution
I developed AfdCMS as a modern .NET-based application, separating content management concerns from the operational services supporting the platform. Administrative access and Google sign-in were integrated into the application, while Cloudflare R2 provides object storage for media assets. This separation matters: uploaded media is not tied to a particular server release, and application updates can follow a repeatable process without treating every deployment as a one-off event.
Engineering beyond the interface
AfdCMS was also an exercise in building the operational foundations around a product. Changes follow a defined path through development, TEST, STAGING and PRODUCTION. Releases can be identified by version and source revision, and deployment procedures are designed with health checks and rollback in mind. That discipline matters because a successful build is not the same as a successful release. A reliable platform needs to answer: what version is running, how was it deployed, is it healthy, and how do we recover if something goes wrong?
The problems worth solving
Authentication across environments Google sign-in required attention to callback behaviour and environment-specific configuration. Rather than treating authentication as a front-end detail, the investigation followed the sign-in path through the deployed application and its infrastructure.
The result
AfdCMS is a live production application and a practical demonstration of end-to-end software delivery. It reflects how I approach engineering: not just making a feature work, but making the wider system understandable, supportable and ready to evolve. The project also helped establish deployment and operations practices that can be applied across other Ask For Dowding applications.