--- title: "Netlify News: How to build large Netlify sites faster, upcoming events, and more" description: "Product updates and thoughts on Jamstack from the team at Netlify, plus news about upcoming events like Headless Commerce Summit." source: "https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/04/30/april-news-and-updates-from-the-netlify-team/" last_updated: "2026-07-15T14:17:45.000Z" --- It’s been a busy month at Netlify! Read about what we’ve been up to in this re-publishing of our monthly newsletter. Want to receive updates like this in your inbox? Sign up for our mailing list! ## 💥On-demand Builders in Early Access ![Shorten build times for large sites with On-Demand Builders from Netlify](/v3/img/blog/odb-large-sites-netlify.png) On-demand Builders is a new solution to improve build times for large sites on Netlify. Along with the Jamstack community **[proposal (RFC)](https://github.com/jamstack/jamstack.org/discussions/549)** for **[Distributed Persistent Rendering (DPR)](https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/04/14/distributed-persistent-rendering-a-new-jamstack-approach-for-faster-builds/)**, this release represents the first step forward in a significant evolution of the Jamstack architecture to support larger websites and more complex applications. **[Learn more](https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/04/14/faster-builds-for-large-sites-on-netlify-with-on-demand-builders-now-in-early-access/)** ## How to set up Dark Mode…and how one dev claps it on 👏 ![Dark Mode now available in the Netlify app](/v3/img/blog/dark-mode-blogpost-image.png) Are you a fan of [dark mode? Opt-in to Netlify Labs and take these steps to set it up in the Netlify app](https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/04/05/dark-mode-fans-take-these-steps-to-set-it-up-in-the-netlify-app/). Want more fun? Read about how one of our team members, Charlie Gerard, [experimented with a clap-on/clap-off](https://charliegerard.dev/blog/toggle-dark-mode-clapping-hands-chrome-extension/) Chrome extension using TensorFlow.js that toggles dark mode on and off. **[Learn more](https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/04/05/dark-mode-fans-take-these-steps-to-set-it-up-in-the-netlify-app/)** ## More Product News - [Essential Next.js plugin, now with support for On-demand Builders](https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/04/22/next.js-on-netlify-now-with-support-for-on-demand-builders-and-distributed-persistent-rendering/) - [From semantic CSS to Tailwind - Refactoring the Netlify UI codebase](https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/03/23/from-semantic-css-to-tailwind-refactoring-the-netlify-ui-codebase/) - [Modern, faster Netlify Functions](https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/04/02/modern-faster-netlify-functions/) - [Migrating DNS for a production site? We made you a site migration checklist](https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/04/06/migrating-dns-for-a-production-site-we-made-you-a-site-migration-checklist/) - [Test Drive Netlify Beta Features with Netlify Labs](https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/03/31/test-drive-netlify-beta-features-with-netlify-labs/) - [Announcing Native TypeScript Support for Netlify Functions](https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/04/19/announcing-native-typescript-support-for-netlify-functions/) ## 🎟️Register: Headless Commerce Summit is May 26 ![](/v3/img/blog/headless-commerce-banner2021.png) Join us for a half-day virtual event to learn all about headless e-commerce, the growing Jamstack ecosystem, modern developer workflows, and building performant web experiences at scale! Talks and speakers will be announced soon. Thanks to early sponsors Builder.io, Commerce.js, commercetools, Mux, Nacelle, Shogun, Storyblok and Swell.is. If your company would like to be involved in Headless Commerce Summit, please email [events@netlify.com](mailto:events@netlify.com). **[Register for Headless Commerce Summit](https://headlesscommercesummit.com/)** ## **Jamstack Articles** - [Jamstack Explorers mission: Building with Sanity and Nuxt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bEq0j4yQis&list=PLzlG0L9jlhEMMY9wJjXt-GiusqSsW6Md7) - [How the Netlify Data Team Uses Census for Operational Analytics](https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/04/08/how-the-netlify-data-team-uses-census-for-operational-analytics/) - [Automatic WebPageTest Results for Every Docs Deploy](https://blog.webpagetest.org/posts/automatic-webpagetest-results-for-every-docs-deploy/) - [Tracking down a CGO crash in production](https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/03/18/tracking-down-a-cgo-crash-in-production/) ## How Gremlin Tamed their Web Development Workflows with Netlify ![Netlify and Gremlin](/v3/img/blog/netlify-gremlin.png "Netlify and Gremlin") Netlify has become the central collaborative web development platform that has extended with Gremlin’s engineering and marketing teams, helping them iterate quickly and safely. From their main company website and web applications, learn about how this team has been able to grow on Netlify, relying on Netlify Builds, Netlify Forms, serverless functions, and more. **[Read Case Study](https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/04/07/how-gremlin-tamed-their-web-development-workflows-with-netlify/)** ## Welcome New Netlify Customers! ![New Netlify Enterprise Customers](/v3/img/blog/netlify-customers.png "Netlify customers Affirm, Harper Collins, SafeBreach") We’d like to extend a warm welcome to the latest companies who trust Netlify with their web infrastructure! Learn more about [Netlify’s enterprise products](https://www.netlify.com/enterprise/). ### Share - [X (fka Twitter)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=April News and Updates from the Netlify Team &url=https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/04/30/april-news-and-updates-from-the-netlify-team/) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.netlify.com%2Fblog%2F2021%2F04%2F30%2Fapril-news-and-updates-from-the-netlify-team%2F) - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/04/30/april-news-and-updates-from-the-netlify-team/) - [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=April News and Updates from the Netlify Team +https://www.netlify.com/blog/2021/04/30/april-news-and-updates-from-the-netlify-team/) * * * ### Tags - [newsletter](/blog/tags/newsletter/) - [On-demand Builders](/blog/tags/On-demand-Builders/) - [Headless Commerce Summit](/blog/tags/headless-commerce-summit/) - [Case Studies](/blog/tags/case-Studies/) - [dark mode](/blog/tags/dark-mode/) ## Keep reading ![](/images/blog-fallback-thumbnail.svg) News & Announcements March 24, 2021 [ ### March Netlify Newsletter: Next.js on Netlify, Linkable Logs and more ](/blog/2021/03/24/march-netlify-newsletter-next.js-on-netlify-linkable-logs-and-more) - ![Profile picture of Netlify team](/_astro/2ded7a52db41c7613be0baa648ac9bf9c1e8a985-300x300_DNhVu.svg) Netlify team ![](/images/blog-fallback-thumbnail.svg) News & Announcements April 23, 2021 [ ### Netlify Changelog April 2021 ](/blog/2021/04/23/netlify-changelog-april-2021) - ![Profile picture of Netlify team](/_astro/2ded7a52db41c7613be0baa648ac9bf9c1e8a985-300x300_DNhVu.svg) Netlify team ## Recent posts News & Announcements July 14, 2026 [ ### More headroom, a lower per-credit rate, and a bill you can predict: introducing new Pro plan tiers ](/blog/new-pro-plan-tiers) - ![Profile picture of Gehrig Kunz](/_astro/b4e9f58d914d1334ea70d53ea55a1f26b26f1445-512x512_17SwOI.webp) Gehrig Kunz News & Announcements July 13, 2026 [ ### Netlify inside of Claude Design ](/blog/netlify-inside-of-claude-design) - ![Profile picture of Sean Roberts](/_astro/bbf2243f8171dbddd80ab2103622106cef84d125-512x512_Z1d2LKE.webp) Sean Roberts News & Announcements June 25, 2026 [ ### Netlify Functions, designed for Agent Experience ](/blog/netlify-functions-designed-for-agent-experience) - ![Profile picture of Eduardo Bouças](/_astro/52958f21e8450baf6d8e60302341a984e220c0cd-512x512_13VDlu.webp) Eduardo Bouças ![](/_astro/3f255b372fa958df35802666ee33b4609b2d71bd-1200x1586_1VtE2D.webp) ### How do the best dev and marketing teams work together? [Access the report](https://www.netlify.com/reports/2024-leadership-trend-report/access/)