diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
index 33dd9e6..2bad57b 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -202,6 +202,8 @@ jobs:
           build-args: |
             NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL=${{ needs.prepare.outputs.next_public_url }}
             NEXT_PUBLIC_TARGET=${{ needs.prepare.outputs.target }}
+            NEXT_PUBLIC_UMAMI_WEBSITE_ID=${{ secrets.UMAMI_WEBSITE_ID || secrets.NEXT_PUBLIC_UMAMI_WEBSITE_ID || vars.UMAMI_WEBSITE_ID || vars.NEXT_PUBLIC_UMAMI_WEBSITE_ID }}
+            UMAMI_API_ENDPOINT=${{ secrets.UMAMI_API_ENDPOINT || secrets.NEXT_PUBLIC_UMAMI_SCRIPT_URL || vars.UMAMI_API_ENDPOINT || 'https://analytics.infra.mintel.me' }}
             NPM_TOKEN=${{ secrets.REGISTRY_PASS }}
           tags: registry.infra.mintel.me/mintel/mb-grid-solutions:${{ needs.prepare.outputs.image_tag }}
           cache-from: type=registry,ref=registry.infra.mintel.me/mintel/mb-grid-solutions:buildcache
diff --git a/docker-compose.yaml b/docker-compose.yaml
index 50eb1eb..8abd490 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ services:
       - "traefik.docker.network=infra"
 
       # Public Router – paths that bypass Gatekeeper auth
-      - "traefik.http.routers.${PROJECT_NAME:-mb-grid}-public.rule=Host(`${TRAEFIK_HOST:-mb-grid-solutions.localhost}`) && PathRegexp(`^/([a-z]{2}/)?(health|login|gatekeeper|uploads|media|robots\\.txt|manifest\\.webmanifest|sitemap(-[0-9]+)?\\.xml|(.*/)?api/og(/.*)?|(.*/)?opengraph-image.*)`)"
+      - "traefik.http.routers.${PROJECT_NAME:-mb-grid}-public.rule=Host(`${TRAEFIK_HOST:-mb-grid-solutions.localhost}`) && PathRegexp(`^/([a-z]{2}/)?(health|login|gatekeeper|uploads|media|robots\\.txt|manifest\\.webmanifest|sitemap(-[0-9]+)?\\.xml|(.*/)?api/og(/.*)?|(.*/)?opengraph-image.*|stats(/.*)?|errors(/.*)?)`)"
       - "traefik.http.routers.${PROJECT_NAME:-mb-grid}-public.entrypoints=websecure"
       - "traefik.http.routers.${PROJECT_NAME:-mb-grid}-public.tls.certresolver=le"
       - "traefik.http.routers.${PROJECT_NAME:-mb-grid}-public.tls=true"
diff --git a/middleware.ts b/middleware.ts
index aa9e4d4..d528039 100644
--- a/middleware.ts
+++ b/middleware.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
+import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
+import type { NextRequest } from "next/server";
 import createMiddleware from "next-intl/middleware";
 
-export default createMiddleware({
+const intlMiddleware = createMiddleware({
   // A list of all locales that are supported
   locales: ["de"],
 
@@ -11,6 +13,17 @@ export default createMiddleware({
   localePrefix: "as-needed",
 });
 
+export default function middleware(request: NextRequest) {
+  const { pathname } = request.nextUrl;
+
+  // Explicit bypass for analytics and error tracking paths
+  if (pathname.startsWith("/stats") || pathname.startsWith("/errors")) {
+    return NextResponse.next();
+  }
+
+  return intlMiddleware(request);
+}
+
 export const config = {
   // Matcher for all pages and internationalized pathnames
   // excluding api, _next, static files, etc.
diff --git a/src/payload/payload.config.ts b/src/payload/payload.config.ts
index c5f5b42..bacc287 100644
--- a/src/payload/payload.config.ts
+++ b/src/payload/payload.config.ts
@@ -50,24 +50,29 @@ export default buildConfig({
     },
     prodMigrations: migrations,
   }),
-  ...(process.env.SMTP_HOST
-    ? {
-        email: nodemailerAdapter({
-          defaultFromAddress:
-            process.env.SMTP_FROM || "info@mb-grid-solutions.com",
-          defaultFromName: "MB Grid Solutions CMS",
-          transportOptions: {
-            host: process.env.SMTP_HOST,
-            port: parseInt(process.env.SMTP_PORT || "587"),
-            auth: {
-              user: process.env.SMTP_USER,
-              pass: process.env.SMTP_PASS,
-            },
-            secure: process.env.SMTP_SECURE === "true",
-          },
-        }),
-      }
-    : {}),
+  email: nodemailerAdapter({
+    defaultFromAddress:
+      process.env.MAIL_FROM ||
+      process.env.SMTP_FROM ||
+      "info@mb-grid-solutions.com",
+    defaultFromName: "MB Grid Solutions CMS",
+    transportOptions: {
+      host: process.env.MAIL_HOST || process.env.SMTP_HOST,
+      port: parseInt(
+        process.env.MAIL_PORT || process.env.SMTP_PORT || "587",
+      ),
+      auth: {
+        user:
+          process.env.MAIL_USERNAME ||
+          process.env.MAIL_USER ||
+          process.env.SMTP_USER,
+        pass: process.env.MAIL_PASSWORD || process.env.SMTP_PASS,
+      },
+      secure:
+        process.env.MAIL_SECURE === "true" ||
+        process.env.SMTP_SECURE === "true",
+    },
+  }),
   sharp,
   plugins: [
     ...(process.env.S3_ENDPOINT