Publishing models and pipelines

Tridion Sites supports two publishing models, each with an independent publishing pipeline: template-based publishing and templateless, data-only publishing. As of August 2020 , the template-based publishing framework is considered legacy in favor of templateless, data-only publishing. The legacy model remains supported and it is possible to use both models at the same time.

Templateless, data-only publishing

In a templateless, data-only publishing model, no Component Template is required and there is no concept of a Component Presentation.

When a user publishes an item, Content Manager checks the Schemas of Components for a setting that indicates it is publishable content. Content Manager publishes Components as independent content items, packages the content with publishing information, and then sends the data (as JSON) to the destination specified by the Target Type.

On the receiving end, Content Deployer indexes the content it for searching (optional) and stores the data in the Content Data Store.

The look and feel of content is removed from the template and done instead by the application that uses the published content, such as a website, mobile app or a kiosk display screen. Where a Page is published, the look and feel of the published webpage is limited to the organization of Components into Regions on the Page, which is defined by the Page Template and Region Schema.

The way you implement templateless, data-only publishing in Content Manager is largely the same as for template-based publishing other than, of course, the elimination of templating. Otherwise, the main difference is that you need to make some specific choices when configuring your schemas. For a summary of the settings that are specific templateless, data-only publishing, refer to Enabling data publishing in Content Manager.

Template-based publishing

As the name implies, template-based publishing relies on templates. A Component Template combines with content (a Component or Multimedia Component) to create a publishable piece of content called a Component Presentation with scripting controlling how the content looks and behaves on the webpage. A Page Template determines where, how, and which Component Presentations are rendered and also often includes navigation, branding and other design elements.

When a user publishes an item, a rendering engine renders content using Component Templates and Page Templates to determine the layout and design of the rendered output. Template code uses the TOM.NET (Tridion Object Model) to extract information from the Content Manager.
  • The Page Template determines where, how, and which Component Presentations are rendered and also often includes navigation and branding features.
  • The Component Template combines with the Component or Multimedia Component to create the Component Presentation, and the Component Template determines how and which content from the Component is rendered.

Hybrid publishing

The preceding sections describe the differences between template-based publishing and templateless, data-only publishing. It is, however, important to note that the two models are not mutually exclusive. You can, in fact, use both models at the same time, either using each model for different Publications or even using the two models simultaneously for the same Publication (a hybrid publishing model).

The following diagram illustrates one possibility for publishing content to an existing website using the template-based publishing model and also publishing the same content to JSON using templateless, data-only publishing: