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Basic Content Manager concepts

For content authors, the most important building blocks for creating web content are Components and Pages, and the most important concept is BluePrinting, which manages content sharing and localizing between website Publications.

Components
Components define text or multimedia content.
Components are based on Schemas that define the kinds of fields you can specify. Components based on the same Component Schema share the structure defined by that Schema.
You can add Components (or Component Presentations) to a Page's defined Regions, including the Page itself.
Multimedia Components
A Multimedia Component is a special type of Component you can use to store multimedia files as reusable content in the system's database.
Multimedia Components can be used for images, videos, and many other common file formats, such as PDF documents.
A Multimedia Schema defines the file types that the Multimedia Component can contain as well as metadata and workflow.
Regions
A Region represents a content area on a Page and can contain Components (or Component Presentations) and/or further Regions. In fact, a Page is considered the top-level Region.
Regions are based on Region Schemas.
Note that Regions are not separate items in Content Manager. You cannot create one in a Folder or Structure Group in the same way you can create a Component (or Component Presentation), Bundle or Page. Rather, they are defined for you already in a Page, and you specify their contents.
Pages
A Page is a top-level Region, which contains one or more Regions and/or Components (or Component Presentations).
Page Templates define how a published webpage is generally constructed and behaves. If your organization uses a template-based publishing model, the Page Template also may define branding and other design elements.
Publications

A Publication organizes content using Folders and Structure Groups. Folders store content and design items, while Structure Groups store Pages.

You use a Publication to:
  • create, organize and manage content, layout and Pages
  • initiate workflow processes so that users create and edit items following a predefined set of Activities
  • share and reuse content from managed content items and connected external content libraries
  • create a site URL navigation structure through Structure Groups
BluePrinting

A BluePrint is a hierarchy of Publications in which Parent Publications share content with Child Publications. BluePrinting enables you to reuse structure, content, and design between Publications. The BluePrint panel shows you the BluePrint information for an item.

Child Publications can contain a combination of:

  • Shared items from Parent Publications (read-only items)
  • Local copies of shared items (editable copies of shared items created by localizing them)
  • Local items (items created in the Child Publication)