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Website building blocks

The main building blocks used to create websites are Components, Component Schemas, Regions, Region Schemas, Pages, Page Templates and Page Schemas.

The following diagram shows the relationship between the main website building blocks.

The Content Manager user interfaces enable you to create content and layout items separately and then to combine these items to create publishable Pages. As a result, teams in your organization can accomplish what they do best. For example, authors can create content, designers can design the look-and-feel of Pages, and editors can determine what content is published where.

Depending upon your role in your organization, you may participate in creating or using any of these building blocks:

Component Schemas
A Component Schema, often simply called Schema, defines the structure of Component content and determines the type of content that authors can create. For example, a Schema called "Press Release" could define the following fields:
  • Headline
  • Date
  • Summary
  • Body
Components
A Component is a collection of text or multimedia content based on its Component Schema. Components based on the same Component Schema share the structure defined by that Schema. You add Components (or Component Presentations) to a Page's defined Regions, including the Page itself.
Component Templates and Component Presentations
If your organization uses a template-based publishing model a Component Template defines how Components are displayed and behave on a webpage. The combination of the Component Template with the Component creates a publishable piece of content called a Component Presentation. In a templateless, data-only publishing model, no Component Template is required and there is no concept of a Component Presentation. 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.
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. The red dashed boxed areas on the right are Regions.
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.
Region Schemas
A Region Schema defines what a Region based on this schema can contain. This includes which, and how many Components (or Component Presentations) or other Regions can be placed in a Region. Each Region Schema can have its own nested Regions.
Pages
A Page is a top-level Region, which contains one or more Regions and/or Components (or Component Presentations). Since the Page is also a Region, it is based on a Region Schema, which you specify in the Page Template.
Page Templates
Page Templates define how a published webpage is generally constructed and behaves. In a template-based publishing model, the Page Template normally includes Template Building Blocks that define branding and other design elements. In a data-only publishing model, selecting a Page Template is required although the Page Template itself is empty, that is, with no Template Building Blocks.