Content modeling in a headless CMS: Structuring BCMS by content types

Content modeling refers to the process of defining the structure of content. Each type is described by its attributes, and broken down into individual components. Headless architecture is how you manage that content.

So, content modeling in a headless CMS intersects with how content types are defined and managed.

Unlike traditional CMS, headless separates the front-end presentation layer and the back-end content management layer; content is stored and managed separately from how it is presented to users. This means content can be easily reused and repurposed, leading to higher flexibility.

Content types must be independent of presentation layers to make the most of this flexibility. A content model can help in this situation. It is possible to create flexible, reusable content across multiple channels by defining content types using attributes that describe content instead of how it is presented.

In this article, you will learn how to configure headless CMS to specific needs.

There are slight differences between CMSs regarding content models; every CMS may refer to individual elements differently. However, the basic structure is always the same. A content model consists of three levels:

The presentation layer is what the user sees later or how the content is presented.

Content types are specific types of content represented in the output layers. Common content types are, for example:

A CMS usually comes with a set of predefined default content types but also, they can be defined completely freely. Important to know that the content types themselves do not yet contain any content; this is maintained in the fields.

There are two types of fields: Content and related fields.

Content creators use content fields to enter content into CMs. Often used fields are:

Related fields do not contain any content themselves but display other content types and other content fields.

Ok, now that you understand the content structure, it is time to get familiar with BCMS's structure.

Content modeling is the process of designing data structures for your content. BCMS makes this easy by providing useful data structures that you can configure as needed.

There are five main structures in BCMS's content models: templates, entries, widgets, groups, and properties.

Templates in BCMS are a pre-defined content structure ( a section of the webpage). Based on that structure, you can create entries.

You can also give each template a description to describe internal processes, share resources, and explain what that template is being used for.

Each entry in BCMS represents one template record. The structure of the input depends on what properties its template has. Properties defined in the template will appear in the meta section of each entry. Besides the predefined meta, each entry has an area called the content area. You can add rich text and widgets there.

Widgets in BCMS are reusable building blocks that are used inside of entry's content area.

Here’s how to use them in BCMS:

As you can see, widgets are building blocks that help you add various types of content which gives a high level of flexibility and customization in structured content.

Learn more about widgets: BCMS Widgets -everything you need to know

For example, you need a call-to-action button for your blog. This is what it looks like:

Awesome thing, this CTA group you can use on any other page not only blog posts.

Properties (or inputs) are the smallest piece of the BCMS ecosystem (property/group/widget/template). Using different kinds of properties, you can create custom data structures for BCMS entries.

Properties are the foundation of BCMS functionality. Here's a list of available properties in BCMS:

Ok, now it’s time to get practical. In this part, I will show you how to structure your content by using content modeling in a headless CMS. I’ll use a blog post as an example. (This process you can use for any content model).

To create a template, click on Add new template. In the next step, fill in the title, for example, Blog.

The next thing to do is to add properties to the Blog template. By adding properties you are actually making a custom data structure for a blog post.  For BCMS blogs that you like to read ( I hope so 🥰), I have 9 properties.

Enter the entry (😉) and fill in all the fields in the meta section. Content area is used for text, video, images, case studies, CTA, and so on.

The blog post is ready, the only thing left is to choose when to publish it. If not you can choose draft status and go write a new blog.

That’s all folks. As you can see, headless CMS makes content modeling straightforward.

To work effectively with content models, your content management must meet two requirements in particular:

At the end, I will use the CTA button ( because BCMS allows me so) and give you a chance to try to manage headless content asap.