Here's how a headless CMS works

30 August 2023 This is how

The emergence of headless CMS systems has revolutionized the way digital content is managed, delivered and consumed. Headless CMS systems, what are they and what are the pros and cons of systems.

The differences: Traditional CMS 👵

In a traditional CMS, for example WordPress, you have an all-in-one platform. Not only does it allow you to create and edit content (text, images, videos), but it also controls how the content is displayed on the Web site. You select a theme, customize it and then place your content in predefined boxes on the page.

Example: You write a new blog article about the latest trends in WordPress. You log into the CMS, go to the blog section, choose a template and add your text and images in the prescribed spaces. The CMS controls how the page looks based on the selected template.

The differences: Headless CMS 🎃

With a headless CMS, the focus is on managing content independently of how it is presented. The CMS provides a backend where you can create and organize content, but it doesn't have a built-in frontend for displaying the content. Instead, you use APIs to retrieve the content and display it on different devices and platforms, such as websites, mobile apps and smartwatches.

Example: You write the same blog article in a headless CMS. You add the text, images and metadata to the CMS. Then you use API to retrieve this content and dynamically display it on your website, mobile app and other platforms. This gives you complete control over the presentation and design of the content on different devices.

Examples of Headless systems

Contentful
- Free license depending on users and needs;
- Cloud hosting available;
- Powerful media library for managing and editing images.
Sanity
- Free license available, but paid version may be required;
- Support for a query tool in the content app;
- Front-end templates available for different frameworks;
- Opportunities for collaboration in the content app.
Kontent
- Free for testing purposes;
- Collaboration tools in the content app;
- Advanced AI capabilities such as summaries, paragraph generation and tonality adjustment.
Strapi
- Completely open source and free to use;
- Both self-hosting and Strapi cloud hosting available (for a fee);
- Built-in media library for image management and editing.

Thick diclaimer:

The above obviously changes insanely fast, so always check the providers' websites or ask your favorite Laméco employee :).

Hosting, content and media?

Cloud Hosting:
Almost all selected CMS systems offer cloud hosting, which facilitates implementation and scalability. Only Strapi offers hosting in your own environment, in addition to cloud hosting.
Media Library:
All selected systems have powerful media libraries that allow efficient management and editing of images, which is essential for visually appealing content.
Visual Content Editing: Some systems have visual content editing built in, while others may support it as a plug-in. The need for this depends on the specific needs of your project.

The best choice?

A traditional CMS combines content creation and presentation in one platform, while a headless CMS separates the two. A headless CMS offers more flexibility in that it can display the same content in different ways depending on the device or context. This makes it easier to manage consistent content across multiple channels.

Want to know what suits you best?

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