How CMS collections work in a Framer template
What a collection is, what a template's sample entries are for, and how to make the CMS hold your content without touching a layout.
Most of the templates here use Framer's CMS for something: articles, a changelog, services, a team. If you have not used it before it is worth ten minutes, because it decides how much of your site you can change without touching a layout.
A collection is a list with fields
A collection is a set of entries that share the same fields. A blog collection might have a title, a date, a cover image and the article itself. A team collection might have a name, a role and a portrait. Adding an entry means filling in those fields, much like adding a row to a spreadsheet.
Layouts read from the collection
Two kinds of layout use a collection. A collection list shows several entries on a page, like the latest articles on a home page. A collection page is a single layout that Framer uses for every entry, each at its own address. Talos ships thirteen articles, and all of them come from one article layout.
What the sample entries are for
Templates arrive with entries so you can see the layouts working. Rep Republic's blog has nine, and the changelog in Streaks has seven. Treat them as a guide to length and tone: how long a title can run before it wraps, how much text sits comfortably under a picture. Then replace them.
New content without layout work
This is the part that saves time later. In Bramley, each trade the business offers is an entry in the Services collection, with its own page for pricing, turnaround and what is included. A new service is a new entry. Nobody duplicates a page and rebuilds it.
Streaks keeps its changelog, testimonials, questions and features in four collections, so updating any of them is an edit to an entry, not to a page.
Habits that keep it tidy
- Short slugs. Each one becomes the address of its entry's page, so keep them readable.
- Every field filled. Fill in every field the layout shows, even the optional ones. An empty field can leave a gap in the design.
- Pictures of one shape. Give images the same proportions across entries, so a list of cards lines up.
- Titles from fields. Build each collection page's title and description from the entry's own fields, so every article gets its own search listing.
Every template page on Openfile lists its collections, and how many entries each starts with, under Everything in. It is worth a look before you buy, so you know what you are taking on.