In this episode of Syntax, Scott and Wes talk about headless content management systems — why you might want to use one, things you should take into account, and more!

Sanity - Sponsor

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Show Notes

02:38 - What and why

A headless CMS doesn’t mean you have to use a static site generator
A headless CMS has an API:
- REST
- GraphQL
- GROQ
A headless CMS can pipe its content into:
- Static Site on build - like Gatsby
- An app on run/refresh
- An existing website - widget
What makes a CMS? Do you need a UI?
What is the threshold?
Is a hotdog a sandwich?
Things to think about when choosing an API
- Auth - Rules + roles + levels
How easy is it to create new data types?
- Is it code or UI?
- Can my mom use it?
Can you create one-off content types? (e.g. settings pages)
Custom workflows
- dRafts, revisions, roll backs
How are images handled? Do you need another service for that?
Pre-determined UI
- Is custom UI possible?
- Two-way relationships?
- Tags?
Data validation?
- UI + API?
Hosting?
Pricing?
Content movability?
- Can you get your data out?
- Schemas
- Users
- Revisions
CORS or realtime API?
APIs
- Can you insert data via the API? (or just pull)
- Node API
- Importing data

24:37 - Hosted

Sanity
Prismic
Contentful
Dato CMS
Storyblok
8Base
Agility CMS
- Seems to be making a big corporate play

36:59 - Self-Hosted

WordPress
- WordPress REST API
- GraphQL API
- WP GraphQL
- Advanced Custom Fields for custom UI
- Most things in WordPress are custom post types and taxonomies, so data from plugins can often be surfaced
- The theme UI from plugins is often lost
Drupal
- contentacms.org
Craft CMS
Ghost
Strapi
Keystone
Joomla (JK!)

44:33 - API (BYOUI)

47:37 - Git Based

Netlify
Forestry

50:30 - Other

Google Sheets
- Sheety
Airtable
Tina CMS
- Not a CMS
Markdown under the hood
Notion

Links

https://twitter.com/wesbos/status/1254772936935739393
Pixel & Tonic
GraphCool
GraphCMS
Sapper

××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ×××

Scott: DEWALT Random Orbit Sander
Wes: Shelf Brackets

Shameless Plugs

Scott: New course on Sapper - Sign up for the year and save 25%!
Wes: Wes’ YouTube Channel

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