Getting started
Find your way around the workspace and take your first piece of content from draft to published page.
Everyone using the CMS
The GroCMS handbook
GroCMS documentation
Learn to create content, design your website and operate your GroCMS installation.
These guides explain the product. Use the sign-in address supplied by your own website administrator to work on your content.
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29 guides available
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Everyone using the CMS
How the CMS works
Understand what saving, publishing, previewing and scheduling actually change.
Everyone using the CMS
Technology stack
A practical map of the libraries, processes and storage behind this installation.
Technical administrators, developers and interested editors
Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the terms used in the CMS and these guides.
Everyone using the CMS
Overview
Read your workspace summary, find unfinished work and choose the right next screen.
Everyone who works in GroCMS
Content
Pages
Create permanent website pages, manage their addresses and publish changes deliberately.
Administrators, editors and people reviewing website content
Posts
Write and organise stories, understand authorship and choose publication or review.
Authors, contributors, editors and administrators
Media library
Upload, find and replace images, documents and fonts without changing existing published uses.
Authors, editors, designers and administrators who manage media
Categories & tags
Create reusable classifications and connect published content without duplicating it.
Editors, administrators and writers classifying their content
Authors
Manage public names and biographies separately from staff login accounts and content ownership.
Authors, contributors, editors and administrators
Review queue
Inspect the submitted version, request changes and publish exactly what was approved.
Contributors, editors and others with publication responsibility
Publishing schedule
Release an exact saved revision later, interpret times and recover blocked scheduled work.
Editors, administrators and other authorised publishers
Languages and translations
Add website languages, prepare translations and understand which draft, revision, links and publication you are changing.
Editors, administrators and agency implementers
Website design
Homepage
Understand what controls the front page, change its layout, and keep its story cards current.
Administrators, designers, and editors working together
Visual editor
Arrange the available components, connect content, and understand the limits of the canvas.
People creating page and template layouts
Templates
Build reusable page layouts and understand which template a public route selects.
Administrators and designers
Shared sections
Reuse one published section across layouts while keeping deliberate copies independent.
Administrators and designers
Navigation
Create menu links, bind a menu to the website, and keep destinations working as content changes.
Administrators and designers
Brand & theme
Set the website's identity, colors, fonts, and logo, with clear limits on what these controls change.
Administrators and designers
Workspace
People & permissions
Invite team members, choose the right role, change access and distinguish login accounts from public authors.
Administrators
Activity log
Trace recorded content, publication and administration actions and use event details to investigate changes.
Administrators
Settings
Understand the settings hub, select the homepage and distinguish saved site preferences from deployment configuration.
Administrators and designers
Account & security
Sign in, recover access, change your password, manage sessions and set up an authenticator with recovery codes.
Everyone with a CMS account
API keys & content export
Connect an application with scoped credentials and understand exactly what a workspace export contains.
Administrators and integration developers
Content types and extensions
Build custom collections, bind fields and release reusable layouts through the administrator interface.
Editors reviewing collections and developers extending the CMS
Setup & operations
Local setup
Install a development workspace, create the first account and start both application processes.
Developers and technical administrators
Production setup and upgrades
Configure and operate the single-host Docker package while preserving authored content and media.
Deployment operators and technical administrators
Backup and restore
Protect database and media together, rehearse recovery and resume schedules deliberately.
Deployment operators and administrators responsible for recovery
Troubleshooting
Identify whether a problem belongs to editing, permissions, publication or the running services.
Editors, administrators and deployment operators