Content
Pages
Create permanent website pages, manage their addresses and publish changes deliberately.
When to use a Page
Use Pages for durable parts of the website, such as About, Contact, Services or a programme description. A Page can sit beneath another Page, giving visitors a meaningful address such as /services/training. Posts suit ongoing stories and announcements and have their own Journal collection. Choosing a Page does not automatically place it in the navigation or make it the homepage.
Administrators and editors create, edit and publish Pages. Designers can read ordinary content but cannot rewrite or publish it through their design role. Authors and contributors work with their own Posts rather than managing Pages. If the editor says you have read-only access, its disabled fields are intentional; an administrator must change responsibility or access.
Sources: Content types and taxonomies; Resource permission policy.
Create and fill in a Page
- Open Pages and choose New Page. On an empty list, Create Page opens the same dialog.
- Enter a recognisable Title, then choose Create & open editor. The new entry is a draft.
- In Content, fill in the title, Address / slug, Excerpt and Body. Use the body toolbar for supported formatting and links. Internal links open in the current tab; use the browser's Open in new tab command or Ctrl/Cmd-click when you deliberately want another tab.
- In Organization, choose a Parent page only when the address should sit beneath another Page. Select an appropriate Template or leave the normal fallback in place.
- Choose a Featured image if the design uses one. Search the selection dialog and move between result pages to find older assets.
- Check SEO & visibility, wait for the saved-state message, then Preview. Publish when the saved version is ready for visitors.
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Title | The page's editorial name and default heading/search-title source. |
| Address / slug | The final address segment, such as training. A parent supplies preceding segments. |
| Excerpt | A short introduction available to listings, search presentation and connected components. |
| Body | The main written content, distinct from a visual composition or shared template. |
| SEO title / description | Optional search-appearance wording; the preview falls back to the title and excerpt. |
| Visibility | Public permits anonymous website delivery after publication; Private excludes public routes. |
Sources: Content lists and creation dialogs; Resource editor; Reference selection dialog.
Parents, addresses and navigation
A parent relationship affects the published address. For example, publish Services with the slug services, then publish Training beneath it with the slug training. The child resolves at /services/training. Publish required parents before children. GroCMS prevents circular parent relationships and refuses an address already claimed by another live resource or a reserved application route.
Saving a different parent or slug only changes the draft. Publishing that change moves the page, updates the paths of published descendants and records redirects from previous addresses. A child's unrelated draft slug or parent change does not become public just because its parent moves. It still needs its own publication.
Page hierarchy and navigation are separate. Moving Training beneath Services does not edit the Navigation menu's ordering. To place a link in the menu, edit and publish the menu. Likewise, choose the homepage in Site settings and publish those settings; naming a Page Home does not assign the homepage by itself.
Sources: Content and publication service; Published-content integration tests; Content types and taxonomies.
Save, preview and recover work
Autosave creates a working revision after a pause. Save changes is available when unsaved edits remain. The current website continues using its published revision. A disabled Preview or Publish button usually means saving, conflicting changes, unresolved date input or an unavailable component needs attention first. Preview shows the saved draft and requires your own signed-in account; it is not an anonymous approval link.
Leaving unsaved work through administration links offers Stay, Save and leave, or Discard unsaved changes. Saving must succeed before navigation continues. A temporary recovery copy is kept in the current browser tab, scoped to your account and site. After a reload or Back/Forward navigation, GroCMS checks your access before offering recovery. If the server revision advanced, compare or download the tab copy rather than silently replacing newer work. Explicit logout clears recovery. Browser storage and mobile exit warnings are not a durable backup.
Publish and Schedule publication open saved-revision checks before confirmation. The panel shows content/dependency problems, a readable revision comparison and direct published references visible to your account. It does not preflight route availability, descendant URLs or complete rendering impact. Final publication rechecks current permissions, dependencies, conflicts and URLs; intervening changes can still block it.
To create an individual layout, choose Add a custom page composition. This opens the full-window Visual editor in the current tab. Back to content returns to the entry's fields. Ordinary writing can stay in Body and use the site's published template. Avoid adding a custom composition simply to change a sentence; it introduces a separate layout to maintain.
If another edit wins first, choose Download my changes before Load latest, then reconcile the text. Revision history compares readable text, fields, references, SEO and layout blocks between saved versions. Formatting-only changes are indicated separately; large values have a download fallback. Restore as working draft creates a new draft without immediately replacing the public page or rewinding shared categories, templates or sections. Comparison never merges or restores automatically.
Sources: Resource editor; Content and publication service; Editor browser journeys; Published-content integration tests.
Find, withdraw and troubleshoot Pages
The list searches working titles. Published includes entries with a published version, Drafts means no published version, Changes means newer working edits, and Trash shows removed entries. A displayed draft slug is not proof that the public route exists. Use the published-content link in the editor to check the actual page.
Unpublish content removes public delivery while retaining the draft and history. Move to trash also hides the entry from ordinary lists. Restore returns a trashed Page to editing; publication is a separate action. Required dependencies can block withdrawal, so resolve the named dependent content instead of repeatedly retrying.
For several Pages, select entries on the current list page, choose a bulk action and Review action. Check each result: permission or dependency failures can leave some entries unchanged while others succeed. Export selected downloads the selected working snapshots, not a whole-site backup.
Sources: Content lists and creation dialogs; Bulk actions; Content and publication service.