Instance · CMS
CMS Overview
Last updated 1 November 2026
Everything the CMS manages: pages, layouts, partials, files, collections, emails, SMS, globals and access rules.
The CMS is where you manage your site's pages and the layouts around them. It also holds reusable blocks, files, emails, text messages and collections. Company details and access rules are here too. Most of it is files in your project, so a developer can work in code while an editor works in the admin.
What the CMS manages
| Area | What it is |
|---|---|
| Pages | Each address on your site, with its content, metadata, sitemap, Open Graph, schema, security and cache settings |
| Layouts | The frame around pages and emails |
| Partials | Reusable blocks of content used by pages and layouts |
| Web files | Static files such as stylesheets, scripts and fonts |
| Explorer | Every file in your project, to browse and edit |
| Collections | A list page and a details page for a set of records |
| Emails | The email templates your site sends |
| SMS | The text message templates your site sends |
| Globals | Company details shared by every page |
| Auth policies | Yes-or-no rules for who may open a page |
Example: what is on an instance
Read on the docs.insites.io instance on 1 November 2026: 63 pages, 13 layouts, 235 partials, 4 email templates and no SMS templates. Many of these come from installed modules.
Changes in the admin and in code
The Explorer reads the files actually on the instance, and edits there take effect at once. If your team also deploys from code, a deploy replaces what is on the instance. Agree where each change is made, so an edit in the admin is not lost at the next deploy.
Common mistakes
- Editing a page in the admin that a developer also deploys. The next deploy undoes the edit.
- Copying the same block into many pages. Make it a partial, so one change updates all of them.
- Expecting the CMS to send webhooks. It does not; other modules, such as the CRM, do.