Introduction

The way a business manages and delivers digital content has changed in the last few years. The evolution is driven by the growing demand for multi-channel experiences, a website is not the only channel anymore.

That’s where headless CMS solutions come in, offering a more agile and composable approach to content management.

Contentstack is among the leading headless CMS platforms. It is a powerful API-driven system. This system enables businesses to manage and deliver content more efficiently.

In this blog, I’ll share my first thoughts on Contentstack. I will explain why it’s gaining traction as a game-changer in the world of content management.

What is Contentstack?

Contentstack is a headless CMS that decouples the backend content repository from the frontend presentation layer. Unlike traditional monolith CMS platforms, which bundle both the content management and presentation together, Contentstack’s headless approach is different. It gives developers the freedom to choose their own frontend technology.

This allows for faster and more flexible content delivery. It works across various devices and platforms. This includes a website, mobile app, or even IoT devices.

At its core, Contentstack offers robust features like content modeling, workflows, versioning, and an intuitive content editor. These elements help developers build complex digital experiences. They supply non-technical teams, like marketers and content creators, with an easy-to-use interface to manage their content.

Contentstack focuses on APIs and integrates with various modern technologies. This empowers businesses to create seamless, omni-channel experiences. They are not limited by a single platform or technology stack.

First Impressions

I have access to a Contentstack instance and have been trying it out.

My very first impression is that Contentstack asks you what region and cloud provider you want to login to. This at first felt strange as users of SaaS platforms don’t normally get the choice.

Nonetheless, it’s actually really clever, as businesses have agreements with specific cloud providers, or teams have a preference. This is entirely inclusive and shows it’s cloud-hosted, but you choose a preference. Also, some countries need to be in a specific region, so this is great for compliance.

Also the documentation is well written and concise:

• Architecture Diagrams – https://www.contentstack.com/docs/developers/architecture-diagrams
• Developer Guide – https://www.contentstack.com/docs/developers
• Content Authors – https://www.contentstack.com/docs/content-managers

After a successful login you are shown the following after choosing your stack.

The platform instantly stands out for its user-friendly interface. One of the main challenges with adopting a headless CMS is the steep learning curve for non-technical users. Nonetheless, Contentstack seems to have addressed this issue. The dashboard is clean, intuitive, and easy to navigate. It is accessible not just for developers but also for marketers and content creators.

I wanted to take a look at the Content Types section. That is the first place to start. You need these to start building pages. You have a dropdown to create a new content type. One part that grabbed my attention was the use prebuilt choice.

It includes 10 different items and I clicked on item for ‘Product Listing Page’. This guides you through the process of what it’s going to create. By going through the steps, you can view the newly created content model.

Another part that is quite nice is how you can add to the content model. Clicking a plus icon below another will show this:

Its all pretty easy to use and lets you build in realtime in one page. I have never used it before now. I found it simple for any user that needs to model their content types.

Conclusion

I will keep exploring Contentstack although first impressions have been good. I have a few posts planned over the next few weeks. I will explore the platform and highlight the areas I feel are important to call out.

Hope someone finds this useful.