Wix Studio: Using the CMS
Use the CMS (Content Management System) in Wix Studio to efficiently save, organize, and manage the content of your clients' sites.
In the CMS, you keep site content in database collections that allow you to easily create dynamic pages and elements. Connect page elements such as text, galleries, and repeaters to datasets where you control which collection fields are used in the elements. You can allow visitors to filter content and submit directly to your collections by setting up user input elements such as text inputs, dropdown selections, upload buttons and more.
Tip:
Check out our Wix Studio Academy webinar on how to build dynamic content with Wix Studio.
Adding the CMS in Wix Studio
Add the CMS from the left side of the Studio Editor, then get started with preset CMS templates or manually create your own collections and dynamic pages.
To add the CMS to Wix Studio:
Click CMS
on the left side of the editor.
Click Add to Site.
Choose how you want to start:
Start with a preset: Choose from preset CMS templates that include sample collections and connected dynamic pages.
Start by adding content: Create a collection manually, by importing a CSV file, or with help from AI. After adding content to a collection, you can connect it to your page elements.
Using datasets to connect elements on your page
In the CMS, you use datasets to connect the elements in your Editor to the content in your collections. Select an element or page and go to CMS connections
in the Inspector panel to choose which collection fields connect to each part of the page elements.
In your dataset settings, you can adjust the dataset mode, choose the maximum items that can load at a time, and add filters and sort conditions to exclude items and choose the order in which they appear on your site.
Learn more about connecting page elements to datasets to display collection content.
Simplify content management with CMS collections
Access all your collections from your dashboard or CMS
on the left side of the Studio Editor. Sort, filter, and search to find the exact collections you need. Learn more about managing your collections from the CMS dashboard.
In each collection, you can choose a layout you prefer (Table, List, or Gallery) and manage various field types. Sort, filter, and save custom views for seamless collaboration with your team. Import or export collections as CSV files. Determine who can view, add, edit, or delete content with permissions & privacy. Create advanced indexes to speed up collection queries and prevent duplicates.
Keep your collections neatly organized for easy access by placing them in folders. Use Backups to restore collection versions for added security and peace of mind. Enable Wix App Collections to view data from other Wix apps (e.g. Wix Stores, Wix Bookings). Use the Sandbox as a test environment for your collections, ensuring everything is perfect before going live.
Scale efficiently with dynamic pages
With dynamic pages, you can streamline and scale the creation and maintenance of your webpages. Dynamic pages use a consistent layout and design, while changing their content based on the page's connected collection items.
Wix sites have a total pages quota of 298 (including up to 100 static pages). Each dynamic or app page you add counts as one page. Both can generate unique URLs for many items (e.g., collection items, products) without consuming additional pages from your quota.
There are two types of dynamic pages:
Dynamic list pages: These can showcase several items from a collection in galleries or repeaters. They allow visitors to click an item to go to its dynamic item page where they can view more details about the selected item.
Dynamic item pages: These are automatically created for every item in your page's connected collection. They display details about individual collection items in various page elements that connect to fields in your collection.
Watch the video below for an overview on building dynamic content with Wix Studio.
Learn more about:
Engage visitors to interact with your site
Encourage site visitors to interact with your clients' sites using custom input and navigational elements. You can set permissions for each of your collections to control who can view and edit collection content.
Connect input elements such as text inputs, signature inputs, and upload buttons to datasets and allow visitors to submit to CMS collections. Set up input elements such as dropdowns, selection tags, and radio buttons that allow visitors to filter the items they see in repeaters or galleries.
Create custom interactive and navigational elements by connecting buttons or images to datasets and setting their click actions. For example, create buttons that load more items in a repeater or gallery, take you to the next dynamic item page, reset the input values, and more.
Utilize a full suite of SEO tools for your dynamic pages
Edit all the SEO settings for dynamic pages from within the Studio Editor. You can add variables to the URL slug structure to ensure each CMS collection item gets a unique web address. The variables you add to the dynamic page URLs gets replaced by the actual field values from the collection items. Creating unique URLs also helps search engines and visitors understand what each page's content is about.
Learn more about working with SEO settings for dynamic pages.
FAQs
Click below for answers to our most frequently asked questions.
Where do I manage dynamic pages?
Click Manage Dynamic Pages to go to your site pages panel where you can view the names of all your dynamic pages. Each dynamic page name ends with either (List) or (Item) to indicate the type of dynamic page.
Learn more about:
How do custom forms add visitor submissions to collections?
You can create custom forms by adding user input elements and connecting them to a "Write" mode dataset. The dataset connects to the collection in which you want to store the visitor submissions. Choose from several user input elements such as text inputs, dropdown selections, upload buttons and more.
If needed, you can set permissions to determine who can submit content. You can also export the collection as a CSV file to use the data outside of the Wix CMS (e.g. in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets).
How do I view Wix app collections?
By default, your Wix app collections are hidden from your list of collections. You can view Wix app collections in the CMS and connect them to page elements. However, you cannot edit the collections in the CMS because the content is managed from the relevant Wix app (e.g. Wix Stores, Wix Bookings).
Learn more about working with Wix app collections.
Can I change the page caching settings for dynamic pages?
Yes. In the Page Info tab of your dynamic page settings, you can adjust your page caching settings to make the page cached automatically, or manually. If a page is cached, its data is saved locally so it takes less time for the page to load. There are some pages we do not recommend caching, such as pages that have user generated content or dynamic data (such as pricing).
To edit your Advanced Settings:
Click Pages
on the left side of the editor.
Hover over the relevant dynamic page and click the More Actions icon
.
Click Settings.
Click Advanced Settings.
Click the drop-down and select an option:
Automatically: The page is automatically cached (if it meets the requirements).
Manually: The page is not cached automatically. Click the Turn on caching for this page toggle to choose whether or not you want the page to be cached:
Enabled: The page will be cached. Click the drop-down to choose how often you want to reset this page's cache.
Disabled: The page will not be cached.
Why should I add a variable field to the URL slug structure?
Adding a field to your dynamic page URL helps search engines and visitors understand what the page content is about. It also adds structure and organization to your site's dynamic URLs.
You may need to add fields to the URL to create unique URLs for each item in your collection. If multiple items in your collection have the same value in their Title field, and you do not add a field to the dynamic URL, only 1 URL is generated. This is because Title is used in the URL by default. Since only 1 URL is created for both items, only 1 item will have a dynamic page, the other will not.
To solve this issue, add fields to the URL so each item gets its own dynamic page with a unique URL.
For example, if your dynamic item page URL ends with /team/{Title}, and 2 items in the collection have "Sara" in the Title field, only 1 URL is generated for /team/sara. So only 1 dynamic page is created for 1 of the 2 items in the collection. To solve this, you could add a field to the URL that is unique to each item such as the ID field. The URL would then be /team/sara/{ID} so each item gets its own unique dynamic page URL.
Warning: If you change the URL structure of your dynamic pages, all the existing links to these pages will no longer work. This affects links within your site, any links you've shared externally, and SEO links in search engines.
What are rich content elements?
Rich content elements can display formatted text as well as images and videos in a single dynamic element on your site. You manage their content from the connected collection using the rich content field type.
Rich content allows you, and collaborators with permissions, to manage formatted text directly from your CMS (Content Management System). You can add, edit, and delete the fields in the same way as any other field type and use them on dynamic pages.
Learn more about using rich content fields on your site.
Is there a page limit in Studio Editor?
Yes, Studio Editor sites can have up to 298 pages, including a maximum of 100 static pages. Each dynamic or app page you add counts as one page, no matter how many CMS items, app items, or unique URLs are displayed.
Learn more about scaling your content efficiently with dynamic pages.