Overview
A Content Template is the blueprint that defines the structure, type, and behaviour of a family of Content Instances. A template fixes the family’s type, owns the custom attributes its instances carry, sets authoring rules (default workflow and publishing), and — for product templates — defines the line-item columns and variant options. Every content instance is created from a template and inherits its type and attribute schema. For the bigger picture, see the Content overview.Where to find it
Content templates live under Content → Templates.Template types
A template’s type is chosen when you create it and can’t change afterward. It determines how instances behave:| Type | What it’s for | Type-specific behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Stories | Editorial content — articles, posts, pages | Plain content + versions. |
| Products | Sellable goods and services | Adds commerce options (below): item codes, SKU, prices, inventory, variants. Powers Commerce. |
| Locations | Physical or virtual places | Used as inventory locations in Commerce. |
| Blocks | Reusable content fragments | Composable content reused inside other content. |
| Taxonomies | Categorization trees | Defines a taxonomy scoped to an object type; can be linked to another template. |
Properties
| Property | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
title | string | Yes | Display name of the template. |
slug | string | Yes | Identifier (a–z, 0–9, -); groups the template’s instances. |
description | string | No | Optional description. |
type | enum | Yes | stories, products, locations, blocks, or taxonomies — set once, at creation. |
taxonomy_object_type | string | Conditional | Taxonomies only — the object type this taxonomy categorizes. |
Product options
A products template adds a set of commerce flags that drive how its instances are validated and what they require:| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| Sellable | The product can be sold — it can go on orders, be priced, and tracked. |
| Manage inventory | Stock is tracked — instances require a SKU, default price, and standard cost. |
| Manage serials | Per-unit tracking (serial numbers / per-unit assignment). |
| Allows variations | The product has multiple SKUs (e.g. size × color), built from variant options. |
Attributes
A template owns the custom attributes applied to its instances’ content. Attributes are defined against the Content Version object type and scoped to the template, so each content family has its own fields — grouped, typed, and validated.Authoring
A template’s authoring config sets the defaults its instances inherit:- The default workflow new instances start on.
- Publishing rules for the family.
Line-item columns
For products, the template defines the columns and formulas shown on an order’s line items — price, quantity, discount, totals — and can override them per order type. An order renders its line items using the product template’s column configuration, so the same product can show different columns on a sale versus a purchase.Variants
A product template with variations enabled defines its variant options (for example Size and Color). Combining the options generates the product’s individual SKUs (item codes) on its instances.Behaviour & rules
- Type is fixed at creation — you choose
stories,products,locations,blocks, ortaxonomieswhen you create the template; it can’t be changed later. - Deleting is guarded — a template with active instances can’t be deleted; remove or archive its instances first.
- Product validation — the product options above determine what instances must provide (item codes, SKU, prices). Aligning instances with the template’s product config is required for them to save.
- Taxonomies require a
taxonomy_object_typeand may be linked to another template so the two stay in step.
Seeds
Content templates travel between environments as structural Seeds. Once a template’s structure is defined, you can load large volumes of its records with an instance seed — see Content Instances.| Seed type | Supported | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Structural | Yes | Full-fidelity export/import of the template and its attributes. |
| Instance | Via instances | Instance seeds target a template’s instances, not the template itself. |
Governance & permissions
Only a super admin or Master can create, edit, and delete content templates.API access
Content templates have full CRUD, plus operations to read and set the default workflow and to manage product variant options. See the API reference.Related
Content Instances
The records created from a template.
Attributes
The custom fields a template owns.
Taxonomies
Taxonomy-type templates.
Guide: Build a blog
A template in action, end to end.