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Content Editor

The dotCMS content editor is a built-in interface for managing individual units of content, also known as contentlets. Built with Angular components, the latest iteration of the editor is sleek and responsive, with powerful tools to manage any content efficiently.

dotCMS Content Editor Tool.

Activation#

Currently (first quarter, 2025), the latest version of the content editor is a new, optional feature. In future updates, this is planned to become the default content editor interface. However, at the time of writing, it is necessary to activate it on a per-content-type basis.

To activate it, browse to the content type editor (Content Model -> Content Types), open a content type, and then hit the Edit button in the upper-right corner. The content type's properties dialog will contain, near the top, a checkbox to activate the updated content editor, as displayed here:

Activating the updated content editor.

Once that box is checked, click the Update button at the bottom of the dialog. As indicated beside the checkbox, this change can be rolled back safely at any time.

Interface#

The editor's functions and displays are divided between two elements: a main pane and a sidebar.

Main Pane#

The central pane of the content editor permits editing of the contentlet's data, divided across the various fields that comprise the content type it represents.

The layout of these fields corresponds to the layout designed through the content type editor; e.g., multiple-column rows display horizontally adjacent fields, etc.

Similarly, tab divisions are displayed along the top bar.

Tab divisions within a content type.

The top bar also includes a switch to control the lock status of the content.

Lock status display.

At the far right end of this bar, a bright blue button permits the execution of a workflow action upon the content — such as Saving, Publishing, etc. — according to its workflow scheme and current workflow step.

Sidebar#

The right-hand sidebar displays content metada, subdivided across tabs.

Sidebar information tab.

General Information Tab#

The General Information includes:

  • The content's identifier
  • A link to the content as a JSON object
  • The content's type
  • Creation and modification dates
  • A list of pages that contain the contentlet

Next, a locale selector permits switching between different language versions of the contentlet. It also provides a quick way to populate a different language version if one does not exist — that is, clicking a locale for which no content version exists will call the following dialog:

Tab divisions within a content type.

This offers the option to initialize the new version with an existing one, or to provide a blank contentlet for from-scratch translation.

Finally, the bottom section of the tab includes information on the associated workflow and workflow status, such as current step and assignee.

Task Tab#

The task tab includes entries that document workflow actions performed on the contentlet. This tab also permits users to leave comments within this action history.

Sidebar task tab.