Documentation

Getting Started

This section walks through the complete lifecycle of building and publishing your first project in SleekCMS.

By the end, you will:

  • Create an organization
  • Create a site (from template or blank)
  • Define basic models
  • Create content
  • Publish your first page
  • Understand the developer/editor workflow

1. Create an Organization

An Organization (or Account) is the top-level container in SleekCMS.

An organization can contain:

  • One or more Sites
  • Multiple users
  • Role-based permissions
  • Shared billing and access control

Think of an organization as your workspace boundary.

2. Create a Site

A Site is where modeling, content, and rendering live.

Each organization can contain multiple sites.

Choose How to Start

Option A --- Start from a Site Template

SleekCMS supports complete, clonable site templates.

A template includes:

  • Page models
  • Entry models
  • Block models
  • Option sets
  • View templates
  • Sample content
  • Site configuration

Templates are shared using a clone token.

Every site in SleekCMS can be cloned. Every site is also a template.

Template selection screen showing multiple ready-to-use site templates

Option B --- Start with a Blank Site

A blank site contains:

  • No models
  • No content
  • No rendering configuration

3. Set Up Basic Models (If Starting Blank)

Create:

  • One Page Model (Homepage)
  • One Block Model (Hero Section)
  • Optional Entry Model (Author)

Create a Block Model (Hero Section)

Example fields:

  • Heading (Text)
  • Subheading (Text)
  • Background Image (Image)
  • CTA Label (Text)
  • CTA URL (Link)

Create a Page Model (Homepage) (Path / )

Fields:

  • Title (Text)
  • SEO Description (Text)
  • Sections (Dynamic Block field allowing Hero, CTA, etc.)

Optional: Create an Entry Model (Author)

Example fields:

  • Name (Text)
  • Profile Image (Media)
  • Bio (Rich Text)

4. Create Your First Page

  1. Create a new page using your Homepage model.
  2. Fill basic fields.
  3. Add blocks to the Dynamic Block field.
  4. Configure block content.

5. Configure Site Builder (Required for Preview)

To preview or publish rendered pages, configure the Site Builder.

Steps:

  1. Enable Site Builder.
  2. Attach a View Template to each Page Model.
  3. Attach View Templates to Block Models.
  4. Provide EJS templates.

Example minimal EJS templates:

<!-- views/pages/index.ejs -->
<% title(item.title) %>
<h1><%= item.title %></h1>

<%- render(page.sections) %>

<!-- views/blocks/hero.ejs -->
<h2><%= item.heading %></h2>

Content can exist without rendering. Rendering requires View Templates.

5. Publish

  1. Preview.
  2. Add Deploy Targets (Netlify, Vercel, Surge, and more)
  3. Publish.

Basic Workflow

Model → Create Content → Render

Developer Responsibilities

  • Create and maintain models
  • Design content architecture
  • Configure site templates
  • Implement rendering templates
  • Maintain structural integrity

Content Editor Responsibilities

  • Create and update content
  • Assemble pages using blocks
  • Manage entries
  • Publish content

Summary

You have:

  • Created an Organization
  • Created a Site (template or blank)
  • Defined models (if starting blank)
  • Created structured content
  • Published a page

SleekCMS enables:

  1. Intentional content modeling
  2. Reusable site architectures
  3. Safe delegation to content teams
  4. Flexible rendering across environments