Content Type

A content type is the model that defines the structure of a family of content items, meaning the properties they have, such as a title, a description, a date or a number of rooms. The Academy glossary gives the example of a "Job offering" type used to add job offers to a website. Every offer entered then follows the same model.

Definition and how it works

Structuring content by type changes the way teams work. Contributors fill in explicit fields rather than a free-form page, so entry is faster and more consistent. Content becomes usable beyond the page: a list can filter offers by location, an application can read them through the API, a view (the display code) can show them as a card or as a full page. Well-typed content is reusable. Hand-formatted text much less so.

In Jahia, a content type is declared by a developer in a definition, then delivered in a module, a package of code installed on the platform. It inherits from Jahia’s base types (it takes on their features), which gives it shared sections in Content Editor (categories, metadata, layout, options). The editing form is generated from that declaration.

Academy documentation: creating a content type

Content type vs content item: the differences

A content type is the model, seen from the business side. It differs from its technical declaration and from the properties it is made of.

The content type and its neighbors
Term	How it differs
Content item	A content item is an instance of the type, with its own values: one specific job offer. The type is the model shared by all offers.
Content type definition	The definition is the technical declaration of the type, written in a .cnd file. The type is the model and the definition is how it is written.
Property (content)	A property is one attribute of the type, such as the price of a real estate listing. The type brings all its properties together.

Content type in practice

Before launching a real estate listings site, the marketing team and the integrator (the team that builds the site) list the types they need (listing, agency, neighborhood) together and, for each one, the useful fields (price, floor area, number of rooms, photos). They specify which fields are mandatory, which are translatable and which will serve as filters.

This modeling work shapes the forms, lists, search and what the API can expose. Reworking it after go-live is heavier than doing it during scoping.

Frequently asked questions

How do you get a new content type when the editorial scope grows?

Developers need to be asked, since they are the ones who declare content types in a definition and deliver them in a module deployed on the platform. Contributors use the available types to create their content. The marketing team’s role comes earlier, when it expresses the entry, display and reuse needs the model must cover.

Do we need one content type per page layout?

Not necessarily. A type describes a piece of information (an offer, a product, a testimonial), not a presentation. The same type can have several views and be displayed differently depending on where it appears. Multiplying types for visual variations makes the model and contributor training heavier. The right question is whether this information has fields of its own.

What does a content type get from Jahia’s base types?

Its shared sections. A type declared by a developer inherits from Jahia’s base types and takes on the shared Content Editor sections, such as categories, metadata, layout and options, without declaring them again. Contributors therefore find the same landmarks from one type to another. Only the fields specific to the type change.