Multi-Collection Setup Example

This guide demonstrates how to set up multiple collections in md0 CMS for a complete website with blog posts, documentation, pages, team members, and more using the visual collection builder.

Use Case

A company website with:

• Marketing pages
• Blog with multiple categories
• Documentation
• Team member profiles
• Case studies
• Product pages

Repository Structure

First, create this folder structure in your GitHub repository:

company-site/
├── content/
│   ├── pages/
│   │   ├── about.md
│   │   ├── contact.md
│   │   └── pricing.md
│   ├── blog/
│   │   ├── getting-started-guide.md
│   │   ├── new-feature-announcement.md
│   │   └── team-update.md
│   ├── team/
│   │   ├── jane-doe.md
│   │   └── john-smith.md
│   └── products/
│       ├── product-a.md
│       └── product-b.md
└── public/
    └── images/

Note: Currently, md0 CMS supports single-folder patterns (e.g., content/blog/*.md). Nested folder support (e.g., content/blog/**/*.md) is coming soon.

Creating Collections in md0 CMS

Collection 1: Pages

Static marketing pages.

1. Go to Collections → Create Collection
2. Fill in the basic info:
   • Name: Pages
   • Path: content/pages/*.md
   • Description: Marketing and informational pages
3. Click Add Field to create the schema:
   • title (Text, Required)
   • description (Long Text, Required)
   • hero (Group)
     • title (Text)
     • subtitle (Long Text)
     • image (Image)
     • cta_text (Text)
     • cta_link (Text)
   • seo (Group)
     • meta_title (Text)
     • meta_description (Long Text)
4. Click Save Collection

Collection 2: Blog Posts

Blog articles in a single folder.

1. Collections → Create Collection
2. Basic info:
   • Name: Blog Posts
   • Path: content/blog/*.md
   • Description: Blog articles, news, and tutorials
3. Add fields:
   • title (Text, Required)
   • date (Date, Required, Default: Today)
   • excerpt (Long Text, Required)
   • author (Text, Required)
   • category (Select, Required)
     • Options: News, Tutorials, Case Studies, Company Updates
   • tags (List of Text)
   • featured_image (Image)
   • published (Toggle, Default: Off)
4. Save Collection

Collection 3: Team Members

Employee profiles.

1. Collections → Create Collection
2. Basic info:
   • Name: Team Members
   • Path: content/team/*.md
   • Description: Team member profiles and bios
3. Add fields:
   • name (Text, Required)
   • role (Text, Required)
   • department (Select)
     • Options: Engineering, Design, Marketing, Sales, Support
   • bio (Long Text, Required)
   • avatar (Image, Required)
   • email (Email)
   • social (Group)
     • twitter (Text)
     • linkedin (Text)
     • github (Text)
   • order (Number, Default: 0, Help: "Display order on team page")
4. Save Collection

Collection 4: Products

Product pages.

1. Collections → Create Collection
2. Basic info:
   • Name: Products
   • Path: content/products/*.md
   • Description: Product information and features
3. Add fields:
   • name (Text, Required)
   • tagline (Text, Required)
   • description (Long Text, Required)
   • price (Group)
     • monthly (Number)
     • annual (Number)
     • currency (Text, Default: "USD")
   • features (List of Text)
   • gallery (List of Images)
   • status (Select)
     • Options: Active, Beta, Coming Soon, Deprecated
4. Save Collection

Example Content

Page Example

content/pages/about.md

---
title: "About Us"
description: "Learn about our mission, values, and the team behind the product."
hero:
  title: "We're building the future of content management"
  subtitle: "A team of developers and designers passionate about making content management simple."
  image: "/images/team-photo.jpg"
  cta_text: "Meet the Team"
  cta_link: "/team"
seo:
  meta_title: "About md0 CMS - Our Mission and Team"
  meta_description: "Learn about md0 CMS, our mission to simplify content management, and the team making it happen."
---
# About md0 CMS

We believe content management should be simple...

Blog Post Example

content/blog/getting-started-guide.md

---
title: "Getting Started with md0 CMS"
date: 2024-01-15
excerpt: "Learn how to set up md0 CMS in under 5 minutes."
author: "Jane Doe"
category: "Tutorials"
tags: ["beginner", "setup", "quickstart"]
featured_image: "/images/blog/getting-started.jpg"
published: true
---
# Getting Started with md0 CMS

In this tutorial, we'll walk through...

Team Member Example

content/team/jane-doe.md

---
name: "Jane Doe"
role: "Head of Engineering"
department: "Engineering"
bio: "Jane leads our engineering team with 10+ years of experience in web development and content management systems."
avatar: "/images/team/jane-doe.jpg"
email: "jane@company.com"
social:
  twitter: "janedoe"
  linkedin: "janedoe"
  github: "janedoe"
order: 1
---
Jane has been building web applications for over a decade...

Product Example

content/products/pro-plan.md

---
name: "Pro Plan"
tagline: "For growing teams and businesses"
description: "Everything in Free, plus advanced features for teams."
price:
  monthly: 49
  annual: 490
  currency: "USD"
features:
  - "Unlimited repositories"
  - "Team collaboration"
  - "Priority support"
  - "Advanced schemas"
  - "Custom integrations"
gallery:
  - "/images/products/pro-dashboard.jpg"
  - "/images/products/pro-editor.jpg"
status: "Active"
---
# Pro Plan Features

The Pro Plan is designed for...

Collection Organization Tips

By Content Type

Separate by what the content represents:

• Pages → Static content
• Blog → Time-based content
• Team → People profiles
• Products → Product info

By Workflow

Separate by how content is managed:

• Published content
• Draft content
• Archived content

By Access Level

Separate by who can edit:

• Public content
• Internal content
• Restricted content

Querying Multiple Collections

In Next.js

// Get all content types
const pages = getAllContent("pages");
const posts = getAllContent("blog");
const team = getAllContent("team");
const products = getAllContent("products");

// Homepage data
export async function getStaticProps() {
  return {
    props: {
      featuredPosts: posts.filter((p) => p.published).slice(0, 3),
      teamMembers: team.sort((a, b) => a.order - b.order),
      products: products.filter((p) => p.status === "Active"),
    },
  };
}

In Gatsby

export const query = graphql`
  query HomePage {
    blogPosts: allMarkdownRemark(
      filter: { fileAbsolutePath: { regex: "/blog/" } }
      sort: { frontmatter: { date: DESC } }
      limit: 3
    ) {
      nodes {
        frontmatter {
          title
          excerpt
        }
      }
    }

    teamMembers: allMarkdownRemark(
      filter: { fileAbsolutePath: { regex: "/team/" } }
      sort: { frontmatter: { order: ASC } }
    ) {
      nodes {
        frontmatter {
          name
          role
          avatar
        }
      }
    }
  }
`;

Cross-Referencing

Linking Between Collections

# In blog post
related_products:
  - "pro-plan"
  - "enterprise-plan"

# In blog post
author_profile: "jane-doe"

Query related content:

const post = await getPost(slug);
const relatedProducts = await Promise.all(
  post.related_products.map((id) => getProduct(id))
);

Collection Relationships

One-to-Many

Blog posts → Author (one author, many posts)

# In blog post
author_id: "jane-doe"

Many-to-Many

Blog posts → Tags (many posts, many tags)

# In blog post
tags: ["javascript", "tutorial", "beginner"]

Nested Content

Products → Features

# In product
features:
  - title: "Advanced Editor"
    description: "Visual markdown editing"
    image: "/images/features/editor.jpg"

Best Practices

Consistent Schemas

Reuse field patterns:

# SEO fields (reuse in multiple collections)
seo:
  meta_title: string
  meta_description: text
  keywords: array

Clear Naming

Use descriptive collection names:

• "Blog Posts" not "Posts"
• "Team Members" not "Team"
• "Documentation" not "Docs"

Logical Paths

Match collection paths to content types:

content/blog/*.md → Blog Posts
content/team/*.md → Team Members
content/products/*.md → Products

Order Fields

Add order field to sortable collections:

order: number (for custom sorting)

Troubleshooting

Collection Overlap

If collections overlap (same path pattern):

• Make patterns more specific
• Use exclusion patterns
• Reorganize file structure

Too Many Collections

If managing becomes complex:

• Combine related collections
• Use categories instead
• Simplify structure

Performance

For large sites (1000+ files):

• Use specific path patterns
• Split into smaller collections
• Consider pagination

Next Steps

• Collection Patterns - Advanced patterns
• Schema Configuration - Schema details
• Markdown Editing - Content editing

Related Examples

• Blog Setup
• Documentation Site