Setup & Git Integration

Setting up FrontAid CMS with your own Git repository is very simple. Essentially, you will have to grant FrontAid CMS permission to read and write both the Model and the Content JSON files. After that, all you need to do is to update the Model according to your needs.

  • The Model is a description of your Content structure. It will be stored in the repository with a file name you choose. After the setup, you can change and extend it like any other file in that repository.

  • The Content is the file where your actual content is persisted. It will be stored in the repository with a file name you choose. After the setup, you can change it using FrontAid CMS or manually like any other file in that repository.

Git Integration

FrontAid CMS can connect to your public or private Git repository at GitHub.

Start by selecting the Space that you want to use. Within that Space, you can now create a new Project. Click the corresponding button and follow the instructions. You will need to give FrontAid CMS the permissions to read/write a repository. When you are redirected to GitHub, check that you are using the correct account and continue. After that step, you will be redirected back to FrontAid CMS. If the Git integration worked, it will show you a corresponding message and you can continue setting up FrontAid CMS.

See How can I connect FrontAid CMS with GitHub? for details.

FrontAid CMS Configuration

After setting up the Git integration, you can now configure FrontAid CMS itself.

That can be done either when you are setting up a Project for the first time, or you can also change the configuration later.

From the list of available Git repositories, select the one where you would like to store both the Content and Model file. You can also change the Git branch that FrontAid will be using, if necessary. Then fill in the (paths and) names of both the Model and Content files. That could be in the root of your repository (e.g. content.json), or it can be nested in a directory (e.g. example/directory/model.json). We usually suggest to be specific about those files and include the FrontAid name, for example frontaid.content.json and frontaid.model.json.

When you are happy with your selection, continue. Note that if either one of the Model or Content files does not exist in the selected repository and branch yet, they will be created. This is especially useful when you set up FrontAid CMS for the first time. After the setup, you can extend the Model file according to your needs and push those changes to your repository as usual.

Now the FrontAid CMS configuration is done and you can start using the CMS!

Troubleshooting

There are a number of preconditions that have to be met so that the integration works. If anything is not working properly yet, you should start troubleshooting by checking the corresponding Project settings. It will tell you whether the integration works or what exactly is wrong.

The first thing that might not work yet is the integration with your Git repository. This means that FrontAid CMS is not able to connect to or read from your repository. If that does not work properly yet or not anymore, the most likely issue is that the integration either was never setup or the permissions changed. To resolve that, just (re-)connect to your repository. See the section Git Integration for more information about that.

The second thing that might not work just yet is the FrontAid CMS configuration itself. Make sure that you selected the correct repository and that both the Model and Content files exist and are valid.

  • The Content file must be valid JSON and its content must be an object.
  • The Model file must be valid JSON and its content must comply with the Schema.

If you run into problems with the setup, feel free to contact us at mail@frontaid.io.