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Why you should use JSON to store your CMS content
What is JSON?
JSON is a standard data format that is very simple, yet very expressive. It has a simple set of rules and can be structured as needed. JSON is so popular that every common programming language already supports it and most data or content-related software can import from it and export to it. That makes it perfect to share content between different software tools.
Interoperability and Multichannel
In today’s markets most companies have multichannel products. They might have a website, an Android and iOS app, customer support tools, and many other systems. And those share at least some of their content. So the companies need a way to consolidate the shared content to avoid duplicates and cut down cost. A content update must be reflected on all channels. It would be a waste of resources if each channel had their own content repository that somehow had to be in sync. It is therefore essential to use interoperable data formats that can be reused on all channels. Having a standardized data format as JSON is a good way to solve that.
Headless CMS
The multichannel (and even omni-channel) business has lead to a growing popularity of Headless CMS. Those systems only focus on the content repository, but not the content representation. That means essentially that they allow managing content but don’t limit its use to anything specific only. Instead they provide the content in a standard format which can be used in whatever channel you want. Most of those Headless CMS provide the content in the JSON format already. As a consequence, there is a huge and still growing number of tools that rely on JSON. Many are built on one or multiple Headless CMS and/or can extend them. But again, this whole movement requires a standardized data format.
Technology Choice
Ask your engineers how they feel about being forced to use a certain technology that they might not like. They’d probably prefer to use a technology instead that they like and are already used to. If you are an engineer yourself, you know that’s true. Being forced into something because of something that might seem unrelated is definitely not a good thing.
In the world of Content Management Systems, people are often forced to use certain tools. If they use CMS X, they have to use programming language Y and have to run it on server Z. That is something that Headless CMS already solve to some extent. But you are still locked into their own (proprietary) interface to obtain the actual content. If you have certain requirements regarding data retrieval that such a Headless CMS cannot offer, you are out of luck.
Ideally, your content is being stored in a standard and accessible data format. It gives you the complete control and engineers can do whatever they want or need with it. It gives them total freedom to build anything based on any technologies that match their requirements or preferences. As JSON is so well-supported and highly adaptable, this makes it a great format for content storage.
FrontAid CMS
We at FrontAid CMS believe in JSON’s superpowers. Essentially, FrontAid is a JSON CMS that stores your content directly in a JSON file that is in your control. That gives you the complete freedom to use it for whatever and however you want. And for the engineers, that allows complete choice of tools. No lock-in or restrictions.
If you are using a CMS already but don’t rely on fully accessible JSON content yet, we hope you will think about it. It is always good to rely on open standards whenever possible. Especially when data portability is important.
PS: FrontAid CMS also empowers your Git repository, but that is a topic for another post.