The Page Builder
The page builder assembles pages visually from widgets, rather than by writing markup.
Where to find it
Architect Panel → Layout & Pages:
- Page Builder — documents, revisions and publishing
- Pages — the site’s page structure
It builds more than pages
A document has a kind, and there are nine: page, header, footer, part, popup, email, global widget, loop item and preset.
So the same tool builds your site’s header once and uses it everywhere, designs an e-mail, and defines the repeating item used to render a list.
Parts and global widgets are the important ones
They are what stop a site being maintained page by page. A header built once as a part appears on every page and changes in one place; a global widget does the same for a block that recurs.
A site where the same block has been rebuilt on twelve pages is a site where eleven of them will be out of date.
Loop items render lists
A loop item is the design for one entry in a repeated set — a product card, a news item, a team member. Built once, applied to every row.
Each widget declares where it works
Widgets state which targets they support — web, part, popup, e-mail — and one that is not valid for the document kind is not offered. That is why the palette differs between a page and an e-mail, and it is deliberate: e-mail rendering supports far less than a browser.
Documents have a status
Draft, published, scheduled or archived. Only published and scheduled documents render publicly, so a page can be built at leisure and a change staged without being visible.
Pages connect to the site structure
A page document links to a page in the site’s own structure, which is what gives it an address, a place in navigation and its search metadata.
Start with the shared pieces
Header, footer and any recurring blocks first, then individual pages. Building pages first and extracting the shared parts afterwards is much more work.
Worked example
An organisation built its header and footer as parts, three recurring blocks as global widgets, and a loop item for its news list. A rebrand changed the header once and appeared across sixty pages.
Recommendations
- Build header, footer and shared blocks first.
- Global widgets for anything recurring.
- Expect a smaller palette in e-mail documents.
- Use draft status while building.