🗂️ Publishing · Topic field guide

CMS Article API

A CMS adapter translates your editorial record into the fields and workflow of a publishing platform. Keep that translation narrow. Writers should not need to understand platform-specific field names simply to produce a title, a summary, or an approved body.

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Start with the right boundary

Choose a single destination for the first integration. Document its content format, required metadata, draft behavior, media handling, and update semantics before adding another CMS.

A practical workflow

01. Create a mapping sheet

Map title, body, excerpt, authorship, categories, media, and state explicitly. Record fields that cannot be transferred without editorial judgment.

02. Write to a reviewable draft

Make draft creation the first milestone. Inspect the result inside the actual editor before enabling a separate publishing operation.

03. Make updates predictable

Track the source identifier, destination identifier, and last accepted revision. Define what happens when an editor changes the destination after synchronization.

Before the next handoff

  • A source-to-destination field map.
  • A clear owner for local CMS edits.
  • A recoverable record of each publishing operation.
KEEP THIS IN MIND

Do not overwrite a human edit just because the source record is newer. Detect conflicts and decide which version should win before writing.

Can one adapter publish to every CMS unchanged?

A shared content model helps, but destination adapters still need platform-specific handling for formatting, media, permissions, and publication states.

Take the next step

Continue with a safer wordpress article workflow: draft, preview, publish for a complete explanation, practical decisions, and a source-backed reference. To compare the neighboring parts of the process, explore the full article workflow library.