Most of us are probably familiar with traditional CMS platforms such as WordPress and Joomla. However, there are two other types of systems that I would like to introduce to you now.
Traditional CMS
A traditional CMS has both a backend and a frontend. In this case, the frontend is the website that your visitors see. The backend refers to the admin panel, which is used, for example, to install plugins and manage content.
It is important to understand that these two layers are inseparably connected. This means that content can only be delivered through the website frontend provided by the CMS.
Headless CMS
This is exactly where the Headless CMS comes into play. The term “head” refers to the frontend of the website, which is missing from a Headless CMS.
The content is made available via an application programming interface (API), which allows the data to be accessed independently of the technology used.
In practical terms, this means that you can use any frontend technology to display the content. Whether it is a JavaScript framework such as React, Vue, Angular, or Svelte, or a smartphone app, content can be managed centrally and delivered to different types of clients.
Decoupled CMS
The final type is a combination of a traditional and a Headless CMS. In this case, the website frontend of a traditional CMS is still available, but it is optional and does not have to be used. As with Headless CMS platforms, an API is available to distribute content to different clients.
At the beginning of the article, I mentioned that WordPress and Joomla are traditional systems. However, this categorization is no longer entirely accurate today. Both systems have evolved into Decoupled CMS platforms. Since WordPress 4.7 and Joomla 4, both have provided a REST API for delivering content.
This example shows that the trend is moving toward Headless and Decoupled CMS platforms in order to provide website operators and web agencies with the greatest possible flexibility.
