Content & Digital Experience
There is no single best enterprise CMS; the right one depends on what you are running.
If you manage one large site, a traditional or headless platform may be enough. If you run many properties (multiple sites, stores, brands, or locations) on a lean team, look for cross-property reach, unified commerce and content, and AI agents that work inside your approval workflow.
This guide compares ten of the strongest options on those terms.
Yes — this is one of the core design principles of the platform. Core dna includes a visual editor that lets content teams create pages, update copy, manage campaigns, and publish without raising a ticket. Developers set up the content structure and templates; marketers operate within them independently. You don't need to choose between developer control and marketing autonomy
Yes. Core dna includes a visual page editing interface that allows marketers to create and update pages using reusable components and content blocks. While content can be delivered headlessly through APIs to any frontend, teams can still manage layouts and page content visually within the platform, without relying on developers for everyday updates.
Core dna fosters a connected and motivated workforce with interactive feeds that deliver real-time updates and centralized tools that streamline collaboration. Features like personalized dashboards, social engagement options, and recognition tools empower employees to stay engaged, share ideas, and feel valued—all within a single, intuitive platform.
A 10-minute overview about Pages app on Core dna. Learn about configuration, permissions, setup, and many more via the Core dna DXP admin.
Video transcription
Welcome to the Coordinate Pages application.
Through this video, we will explore how the Pages application can be used to create content for your website. We'll then look at the Admin interface to see how Pages actually works. And then we'll deep dive from a technical standpoint to see how the Pages application can be built.
So the Pages application is one of the most commonly used applications within Core dna.
When you scroll down a page, most likely the Pages application is being used to render the content, whether it be Video content, image Content or different types of components within the site.
The Page's content also has the ability for us to create what we call Style Guides, which are the various components that we create for our website user to use. In this case here we can see the variety of components that have been constructed for that particular site.
The Pages component also can have content that comes in from other parts of the website. So as we scroll down the bottom here, we can see two blogs that have been posted inside the Style Guide. And when you click on them, it takes you into the Blog Posts area.
So how does the Pages module work? Well, let's log into Core dna.
The Pages application sits within the Content family over on the right. So when we kick off the Pages application, it serves two major functions. The first one, it provides the various navigations for the different parts of the system. And secondly, it provides the content. So when we look to the left, we can see here the main navigation pane which highlights Insights, Editors, Reader Group, Resources and Sample Page.
If we go back to our website, we'll notice media room, insights, resources and sample page. There are a number of menu options missing. The reason for this is one of the first features of the Page's module is its ability to segment content. So if we click on the Editors page, we can go across the top and see the Authority tab. The Authority tab is what allows us to segment content.
When we look down the Authority tab, we can see the major components. Firstly, we have what we call Inherited Access. Inherit Access tells the system to go to the parent and look for the access control at the parent. In this case, we've unclick the Inherit Access and by default, if we don't know who you are, you won't see the page. So, because we don't know who's logged in, the system will not show this particular page.
If, however, you're part of the Editor Group, you will have all access to this page. So let's see this. In practice, we go over to the login, we log in as Editor and now we'll find the Editors page.
When we log out of the system, the system will say no editors Page. This is a really cool feature that can actually allow you to create multiple segments and you can see here, we've used it for the reader group, and within the reader group, we've broken it down into internal readers, external readers and common content.
One of the other features of the Pages application is its ability to create multiple menus. And so here when we look down the main navigation bar, we can also see the footer navigation, which corresponds to the bottom of the page, and the info navigation, which is used somewhere within the system to provide linkages.
We can also create what we call landing pages. Landing pages are the ones that we define, that customers are sent to and may not see a menu or may want to have specific content that's part of a promotion or a campaign that we may be running. So let's go back to the home page.
Now, the Page's application allows you to put content in many as forms. In the details page. You can see here that we can create content. We have publishing settings. We also have some custom fields that we've created to provide us some tagging.
In addition, we have the SEO button across the top. This allows us to create focused keywords, the metadata and meta description, and also the social media overrides that we may want to put in place for when people copy the page.
We've spoken about the Authority module. We then also have what we call Linked Content. Linked Content provide us the ability to create components that are linked to other parts of the system.
I won't go into too much detail into this application. It's part of the application as I'll cover some other areas in terms of attachments. So attachments in this particular implementation of Pages is the way that the site is created. And what we can see here is all the different components that have been created for the page to render.
So as we go through, we'll see we have the top image, which is a hero full.
We have tapped content. Further down, we have posts by tags from the blogs. And if we go back to the home page of the site, we'll notice that there's the Hero, there's your Tabbed Content. And then these are the posts from your blog posts. And we can continue to build these pages for as far as we like.
Editing these pages very easy. Just press the edit button. You asked for the title, you asked for a category. And we'll talk a little bit more about how we construct these categories. And these represent all the components.
We then have a link heading, and within here we can also have custom property. So here we've created some custom data, we've created some background colors, we've created some button colors and various other aspects that we want to run for the component.
Pages also has the ability for you to allocate layouts. So layouts are the different page layouts that you may want to construct. In this case, we have five different layouts, content layout, a features layout, default layout site, an XML layout and a pricing layout. And we can also see here we have the ID of the page and a Gui ID that can be used to transfer the page across sites from a share perspective, we also have the ability to share the page using social media as long as we configure the social elements that we need.
Finally, the config area of the site allows us to configure the various aspects of managing the page's application.
So the first part is our Blueprints. Our blueprints are the descriptors for the different types of layouts that we have and also and are used within the layouts area. We also have the categories. So we saw these categories earlier. These are the definitions for the components that we create in the page and where they're actually used.
So here we can see the two column, three row blue is used in three pages or four pages and we can go and modify those pages. When we get into the technical aspect of Pages, we'll discover how the ID here is used within the coordinate system to connect the component to the actual descriptor.
Here we can also manage properties and these are generally the custom fields for the pages. And here you can see the various dropdown types of properties that we've created for us to use within the categories. And we also have the layouts.
And the layouts allow us to connect the layout file and give it a description so we can use it within the system. Finally, we have the manage configuration.
So manage configuration throughout the system is where we can extend the platform or provide features to the platform that customers have asked for in the past that allow us to set the application up in a way that makes sense for our use. And you can see here that we have various elements. For example, takeover pages.
We may have an upgrade that we've done, we may have metadata that we want to apply and also some SEO bits. That's the first part of our discussion on the Pages application.
A 4-minute overview showing you how to add pages with Attachments on Core dna.
A 2-minute overview of some of our digital workplace solutions using Core Teams. Learn about Projects, Support, Ideas, Timesheets and more!
Core dna is an enterprise platform.
What this means is that all the aspects of the technology are provided for your business. There is no need for you or your team to develop or manage any technology or pay for added apps or plugins.
- All the applications to run your website with all the updates.
- Advanced infrastructure with high availability.
- Auto-scaling to handle large spikes in traffic.
- World-class security team who protect your data.
Yes, Core dna is can be used as headless or as a decoupled platform and by essence is fully responsive.
A responsive platform like Core dna is a great tool for developers who want to create responsive websites. It is easy to use and provides a wide range of options for how your website can respond to different screen sizes.
You can also customize the look and feel of your site with this platform, making it truly your own. If you're looking for a responsive platform that will make your life easier, this is the one you need.
For more information, a decoupled platform is a web application platform that uses a decoupled architecture to provide a responsive user interface. A decoupled architecture separates the presentation layer from the business logic and data access layers, allowing each layer to be developed independently. This separation of concerns makes it possible to develop the presentation layer using a variety of technologies including responsive web design.
The advantage of using a decoupled responsive platform is that it allows for a more agile development process. The presentation layer can be developed and deployed independently of the business logic and data access layers, meaning that changes to the user interface can be made without affecting the rest of the application. This can be particularly useful when developing applications that need to be compatible with a variety of devices and screen sizes.
When it comes to the headless platform, it allows businesses to manage their e-commerce site without the need for a traditional web design interface. This type of platform uses an API to connect the back-end e-commerce system to the front-end content management system, making it possible to manage e-commerce site content from a single interface.
It gives you the flexibility over the front-end as well as the ability to integrate with all devices, support emerging trends like voice search, and more.
Do you want to learn more about Headless Commerce? 👉 Download our Headless Commerce Guide
Schedule a one-to-one consultation with your product specialist
Here’s what you can expect:
- Walkthrough: An introduction of the Core dna platform
- Analysis: Personalized recommendations based on your business needs.
- Case studies: How other businesses have used Core dna to scale more efficiently
Our analytics module allows you to capture information about customers and prospects, providing detailed information regarding how they find, interact with and eventually leave your site, helping you determine whether or not your goals and objectives are being reached.
Core dna can customize each visitor’s experience through the Personalization application and the Secure Member applications. These applications allow you to tailor the page design and content down to the individual.
When selecting a CMS, customers have the following problems:
- Generic Content Platforms. Too many generic CMS make it difficult for marketers to create content, manage images, preview their work and collaborate. They also lack proper security and audit features, so it is hard to control and track what people are doing.
- Frustrating for developers. Many are inflexible systems that require heavy customization and 3rd party apps to get your website connected with other systems without custom interfaces making it hard to share information and create workflows.
- Poor Performance. Visitors are often left waiting for the website to load. Errors appear without reason. You're learning about security issues through the news. You just don't trust the software.
- Limited Support. It’s 3 am, your site is down, but most alternatives only offer 24 hour email support--no chat, and live voice (if available) won’t wake for 3-4 hours. Can you spell F.I.R.E.D?
- Incomplete Products. They sell you a car with 3 wheels--their system won’t get your job done… without countless 3rd party apps, or dreaded plugins (each with various levels of non-support, no single point of accountability. or risk of serious security holes). All because the vendor didn’t “complete” their product.
- Too Pricey. When you combine costs for upgrades and add-ons, custom development to get what you want, it costs MUCH more than they let on.
These are the 5 reasons to consider Core dna
- BEST in Content Management. Includes integrated features like page builder, built-in blogging, dynamic forms, collaboration, multilingual content capabilities, international domains, plus several modern features that make creating and publishing content easy.
- Most flexible Developer Ecosystem. Includes industry standard tools like version control, flexible IDE, GIT Collaborate, multiple environments for development and QA, flexible front end frameworks, or use server side frameworks to deliver unparalleled speed and performance.
- World-Class Performance. With leading security practices like web application firewalls and load balancing, Core dna provides the reliability and security your team needs to operate in the digital world today.
- Industries BEST Support & Professional Services. Core dna excels with their top of the line support and services. Of course there are guides to help you get started and documentation for onboarding, however the outstanding features to love are:
- BEST of all… NO Plugins or 3rd party app Hell. Eliminating system and plug-in incompatibilities, conflicts, unexpected errors, degraded performance, poor support and ongoing security impacts to your website typical with 3rd party apps and plugins, Core dna delivers a clean native system without requiring any custom development. It is a COMPLETE product.
Absolutely! Core dna was built by an agency, for agencies. We know that marketers need low-code environments to operate in, so we baked in features like marketing automation, email marketing, content previews, and personalization.
See Core dna’s marketing features.
Our comprehensive analytical usage statistics application allows you to capture information about customers and prospects, providing detailed information regarding how they find, interact with and eventually leave your site, helping you determine whether or not your goals and objectives are being reached.
No, technical expertise is not needed in order to use Core dna. Core dna is built for businesses and the people that run them.
You do not need a background in IT or knowledge of technical jargon, or programming language. As long as you have basic computer skills you will be able to use our straightforward and intuitive platform.