Content

Content Types

SynaptikCMS has three built-in content types: Articles, Pages, and Projects. Each maps to a folder in /data/ with an index file and individual item files.

Common fields (all types)

These fields are stored in both the lightweight index and the full item file:

Field	Type	Description
`slug`	string	Auto-generated URL-safe identifier
`custom_slug`	string	Manual override for the public URL (takes priority over `slug`)
`title`	string	Content title
`date`	string	Publication date (`Y-m-d` or `Y-m-d H:i`)
`category`	string	Category slug
`tags`	array	Array of tag slugs
`image`	string	Relative path to featured image (e.g. `files/image.jpg`)
`show_in_menu`	bool	Include in the auto-generated menu
`menu_order`	int	Sort order in menus
`status`	string	`'published'` or `'draft'`
`publish_at`	string	Scheduled publish datetime (`Y-m-d H:i`). Empty = publish immediately

These fields exist only in the full item file:

Field	Type	Description
`content`	string	Raw HTML or Markdown body
`content_format`	string	`'html'` (default) or `'markdown'`
`last_modified`	string	Last edit datetime
`meta_title`	string	SEO title override
`meta_description`	string	SEO description override
`meta_keywords`	string	Meta keywords
`og_image`	string	Open Graph image path (can differ from featured image)
`canonical_url`	string	Manual canonical URL override
`show_title`	bool	Display the title in the template
`show_date`	bool	Display the publication date
`show_featured_image`	bool	Display the featured image block
`galleries`	array	Named inline galleries
`custom_fields`	object	Custom field values keyed by field key
`show_related_items`	bool	Enable the related content section
`related_items`	array	Manual related items (`[{type, slug}, …]`). Empty = auto mode

Articles

Blog-style entries. Listed in reverse-chronological order by default.

Additional index fields: summary, show_on_homepage.

Pages

Static content — About, Contact, Legal notices, etc. Not date-driven; ordered manually via the menu builder.

Additional index field: page_template (custom PHP template from theme/{active}/page-templates/).

Projects

Portfolio-style entries. Rendered separately from articles and pages, typically in a grid layout.

Additional index fields: description, show_on_homepage.

Effective slug

$effectiveSlug = $item['custom_slug'] ?: $item['slug'];

Always use sl_effective_slug($item) rather than reading either field directly.

Scheduled publication

When publish_at is set to a future datetime, the item is stored with status: 'draft' until that time. On each front-end request, sl_promote_scheduled() is called automatically by sl_build_data_array() and promotes any item whose publish_at has passed by updating both the index and the item file on disk.

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Never display $item['content'] directly. Always pass it through rendercontenthtml($item['content'], $item) to resolve shortcodes, galleries, and Markdown conversion.