Blocks & Regions

Blocks are the building units of page content. Instead of storing pages as a single blob of HTML, WollyCMS breaks content into typed blocks arranged in named regions.

How blocks work

Each block has:

• A block type that defines its field schema (what data it holds)
• Fields — the actual content data matching that schema
• A region — where on the page it appears
• A position — its order within that region

When you fetch a page from the content API, blocks come pre-organized by region:

{
  "data": {
    "title": "About Us",
    "regions": {
      "hero": [
        { "id": "pb_1", "block_type": "hero", "fields": { "heading": "About Us", "image": 42 } }
      ],
      "content": [
        { "id": "pb_2", "block_type": "rich_text", "fields": { "body": { "type": "doc", "content": [] } } },
        { "id": "pb_3", "block_type": "image", "fields": { "media_id": 15, "caption": "Our team" } }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Block types

A block type is the schema definition for a category of blocks. Create them via the admin API:

curl -X POST http://localhost:4321/api/admin/block-types \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Hero",
    "slug": "hero",
    "description": "Full-width hero section with heading and background image",
    "category": "Layout",
    "fieldsSchema": [
      { "name": "heading", "label": "Heading", "type": "text", "required": true },
      { "name": "description", "label": "Description", "type": "textarea" },
      { "name": "image", "label": "Background Image", "type": "media" },
      { "name": "cta_text", "label": "CTA Button Text", "type": "text" },
      { "name": "cta_url", "label": "CTA Button URL", "type": "url" }
    ],
    "icon": "layout"
  }'

Common block types

Block Type	Slug	Typical Fields
Hero	hero	heading, description, image, cta_text, cta_url
Rich Text	rich_text	body (richtext)
Image	image	media_id, caption, alt_text
Call to Action	cta	heading, body, button_text, button_url
Testimonial	testimonial	quote, author, role, avatar
Code Block	code_block	code, language, title
Feature Grid	feature_grid	features (group array)

Regions

Regions are named areas defined in the content type. A marketing page might have hero, content, and cta regions, while a blog post might have content and sidebar.

Regions can restrict which block types are allowed:

{
  "regions": [
    { "name": "hero", "label": "Hero", "allowed_types": ["hero"] },
    { "name": "content", "label": "Main Content", "allowed_types": null },
    { "name": "sidebar", "label": "Sidebar", "allowed_types": ["rich_text", "cta"] }
  ]
}

Default blocks

Content types can define blocks that are automatically created when a new page is made. For example, a “Secondary Page” content type might default to a hero block, a rich text block in the content region, and a navigation submenu in the sidebar.

Default blocks are configured on the content type via the defaultBlocks field. See Pages & Content Types for the full guide.

Shared (reusable) blocks

Blocks can be marked as reusable. A shared block lives in the block library and can be placed on multiple pages. When you update the shared block, the change propagates everywhere it’s used.

Shared blocks also support per-page overrides — you can customize specific fields on a page without affecting the base block.

In the API response, shared blocks include extra fields:

{
  "id": "pb_5",
  "block_type": "cta",
  "is_shared": true,
  "block_id": 12,
  "fields": { "heading": "Sign Up Today", "button_url": "/signup" }
}

Tip

Use shared blocks for content that appears on many pages — CTAs, newsletter signups, footer banners. Edit once, update everywhere.

Rendering blocks in Astro

The BlockRenderer component maps each block to an Astro component based on its block_type slug:

---
import BlockRenderer from '@wollycms/astro/components/BlockRenderer.astro';
import * as blocks from '../lib/blocks';

const page = await wolly.pages.getBySlug('about');
---

<BlockRenderer
  blocks={page.regions.hero ?? []}
  region="hero"
  components={blocks}
/>

Each block component receives these props:

Prop	Type	Description
fields	Record<string, unknown>	The block’s field data
block	{ id, type, title?, is_shared? }	Block metadata
region	string	Which region this block is in
position	number	Zero-based position within the region

See BlockRenderer for the full guide.