What’s a Headless CMS? Explained with Montreal Bagels (Infographic)

Whenever I tell people I work for Agility CMS and that we offer a headless CMS solution, I usually get asked the following questions:

• “What’s a headless CMS?”
• “Like, Sleepy Hollow headless horseman headless?”
• “How does it work?”
• “Where is the head, and can you put it back on?” (that one came from my seven-year-old cousin).

I’m from Montreal, known for its world-class bagels. So, to help those from 5 to 55 understand what exactly is a headless CMS, I’ve developed an infographic using Montreal bagels as an analogy.

Serving Up Content With a Headless CMS…and a Bag of Bagels to Go

Imagine a classic Montreal bagel: fresh, chewy, a hint of sweetness, and endlessly customizable. That flexibility and freedom are exactly how a headless CMS works.

Content = Ingredients

To bake a bagel, you need basic ingredients such as flour, honey, poppy seeds, and more. A website also needs basic ingredients, such as:

• Text.
• Images.
• Videos.

These separate raw elements are ready to come together and build (or bake) something amazing.

Frontend = Baking

How your frontend displays the content is like boiling, baking, and topping your bagel.

For your bagel, that could mean adding sesame seeds or extra honey glaze. For your website, that could mean:

• Using custom fonts.
• Adding buttons or forms.
• Structuring the content into pages or sections or cards or tiles.

Boiling a bagel makes it chewy and baking gives it that golden crust. Conversely, the frontend turns raw content into a polished, enjoyable user experience.

APIs = Baker

The baker takes your raw ingredients and prepares and finishes your perfect bagel to order. For your website, application programming interfaces (APIs) deliver your content to the frontend. Put another way:

• If APIs fetch raw content, the baker scoops flour, honey, and seeds.
• If APIs organize raw content, the baker places it in the right bowls.
• If APIs deliver content, the baker places the fresh dough in the oven.

Your bagel is ready to bake, and your website is ready for use.

Platforms = Serveware

Your Montreal bagel is ready to serve. You can have it on a plate, a tray, or inside a paper bag.

With a headless CMS, your content reaches users however they want to get it:

• Website.
• App.
• Smart device.
• IoT device.

Same bagel, different experience depending on how you get it. Conversely, it’s the same content but a different experience depending on the platform.

Traditional CMS vs. Headless CMS

With a traditional CMS, you get a pre-made poppy seed bagel on a plate. That’s it.

If you decide you want to add sesame seeds to it, or have your bagel packaged to go, you have to remake everything from scratch. There’s no way to change the bagel or how it’s served. Everything is locked together.

With a headless CMS, you get to build your own bagel:

• Content (ingredients).
• Frontend (how it’s baked).
• APIs (how it gets to you).
• Platform (how it’s served to you).

Agility CMS: Great for Content, Not for Baking

If only Agility CMS could bake Montreal bagels.

Alas, it can’t. But when it comes to headless CMS that helps you serve up better digital experiences, Agility CMS can’t be beat.

Want to see how?

• Start a FREE trial and try Agility for 30 days.
• Get a demo and we’ll walk you through the platform.
• Contact us with your questions and we’ll get back ASAP.

Now, who’s hungry?