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Developer Guide

Web Content API Basics

Using the Liferay DXP REST services, you can create and manage structured content on your Site. Structured content is Web Content that uses a Web Content Structure. A Structure defines the information, such as author(s), a summary, and the content included in a Web Content Article. Structures ensure that the content includes all the required information. For more information, read Understanding Web Content Structures.

Note

You can use a Structure with a Web Content Template to render the structured content, but a Template is not required to create structured content.

See the cURL and Java samples for Structures and structured content below. For more advanced examples of managing structured content, see Advanced Web Content API. For an overview of using the REST API in Liferay DXP, see Consuming REST Services.

Setting Up Your Environment

Start a new Liferay instance by running

docker run -it -m 8g -p 8080:8080 liferay/portal:7.4.3.112-ga112

Sign in to Liferay at http://localhost:8080. Use the email address test@liferay.com and the password test. When prompted, change the password to learn.

Then, follow these steps:

  1. Download and unzip the Web Content API Basics files:

    curl https://resources.learn.liferay.com/dxp/latest/en/content-authoring-and-management/web-content/developer-guide/liferay-r4h9.zip -O

    unzip liferay-r4h9.zip
    Note

    These scripts use basic authentication and are designed for testing. Do not use basic authentication in a production Liferay DXP environment.

  2. Complete these steps to set up the environment:

    1. Identify the Services to Consume
    2. Identify the Site Id

Identify the Services to Consume

Use the following services in the Liferay DXP Headless Delivery API to manage Web Content:

  • StructuredContent for Web Content Articles.
  • ContentStructure for Web Content Structures.
  • ContentTemplate for Web Content Templates.

To identify these services and the available HTTP methods, use the Liferay API Explorer. For more information, read Consuming REST Services.

Identify the Site Id

To identify the Site ID, follow the instructions here.

Create a Basic Web Content Article in the User Interface

To create Web Content, you need a Web Content Structure. When you create Web Content in the user interface without declaring a Structure, Liferay DXP uses a default Basic Web Content Structure.

Note

The Basic Web Content Structure is not visible in the Liferay DXP user interface.

These examples use a basic Web Content Article with a single Text field and the default Basic Web Content Structure. Use these steps to create the Web Content.

  1. Open the Site menu (Site menu) and go to Content & Data → Web Content.

  2. Under the Web Content tab, click Add (Add) and choose Basic Web Content.

    Create a Basic Web Content Article from the Web Content Panel.

  3. Enter Foo as the New Web Content name and click Publish.

    The Web Content Article uses a by-default Basic Web Content Structure.

For more information, see Adding a Basic Web Content Article.

Get Web Content Articles from Site

You can retrieve a site’s Web Content articles by executing the following cURL or Java command. Replace 1234 with your site’s ID.

StructuredContents_GET_FromSite.sh

The StructuredContents_GET_FromSite.sh cURL script lists all the Site’s Web Content Articles. This script uses the StructuredContent service with a GET HTTP method, with the Site ID as the only parameter.

Method Service Endpoint
GET StructuredContent /v1.0/sites/{siteID}/structured-contents 
./StructuredContents_GET_FromSite.sh 1234
Parameter # Description
$1 siteId

Below is the partial JSON output generated by the script. In this output, you can see a single Web Content Article identified by an id and a friendly URL in friendlyUrlPath. The Web Content uses the Structure in contentStructureId. This Structure has a single Text field described in the contentFieldValue section under contentFields. When you include more elements in your Structure, you can see additional contentFieldValue sections describing these elements.

{
  "actions" : {
    ...
  },
  "facets" : [ ],
  "items" : [ {
    "actions" : {
   ...
    },
    "availableLanguages" : [ "en-US" ],
    "contentFields" : [ {
      "contentFieldValue" : {
        "data" : ""
      },
      "dataType" : "string",
      "label" : "content",
      "name" : "content",
      "nestedContentFields" : [ ],
      "repeatable" : false
    } ],
    "contentStructureId" : 40697,
    "creator" : {
      "additionalName" : "",
      "contentType" : "UserAccount",
      "familyName" : "Bowman",
      "givenName" : "David",
      "id" : 20129,
      "name" : "David Bowman"
    },
    "customFields" : [ ],
    "dateCreated" : "2021-08-10T08:10:21Z",
    "dateModified" : "2021-08-10T08:10:21Z",
    "datePublished" : "2021-08-10T08:10:00Z",
    "description" : "",
    "externalReferenceCode" : "41537",
    "friendlyUrlPath" : "foo",
    "id" : 41539,
    "key" : "41537",
    "keywords" : [ ],
    "numberOfComments" : 0,
    "relatedContents" : [ ],
    "renderedContents" : [ {
      "contentTemplateId" : "BASIC-WEB-CONTENT",
      "contentTemplateName" : "Basic Web Content",
      "markedAsDefault" : true,
      "renderedContentURL" : "http://localhost:8080/o/headless-delivery/v1.0/structured-contents/41539/rendered-content/BASIC-WEB-CONTENT"
    } ],
    "siteId" : 20125,
    "subscribed" : false,
    "taxonomyCategoryBriefs" : [ ],
    "title" : "Foo",
    "uuid" : "162155dc-c9aa-96b0-df5c-a61c591d1389"
  } ],
  "lastPage" : 1,
  "page" : 1,
  "pageSize" : 20,
  "totalCount" : 1
}

Review the following information in the JSON output:

  • The output shows a single Web Content Article identified by id: 41539, title: Foo, and the friendly URL friendlyUrlPath: foo.

  • This Web Content uses the default Liferay DXP Web Content Structure identified in contentStructureId.

  • The Web Content Structure has a single Text field described in the contentFieldValue section under contentFields. When you include more elements in the Structure, you can see additional contentFieldValue sections describing these elements.

  • The Web Content Id in the user interface corresponds to the key property in the JSON output.

    The JSON key property corresponds to the structured content identifier in the user interface.

StructuredContents_GET_FromSite.java

The StructuredContents_GET_FromSite.java class gets a list of Web Content articles by calling the structured content related services.

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
	StructuredContentResource.Builder builder =
		StructuredContentResource.builder();

	StructuredContentResource structuredContentResource =
		builder.authentication(
			"test@liferay.com", "learn"
		).build();

	Page<StructuredContent> page =
		structuredContentResource.getSiteStructuredContentsPage(
			Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("siteId")), null, null, null,
			null, Pagination.of(1, 2), null);

	System.out.println(page);
}

This class invokes the REST service using only three lines of code:

Line (abbreviated) Description
StructuredContentResource.Builder builder = ... Gets a Builder for generating a StructuredContentResource service instance.
StructuredContentResource structuredContentResource = builder.authentication(...).build(); Specifies basic authentication and generates a StructuredContentResource service instance.
Page<StructuredContent> page = structuredContentResource.getSiteStructuredContentsPage(...); Calls the structuredContentResource.getSiteStructuredContentsPage method and retrieves the data.

Note that the project includes the com.liferay.headless.delivery.client.jar file as a dependency. You can find client JAR dependency information for all REST applications in the API explorer in your installation at /o/api.

Note

The main method’s comment demonstrates running the class.

The other example Java classes are similar to this one, but call different StructuredContentResource methods.

Important

See StructuredContentResource for service details.

Below are examples of calling other REST services using cURL and Java.

Get a Web Content Article

The script in the previous step returns all the Site’s Web Content articles. To get a specific article, use the StructuredContent_GET_ById.[java|sh] script. Replace 1234 with your Web Content article’s ID.

StructuredContent_GET_ById.sh

Command:

./StructuredContent_GET_ById.sh 1234

Code:

curl \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-delivery/v1.0/structured-contents/${1}" \
	--user "test@liferay.com:learn"

StructuredContent_GET_ById.java

Command:

java -classpath .:* -DstructuredContentId=1234 StructuredContent_GET_ById

Code:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
	StructuredContentResource.Builder builder =
		StructuredContentResource.builder();

	StructuredContentResource structuredContentResource =
		builder.authentication(
			"test@liferay.com", "learn"
		).build();

	System.out.println(
		structuredContentResource.getStructuredContent(
			Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("structuredContentId"))));
}

The StructuredContent fields appear in JSON.

Get Web Content Structures

You can retrieve a site’s Content Structures by executing the following cURL or Java command. Replace 1234 with your site’s ID.

Note

The default Basic Web Content Structure is not visible using this endpoint.

ContentStructures_GET_FromSite.sh

Command:

./ContentStructures_GET_FromSite.sh 1234

Code:

curl \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-delivery/v1.0/sites/${1}/content-structures" \
	--user "test@liferay.com:learn"

ContentStructures_GET_FromSite.java

Command:

java -classpath .:* -DsiteId=1234 ContentStructures_GET_FromSite

Code:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
	ContentStructureResource.Builder builder =
		ContentStructureResource.builder();

	ContentStructureResource contentStructureResource =
		builder.authentication(
			"test@liferay.com", "learn"
		).build();

	Page<ContentStructure> page =
		contentStructureResource.getSiteContentStructuresPage(
			Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("siteId")), null, null, null,
			Pagination.of(1, 2), null);

	System.out.println(page);
}

The site’s ContentStructure objects appear in JSON.

Get Web Content Structure by Id

The default Web Content Structure in the sample Web Content Article is not visible in the Liferay DXP user interface. However, you can use the ContentStructure service to gather the Structure’s description.

The ContentStructure_GET_ById.[java|sh] script returns a Web Content Structure description.

ContentStructure_GET_ById.sh

Method Service Endpoint
GET ContentStructure /v1.0/content-structures/{contentStructureId} 
./ContentStructure_GET_ById.sh 40697
Parameter # Description
$1 contentStructureId

Below is the JSON output. You can identify the default Web Content Structure in Liferay DXP by its id and name. The contentStructureFields section contains a description of the Structure fields. Notice that this Structure contains a single content field of type string and name content. In Post a Basic Web Content Article, you create a new Web Content Article adding information to this content field.

{
  "availableLanguages" : [ "en-US" ],
  "contentStructureFields" : [ {
    "dataType" : "string",
    "label" : "content",
    "localizable" : true,
    "multiple" : false,
    "name" : "content",
    "nestedContentStructureFields" : [ ],
    "options" : [ ],
    "repeatable" : false,
    "required" : false,
    "showLabel" : true
  } ],
  "dateCreated" : "2021-08-09T23:30:23Z",
  "dateModified" : "2021-08-09T23:30:23Z",
  "description" : "Basic Web Content",
  "id" : 40697,
  "name" : "Basic Web Content",
  "siteId" : 20127
}

ContentStructure_GET_ById.java

Command:

java -classpath .:* -DcontentStructureId=1234 ContentStructure_GET_ById

Code:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
	ContentStructureResource.Builder builder =
		ContentStructureResource.builder();

	ContentStructureResource contentStructureResource =
		builder.authentication(
			"test@liferay.com", "learn"
		).build();

	System.out.println(
		contentStructureResource.getContentStructure(
			Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("contentStructureId"))));
}

The ContentStructure fields appear in JSON.

Post a Basic Web Content Article

Use the StructuredContent_POST_ToSite[java|sh] script to create a new Web Content article. Replace 1234 with a Web Content Structure ID. Replace 5678 with your site’s ID.

StructuredContent_POST_ToSite.sh

The StructuredContent_POST_ToSite.sh cURL script example creates a new Web Content article using the POST HTTP method and the default Web Content Structure. The script uses the Site Id and Structure id as parameters.

Method Service Endpoint
PUT StructuredContent /v1.0/sites/{siteId}/structured-contents 
./StructuredContent_POST_ToSite.sh 20125 40697

cURL script parameters:

Parameter # Description
$1 siteId
$2 contentStructureId

To find your new Web Content Article in Liferay DXP, open the Site Menu (Site menu) and go to Content & Data → Web Content.

Below is the partial JSON output generated by the script. The script posts a simple <p>Foo</p> HTML string using the Structure contentField content as reference.

{
  "actions" : {
    ...
  },
  "availableLanguages" : [ "en-US" ],
  "contentFields" : [ {
    "contentFieldValue" : {
      "data" : "<p>Foo</p>"
    },
    "dataType" : "string",
    "label" : "content",
    "name" : "content",
    "nestedContentFields" : [ ],
    "repeatable" : false
  } ],
  "contentStructureId" : 40697,
  "creator" : {
    "additionalName" : "",
    "contentType" : "UserAccount",
    "familyName" : "Bowman",
    "givenName" : "David",
    "id" : 20129,
    "name" : "David Bowman"
  },
  "customFields" : [ ],
  "dateCreated" : "2021-08-10T09:19:40Z",
  "dateModified" : "2021-08-10T09:19:40Z",
  "datePublished" : "2021-08-10T09:19:00Z",
  "description" : "",
  "externalReferenceCode" : "41569",
  "friendlyUrlPath" : "able-article",
  "id" : 41571,
  "key" : "41569",
  "keywords" : [ ],
  "numberOfComments" : 0,
  "relatedContents" : [ ],
  "renderedContents" : [ {
    "contentTemplateId" : "BASIC-WEB-CONTENT",
    "contentTemplateName" : "Basic Web Content",
    "markedAsDefault" : true,
    "renderedContentURL" : "http://localhost:8080/o/headless-delivery/v1.0/structured-contents/41571/rendered-content/BASIC-WEB-CONTENT"
  } ],
  "siteId" : 20125,
  "subscribed" : false,
  "taxonomyCategoryBriefs" : [ ],
  "title" : "Able Article",
  "uuid" : "c7005ffb-5677-e030-9eb9-9b1a24a85054"
}

StructuredContent_POST_ToSite.java

The StructuredContent_POST_ToSite.java class adds a Web Content article by calling the structured content related service.

Command:

java -classpath .:* -DcontentStructureId=1234 -DsiteId=5678 StructuredContent_POST_ToSite

Code:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
	StructuredContentResource.Builder builder =
		StructuredContentResource.builder();

	StructuredContentResource structuredContentResource =
		builder.authentication(
			"test@liferay.com", "learn"
		).build();

	StructuredContent structuredContent =
		structuredContentResource.postSiteStructuredContent(
			Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("siteId")),
			new StructuredContent() {
				{
					contentFields = new ContentField[] {
						new ContentField() {
							{
								contentFieldValue =
									new ContentFieldValue() {
										{
											data = "<p>Foo</p>";
										}
									};
								name = "content";
							}
						}
					};
					contentStructureId = Long.valueOf(
						System.getProperty("contentStructureId"));
					title = "Charlie Article";
				}
			});

	System.out.println(structuredContent);
}

The StructuredContent fields appear in JSON.

Patch Web Content Article

Use the PATCH method with the StructuredContent service to update the Web Content Article. The StructuredContent_PATCH_ById.[java|sh] script uses the structured content identifier id to update the article’s content from ‘Foo’ to ‘Bar’.

StructuredContent_PATCH_ById.sh

Command:

./StructuredContent_PATCH_ById.sh 1234

Code:

curl \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-delivery/v1.0/structured-contents/${1}" \
	--data-raw '
		{
			"contentFields": [
				{
				"contentFieldValue": {
					"data": "<p>Bar</p>"
				},
				"name": "content"
				}
			]
		}' \
	--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
	--request "PATCH" \
	--user "test@liferay.com:learn"

StructuredContent_PATCH_ById.java

Command:

java -classpath .:* -DcontentStructureId=1234 -DstructuredContentId=5678 StructuredContent_PATCH_ById

Code:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
	StructuredContentResource.Builder builder =
		StructuredContentResource.builder();

	StructuredContentResource structuredContentResource =
		builder.authentication(
			"test@liferay.com", "learn"
		).build();

	StructuredContent structuredContent =
		structuredContentResource.patchStructuredContent(
			Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("structuredContentId")),
			new StructuredContent() {
				{
					contentFields = new ContentField[] {
						new ContentField() {
							{
								contentFieldValue =
									new ContentFieldValue() {
										{
											data = "<p>Bar</p>";
										}
									};
								name = "content";
							}
						}
					};
					contentStructureId = Long.valueOf(
						System.getProperty("contentStructureId"));
				}
			});

	System.out.println(structuredContent);
}

Put Web Content Article

Use the PUT method with the StructuredContent service to replace the original Web Content information. The StructuredContent_PUT_ById.[java|sh] script uses the Web Content and Structure identifiers to replace the article’s name and the article’s content from Bar to Goo.

StructuredContent_PUT_ById.sh

Command:

./StructuredContent_PUT_ById.sh 1234

Code:

curl \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-delivery/v1.0/structured-contents/${1}" \
	--data-raw '
		{
			"contentFields": [
				{
				"contentFieldValue": {
					"data": "<p>Goo</p>"
				},
				"name": "content"
				}
			],
			"contentStructureId": "'"${2}"'",
			"title": "Baker Article"
		}' \
	--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
	--request "PUT" \
	--user "test@liferay.com:learn"

StructuredContent_PUT_ById.java

Command:

java -classpath .:* -DcontentStructureId=1234 -DstructuredContentId=5678 StructuredContent_PUT_ById

Code:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
	StructuredContentResource.Builder builder =
		StructuredContentResource.builder();

	StructuredContentResource structuredContentResource =
		builder.authentication(
			"test@liferay.com", "learn"
		).build();

	StructuredContent structuredContent =
		structuredContentResource.putStructuredContent(
			Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("structuredContentId")),
			new StructuredContent() {
				{
					contentFields = new ContentField[] {
						new ContentField() {
							{
								contentFieldValue =
									new ContentFieldValue() {
										{
											data = "<p>Goo</p>";
										}
									};
								name = "content";
							}
						}
					};
					contentStructureId = Long.valueOf(
						System.getProperty("contentStructureId"));
					title = "Dog Article";
				}
			});

	System.out.println(structuredContent);
}

Delete Web Content Article

Use the DELETE method with the StructuredContent service to delete a Web Content Article. The StructuredContent_DELETE_ById.[java|sh] script example uses the Web Content id to delete the Web Content.

Important

When you delete Web Content using the REST API, it’s deleted permanently, without using the Liferay DXP Recycle Bin.

StructuredContent_DELETE_ById.sh

Command:

./StructuredContent_DELETE_ById.sh 1234

Code:

curl \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/headless-delivery/v1.0/structured-contents/${1}" \
	--request "DELETE" \
	--user "test@liferay.com:learn"

StructuredContent_DELETE_ById.java

Command

java -classpath .:* -DstructuredContentId=1234 StructuredContent_DELETE_ById

Code:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
	StructuredContentResource.Builder builder =
		StructuredContentResource.builder();

	StructuredContentResource structuredContentResource =
		builder.authentication(
			"test@liferay.com", "learn"
		).build();

	structuredContentResource.deleteStructuredContent(
		Long.valueOf(System.getProperty("structuredContentId")));
}

More Web Content and Web Content Folder Services

The other cURL commands and Java classes demonstrate more StructuredContent and StructuredContentFolder services. You can find these in Web Content API Basics.

File Description
StructuredContentFolder_GET_ById.[java\|sh] Lists a Web Content folder’s fields.
StructuredContentFolders_GET_FromSite.[java\|sh] Lists all Web Content folders in the Site.
StructuredContentFolder_POST_ToSite.[java\|sh] Posts a Web Content folder to a Site.
StructuredContentFolder_PATCH_ById.[java\|sh] Updates a Web Content Folder.
StructuredContentFolder_PUT_ById.[java\|sh] Replaces a Web Content Folder.
StructuredContentFolder_DELETE_ById.[java\|sh] Deletes a Web Content Folder.
StructuredContent_POST_ToStructuredContentFolder.[java\|sh] Posts a Web Content Article to a folder.
important

When you delete a Web Content Folder using the REST API, the folder and its content are deleted permanently, without using the Liferay DXP Recycle Bin.

Capability:
Content Management System
Deployment Approach:
Liferay PaaS
Liferay SaaS
Liferay Self-Hosted
Feature:
API Development
Web Content and Structures