Glossary
Plain definitions of the words used around Markstage: visual editors, git-based and headless CMSs, Markdown, releases, environments and more.
Astro and CMS terms
Astro
A web framework for content sites. It builds pages from components and content files, and by default sends finished HTML to the browser.
Content collections
Astro's way to group content of the same shape, such as blog posts or product pages. A collection can read Markdown, MDX, Markdoc, YAML, TOML or JSON files, or load from an outside source, and can check each entry against a schema.
Front matter
The block of settings at the top of a Markdown file, between two --- lines: the title, date, description and
other fields, written in YAML.
Markdown
A plain-text way to write formatted text: # for a heading, * for a list, [text](link) for a link. It is easy
to read and to compare in git.
MDX
Markdown that can also contain components and code. Markstage edits MDX files: the words and a component's simple settings are editable, and the code stays exactly as written.
JSON
A plain-text format for structured data. Markstage uses it for pages made of typed sections, menus, authors and settings.
Headless CMS
A content system with no front end of its own. It stores content, usually in a database, and your site reads it through an API. Prismic is one; WordPress and Ghost can also be used this way with Astro.
Git-based CMS
A content system that keeps content as files in a git repository instead of a database. Every change is a commit you can review, compare and undo.
Visual editing
Editing while seeing the page as visitors will see it. It ranges from a preview beside a form to typing directly on the page.
On-page (inline) editing
The strongest kind of visual editing: you click the text on the page and type. Markstage edits text and rich text this way, on the site's own design.
Live preview
A preview that updates as you type, usually shown beside the form you type into.
Static site
A site built ahead of time into plain HTML files. It is fast and simple to host, because no code runs on each visit.
Server rendering (SSR) and adapters
Building a page on each request instead of ahead of time. In Astro this needs an adapter for the host (Node, Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare). Some editors need it; Markstage does not.
Environment
A place where a copy of the site runs: on your computer (local), for review (staging), or for the public (production). In Markstage each is a git branch plus a server.
Promotion
Moving changes up from one environment to the next, for example from staging to production. In Markstage it is a git merge, so design and content move together.
Release
A named bundle of changes that are previewed together and go live together, now or at a set time.
Roles
What each person may do: write their own drafts, edit everything, publish, manage people. Markstage has five built-in roles and custom roles.
Single sign-on (SSO)
Signing in with an account your organisation already has, such as Google Workspace or Microsoft Entra ID. Markstage supports any OpenID Connect provider.
MCP (Model Context Protocol)
A standard way for AI assistants to use a tool. Through Markstage's MCP server, an AI agent can draft changes as a person; a person still reviews and publishes.
Source-available
Software whose code you can read, change and run, under a licence with some limits. Markstage is source-available under the Elastic License 2.0: free to self-host, but not to resell as a hosted service.
Self-hosted
Run on a server you control, rather than as someone else's hosted service.
Words used in Markstage
Canvas
The part of the Markstage editor where a writer edits an entry, drawn with the site’s own CSS and, in astro dev, inside the entry’s real page.
Block
One piece of a page: a paragraph, heading, list, table, image, quote or a box the site defines. Blocks can be moved, locked and saved to the Library.
Surgical save
A save that rewrites only the blocks that changed and leaves the rest of the file byte for byte as it was, so a git diff shows exactly the edit.
Library
Markstage’s store of parts to use again: page templates, sections and snippets, kept as files in the site repo.