[Support Guide] Netlify CMS isn’t working how I’d expect. How do I debug?

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Last checked in November 2021.

So glad you’re trying out Netlify CMS! Netlify CMS is an open source content management system for your Git workflow. It’s lightweight, easy to use, and works with a variety of static site generators (SSGs).

If you are having issues using the CMS, here are some solutions to common problems, explained.

  • Make sure to have our netlify-identity-widget installed on your website’s main page (that is, in /index.html) and initialized. This will allow your CMS users to verify their account by clicking the link in the email they receive when you invite them via Identity. This is only applicable in case you use the git_gateway backend, by the way!
  • make sure you deploy your config.yml file along with the CMS as mentioned in the “App File Structure” section of the CMS documentation. Without that configuration file, the CMS won’t work.
  • If you’re seeing some other odd behavior, have you checked for an existing open issue on the Netlify CMS repository that might address the issue you are experiencing? If you don’t see something open that seems related, filing an issue there lets the maintainers as well as other users help out - along with documenting the problem for the next person who runs into it :slight_smile:

If you’ve checked those points over and still have questions, head over to our community chat for some support, as that where our CMS maintainers chat and they may have some insights. If that still doesn’t help, comment below and we’ll point you in the right direction!

2 Likes
15

For me, it was that I didn’t know I was supposed to go to <website>.com/admin after going through the marketing onboarding flow for netlifycms. :wink:

Might help to detect if the current site is using CMS then add a link to the website admin page from the overview section of the netlify app.

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That’s an interesting point, @abraithwaite! I’ll pass it along.