Custom Pages

Overview

The Pages feature allows administrators to create custom static content pages with unique URLs. Perfect for About, Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and other standalone pages outside the blog structure.

Database Structure

The pages table provides a simple yet flexible structure:

pages
  - id: bigint (primary key)
  - title: string
  - slug: string (unique)
  - content: text (nullable)
  - published: boolean (default: false)
  - created_at: timestamp
  - updated_at: timestamp

Reference: database/migrations/2025_05_18_185526_create_pages_table.php:14

Page Model

class Page extends Model
{
    protected $fillable = [
        'title',
        'slug',
        'content',
        'published'
    ];
}

Key Features:

Title: Display name of the page
Slug: URL-friendly identifier (e.g., about-us becomes /about-us)
Content: Rich text content for the page body
Published: Boolean flag to control visibility

Reference: app/Models/Page.php:7

User Workflows

Creating a Custom Page

Page Creation Workflow

Access Page Builder
- Navigate to admin panel
- Go to Pages section
Enter Page Details
- Title: Enter descriptive page title
- Slug: Create URL-friendly slug (must be unique)
  - Example: “About Us” → about-us
  - Example: “Privacy Policy” → privacy-policy
- Content: Add page content using rich text editor
Set Visibility
- Draft Mode: Leave published as false
- Public: Set published to true when ready to go live
Save Page
- Page becomes accessible at /{slug}
- Only published pages visible to public

Note: Route implementation is currently commented out in routes/web.php:119-121

Editing a Page

Edit Workflow

Find Page
- View list of all pages in admin panel
- Search by title or slug
Update Content
- Modify title, slug, or content
- Change publication status
Slug Considerations
- Changing slug will change the URL
- May break existing links
- Consider implementing redirects for old URLs
Save Changes
- Updated content immediately reflects on frontend
- Version history not tracked (consider adding revisions)

Publishing and Unpublishing

Publication Controls

Publishing a Page:

Set published to true
Page becomes publicly accessible
Appears in site navigation (if configured)

Unpublishing a Page:

Set published to false
Page returns 404 to public visitors
Still accessible in admin panel
Useful for temporary removal without deletion

Use Cases:

Seasonal content (hide during off-season)
Work-in-progress pages
Legal pages requiring updates

Frontend Display

Dynamic Page Routing

Pages are displayed using dynamic slug-based routing:

public function show($slug)
{
    $page = Page::where('slug', $slug)
        ->where('published', true)
        ->firstOrFail();
        
    return view('pages.show', compact('page'));
}

Key Features:

Published Check: Only shows pages with published = true
404 Handling: Returns 404 if page not found or unpublished
SEO-Friendly URLs: Clean URLs without /page/ prefix

Reference: app/Http/Controllers/PageController.php:10

Example URLs

About Page

Slug: about-us
URL: https://yoursite.com/about-usDisplays company information, team details, mission statement.

Privacy Policy

Slug: privacy-policy
URL: https://yoursite.com/privacy-policyDisplays legal privacy information and data handling practices.

Terms of Service

Slug: terms-of-service
URL: https://yoursite.com/terms-of-serviceDisplays user agreement and service terms.

Contact

Slug: contact
URL: https://yoursite.com/contactContact form and business information.

Implementation Notes

The dynamic page route is currently commented out in the routes file:

// routes/web.php:119-121
// Route::get('/{slug}', [PageController::class, 'show'])
//     ->where('slug', '[A-Za-z0-9\-]+') 
//     ->name('page.show');

To enable custom pages, uncomment this route. Place it at the end of your routes file to prevent conflicts with other routes.

Route Constraints

The page route includes a regex constraint:

->where('slug', '[A-Za-z0-9\-]+')

Allowed Characters:

Lowercase letters (a-z)
Uppercase letters (A-Z)
Numbers (0-9)
Hyphens (-)

Not Allowed:

Spaces
Special characters (@, #, $, etc.)
Underscores
Slashes

Best Practices

SEO Optimization
Content Management
Performance

Slug Guidelines:

Keep slugs short and descriptive
Use hyphens to separate words
Avoid numbers unless necessary
Make slugs permanent (don’t change after publication)

Content Guidelines:

Use proper heading hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3)
Include meta descriptions
Optimize for keywords
Add internal links to other pages

Optimization Tips:

Cache published pages
Minimize inline images
Use lazy loading for media
Implement CDN for static assets

Example Caching:

Cache::remember("page.{$slug}", 3600, function() use ($slug) {
    return Page::where('slug', $slug)
        ->where('published', true)
        ->firstOrFail();
});

Common Use Cases

Static Content

About Us
Company History
Team Bios
Mission & Values

Legal Pages

Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
Cookie Policy
Disclaimer

Marketing

Landing Pages
Product Features
Pricing
Case Studies

Support

FAQ
Help Center
Documentation
Contact Info

Extending Pages

Adding Custom Fields

Extend Page Functionality

Add custom fields to pages for enhanced features:1. Create Migration:

Schema::table('pages', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->string('meta_description')->nullable();
    $table->string('meta_keywords')->nullable();
    $table->string('template')->default('default');
    $table->integer('view_count')->default(0);
});

2. Update Model:

protected $fillable = [
    'title', 'slug', 'content', 'published',
    'meta_description', 'meta_keywords', 'template'
];

3. Use in Views:

<meta name="description" content="{{ $page->meta_description }}">

Page Templates

Multiple Template Support

Implement different layouts for different page types:Controller Logic:

public function show($slug)
{
    $page = Page::where('slug', $slug)
        ->where('published', true)
        ->firstOrFail();
    
    $template = $page->template ?? 'default';
    
    return view("pages.templates.{$template}", compact('page'));
}

Template Options:

default - Standard page layout
wide - Full-width layout
landing - Marketing landing page
sidebar - Two-column with sidebar

Key Routes

Method	URI	Action	Description
GET	`/{slug}`	`PageController@show`	Display page by slug

Note: This route is currently commented out. See Implementation Notes above. Reference: routes/web.php:119-121

Getting Started

Core Features

User Management

Admin Panel

Advanced

Overview

Database Structure

Page Model

User Workflows

Page Creation Workflow

Edit Workflow

Publication Controls

Frontend Display

Dynamic Page Routing

Example URLs

About Page

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

Contact

Implementation Notes

Route Constraints

Best Practices

Common Use Cases

Static Content

Legal Pages

Marketing

Support

Extending Pages

Extend Page Functionality

Multiple Template Support

Key Routes

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Getting Started

Core Features

User Management

Admin Panel

Advanced

​Overview

​Database Structure

​Page Model

​User Workflows

​Page Creation Workflow

​Edit Workflow

​Publication Controls

​Frontend Display

​Dynamic Page Routing

​Example URLs

About Page

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

Contact

​Implementation Notes

​Route Constraints

​Best Practices

​Common Use Cases

Static Content

Legal Pages

Marketing

Support

​Extending Pages

​Extend Page Functionality

​Multiple Template Support

​Key Routes

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Database Structure

Page Model

User Workflows

Page Creation Workflow

Edit Workflow

Publication Controls

Frontend Display

Dynamic Page Routing

Example URLs

Implementation Notes

Route Constraints

Best Practices

Common Use Cases

Extending Pages

Extend Page Functionality

Multiple Template Support

Key Routes