Efficient Content Management with Jekyll Collections

Understanding the Limitations of Flat File Structures

When you first start building a static site with Jekyll, the simplicity is refreshing. You create Markdown files inside the _posts directory, add some front matter, and they show up neatly on your homepage. But as your site grows—especially if you run a documentation hub, learning portal, or product site—the one-size-fits-all _posts folder becomes a limitation.

Flat file structures can quickly turn chaotic. Pages about products, tutorials, changelogs, or policies become difficult to organize. Here’s where Jekyll Collections come in. They offer an elegant way to manage grouped content under logical sections of your site.

What Are Jekyll Collections?

A collection in Jekyll is a folder that contains related documents, defined in your site’s _config.yml. Unlike _posts, collections don’t have to follow date-based naming conventions and can be routed or rendered however you like.

Benefits of Using Collections

• Better organization: Logical separation of content types like tutorials, policies, or changelogs.
• Flexible routing: Define your own URL structure for each collection.
• Custom layouts: Collections can have their own layout, logic, and styling.
• Site performance: Easier to manage templating and liquid loops when content is scoped properly.

Real-World Example: Technical Documentation Hub

Imagine you're building a site that includes:

• Product manuals
• API documentation
• FAQs
• Release changelogs

Managing all of these in _posts would be unwieldy. Instead, you define collections like _manuals, _api, _faq, and _changelog.

Setting Up Collections in _config.yml

collections:
  manuals:
    output: true
    permalink: /manuals/:path/
  api:
    output: true
    permalink: /api/:path/
  faq:
    output: true
    permalink: /faq/:path/
  changelog:
    output: true
    permalink: /changelog/:path/

Now, you can create folders like _manuals, _api, etc., in your root directory, and place your Markdown files there.

Organizing and Accessing Collection Data

Example: Adding a Manual Entry

_manuals/setup-guide.md

---
title: "Initial Setup Guide"
version: 1.0
layout: manual
---

## Step 1: Install the software

...

## Step 2: Configure settings

...

Looping Through a Collection in a Layout

{% raw %}

  {% for manual in site.manuals %}
    

      {{ manual.title }}
    
  {% endfor %}

{% endraw %}

This loop can be placed in a sidebar or homepage to dynamically show links to each manual entry.

Using Custom Layouts for Collections

Each collection can use its own layout. For example, create _layouts/manual.html and use it to design how each manual page looks, separate from your blog posts.

{% raw %}


  
    
  
  
    
{{ page.title }}
    

      {{ content }}
    
  

{% endraw %}

Filtering and Grouping Content in Collections

Collections support front matter fields. This means you can filter content based on metadata like version, status, or category.

Example: Grouping by Version

{% raw %}
{% assign versioned_manuals = site.manuals | group_by: "version" %}
{% for version_group in versioned_manuals %}
  
Version {{ version_group.name }}
  

    {% for manual in version_group.items %}
      
{{ manual.title }}
    {% endfor %}
  
{% endfor %}
{% endraw %}

Using Data Files to Control Collection Metadata

Sometimes you want to centralize information about collections—like descriptions, authors, or status. You can combine collections with _data YAML files for dynamic referencing.

_data/collections.yml

manuals:
  title: "Product Manuals"
  description: "Official setup and usage guides."
api:
  title: "API Docs"
  description: "Reference material for developers."

Referencing in a Layout

{% raw %}
{% assign meta = site.data.collections[page.collection] %}
{{ meta.title }}
{{ meta.description }}
{% endraw %}

Best Practices for Using Collections

• Use consistent metadata: Stick to a fixed front matter schema to avoid template errors.
• Validate structure: Regularly audit collection folders and YAML keys.
• Pre-generate content structure: Use GitHub Actions to lint, sort, or format collections automatically.
• Keep collections small and focused: Don’t overload one collection with unrelated content types.

Conclusion

Jekyll collections offer a powerful and flexible way to manage complex content types within a static site. Whether you're building a product knowledge base, a multi-section tutorial site, or a structured documentation hub, collections allow you to scale your content in a clean, maintainable way.

In the next article, we'll explore how to enhance this structure further by using front matter defaults to reduce repetition and enforce layout consistency across all your collections.