Fundamentals

A LightNet site generates pages based on content metadata, structured using Astro’s content collections feature. Content collections organize different types of metadata into separate folders, each containing JSON files. The filename - excluding the .json suffix - serves as the item’s unique identifier.

All content folders are located in src/content. LightNet uses the following content folders:

• media: Each file in this folder describes a media item. This is the core of your LightNet site. Media Items reference other content files like categories, collections.
• media-types: are used to group media items by their type. Eg. “Video” and “Audio” could be media types that are referenced. Also the media type is used to determine the layout of the media item details page.
• categories: Categories group your media items by different topics. Eg. “Theology”, “Christian Living”, “Kids” could be categories that are referenced by media items.
• media-collections: Media collections group media items that belong together. For example a video playlist could be modeled as a media collection. Other collection items show up on the details page on a media item.

Content Editing

You can edit the content files using your text editor. Astro automatically validates the structure of the content files. If you have a syntax error in your content files, the Astro development server shows you an error message in the terminal.

Alternatively you can use a Administration User Interface (Administration UI) to edit the content files. This is also useful if you need to support non-technical users to edit the content.