# Dev Diary 84: CMS Collections — PRO feature revealed **URL:** \ **Category:** Elements\ **Created:** [May 28, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/dev-diary-84-cms-collections-pro-feature-revealed/47800 "2025-05-28T15:20:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dan](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/dan/32/28516_2.png) [@dan](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/dan)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/dev-diary-84-cms-collections-pro-feature-revealed/47800/1 "2025-05-28T15:20:36Z")
Hello again, As we continue our work on the Elements CMS, we’re starting to flesh out some of the finer details, like pagination (yes, the thrilling stuff!). This latest Dev Diary gives you another peek at just how powerful, flexible, and open our new CMS is shaping up to be. We’re building fast, not just because we’re excited, but because we know _you_ are. That said, the CMS isn’t quite ready to ship in [Elements](https://elementsapp.io/) just yet. These early previews are your chance to follow along, offer feedback, and help shape its development. [![](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/realmacsoftware1/original/3X/5/e/5e5a8868f563d3bb4070960caad180cc5c9df7e5.jpeg "CMS Collections — PRO feature revealed.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkd7JILuAcU) ## Move to [Elements](https://elementsapp.io/) Today With version 1.0 just around the corner, the price of [Elements](https://elementsapp.io/) will increase starting **June 1st**. If you’ve been thinking about building your site with [Elements](https://elementsapp.io/), now’s a great time to jump in. Visit [elementsapp.io](https://elementsapp.io/) to grab your license and lock in the current pricing! ## 💬 Thanks for Your Feedback These features came directly from your suggestions, as always, we’d love to hear what you think so far. Your feedback truly makes all the difference 😊 Thanks again! See you soon, Dan @ Team Realmac ---
**Author:** ![Pegasus](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/pegasus/32/25035_2.png) [@Pegasus](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Pegasus)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 3:33pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/dev-diary-84-cms-collections-pro-feature-revealed/47800/2 "2025-05-28T15:33:31Z")
come on, guys! can we skip to the good part… give us something to play with 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![dan](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/dan/32/28516_2.png) [@dan](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/dan)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/dev-diary-84-cms-collections-pro-feature-revealed/47800/3 "2025-05-28T15:39:03Z")
Haha, I know 😝 we’re just as eager to get it into your hands! But we want to make sure it’s solid and a bit more complete before it ships in a build. Nothing worse than giving you something too early and then having to say, “Yeah… you’ll need to re-do all that.” Hang in there… it’s getting closer! ---
**Author:** ![logrunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/59ef9b/32.png) [@logrunner](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/logrunner)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/dev-diary-84-cms-collections-pro-feature-revealed/47800/4 "2025-05-28T15:39:07Z")
@ben In the video, you said you were going to explain what **Collection Before** and **Collection After** is and give a use case. I don’t think you covered that in the video? ---
**Author:** ![dan](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/dan/32/28516_2.png) [@dan](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/dan)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/dev-diary-84-cms-collections-pro-feature-revealed/47800/5 "2025-05-28T15:41:50Z")
@Ben will be able to explain it in more detail (he’s AFK right now). But it’s basically so you can place related items into the collection component, like pagination. ---
**Author:** ![logrunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/59ef9b/32.png) [@logrunner](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/logrunner)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 4:02pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/dev-diary-84-cms-collections-pro-feature-revealed/47800/6 "2025-05-28T16:02:59Z")
I viewed the video again (paying more attention 😉 ) and I can now see where the pagination items are being placed (in the **Collection Before** and **Collection After** ) and it all makes sense. 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Pegasus](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/pegasus/32/25035_2.png) [@Pegasus](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Pegasus)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 4:55pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/dev-diary-84-cms-collections-pro-feature-revealed/47800/7 "2025-05-28T16:55:41Z")
@dan or @ben Is it possible now or in a later version to design the layout of the blog entries in a similar way to ALLOY, for example? ![Bildschirmfoto 2025-05-28 um 18.49.17](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/realmacsoftware1/original/3X/b/5/b54839aaa2df5dba55f0c84be4b466e12c790f03.png) ![Bildschirmfoto 2025-05-28 um 18.49.28](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/realmacsoftware1/original/3X/9/3/9345617e555fb5299261e9138eb8ca061064c185.png) ![Bildschirmfoto 2025-05-28 um 18.49.41](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/realmacsoftware1/original/3X/8/4/84eeef7eb6e733c55718375b97b205e59096d9be.png) ![Bildschirmfoto 2025-05-28 um 18.49.58](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/realmacsoftware1/original/3X/0/a/0aa5b2edc0650b2f22cffa1f4ad6da9c04e4bb54.png) I think layouts one and two are already possible. what about layout 3 and 4? ---
**Author:** ![PMUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7993a0/32.png) [@PMUK](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/PMUK)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/dev-diary-84-cms-collections-pro-feature-revealed/47800/8 "2025-05-28T17:05:40Z")
I think you do layout in [ELEMENTS](https://elementsapp.io/) and then attach your blog bits to your layout. ---
**Author:** ![Gelbseidenraupe](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/gelbseidenraupe/32/19773_2.png) [@Gelbseidenraupe](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Gelbseidenraupe)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 5:40pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/dev-diary-84-cms-collections-pro-feature-revealed/47800/9 "2025-05-28T17:40:35Z")
Just to be clear! As far as I know, I have already bought a license. In this respect, the reminder emails totally irritate me! Have I overlooked something? Best regards Ronny ---
**Author:** ![pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@pumpkin](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 6:58pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/dev-diary-84-cms-collections-pro-feature-revealed/47800/10 "2025-05-28T18:58:31Z")
Nice. The only thing that irritates me is the order of the items in the collection component (after - before - items). It would feel more natural to me if it was (before - items - after) since that reflects the natural order on the page eventually. But maybe that’s just me 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ben](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/ben/32/28488_2.png) [@ben](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/ben)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 7:42am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/dev-diary-84-cms-collections-pro-feature-revealed/47800/11 "2025-05-29T07:42:40Z")
> [@Pegasus](#): > > I think layouts one and two are already possible. > > what about layout 3 and 4? You’re absolutely right — layouts 1 and 2 are easily achievable using the Collection component. Layouts 3 and 4 are possible as well, but they would require a bit more effort — likely involving a number of custom classes to get the styling and layout just right. That said, it’s worth noting that the CMS we’re building is completely open, which means anyone can create custom components that work with CMS data. So if a developer wanted to build alternative collection layouts (like the ones you’ve shown), it would be fairly straightforward to do so 😊 ---
**Author:** ![ben](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/ben/32/28488_2.png) [@ben](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/ben)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 7:48am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/dev-diary-84-cms-collections-pro-feature-revealed/47800/12 "2025-05-29T07:48:09Z")
> [@logrunner](#): > > I can now see where the pagination items are being placed (in the **Collection Before** and **Collection After** ) Exactly — you place the Pagination component either before or after the items loop, depending on where you want it to appear. In the future, we may introduce other collection-related components that would also be placed in these drop zones — things like filters, sorting controls, and more 😊