Next.js Blog

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This example was built with an older version of Next.js (v13). For examples using more recent versions of Next and other frameworks, please see our most current demos and starter kits.

A blog template using Next.js and DatoCMS

This example showcases a Next.js Blog using DatoCMS as the data source. It fully supports Preview Mode with DatoCMS real-time updates.

The purpose of this repo is to have a quick start reference that can be set up with the one-click button on the right.

How to use

Quick start

1. Create an account on DatoCMS.

2. Make sure that you have set up the Github integration on Vercel.

3. Let DatoCMS set everything up for you by clicking on the "Start Free Project" button on the right.

Local setup

Once the setup of the project and repo is done, clone the repo locally.

Set up environment variables

In your DatoCMS' project, go to the Settings menu at the top and click API tokens.

Then click Read-only API token and copy the token.

Next, copy the .env.example file in this directory to .env (which will be ignored by Git):

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cp .env.example .env

Then set each variable on .env:

• NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_DATOCMS_API_TOKEN should be the API token you just copied.
• NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_DATOCMS_PREVIEW_SECRET can be any random string (but avoid spaces), like MY_SECRET - this is used for the Preview Mode](https://www.datocms.com/docs/next-js/setting-up-next-js-preview-mode).

Your .env file should look like this:

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NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_DATOCMS_API_TOKEN=...
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NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_DATOCMS_PREVIEW_SECRET=...

Run your project locally

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npm install
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npm run dev

Your blog should be up and running on http://localhost:3000!

Try preview mode

On DatoCMS, go to one of the posts you've created and:

• Update the title. For example, you can add [Draft] in front of the title.
• Click Save, but DO NOT click Publish. By doing this, the post will be in the draft state.

(If it doesn't become draft, you need to go to the model settings for Post, go to Additional Settings, and turn on Enable draft/published system.)

Now, if you go to the post page on localhost, you won't see the updated title. However, if you use the Preview Mode, you'll be able to see the change (Documentation).

To enable the Preview Mode, go to this URL:

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http://localhost:3000/api/preview?secret=<secret>

• <secret> should be the string you entered for NEXT_EXAMPLE_CMS_DATOCMS_PREVIEW_SECRET.

You should now be able to see the updated title. To exit the preview mode, you can click Click here to exit preview mode at the top.