CMS Basics

SkillProductivity

Covers CMS fundamentals — sites, site templates, menus, page templates, includes, breadcrumbs, styles/CSS handling (styles.css vs template_styles.css, Asset::addCss, SetAdditionalCSS), user groups, user fields, admin panel. Applied for site structure and content management tasks. Key terms — CSite, template, menu, include area, styles.css, SetAdditionalCSS, user field, UF.

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What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by bxmaximum/bitrix-framework-skills in skills/bitrix-cms-basics/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

Baseline: main 23.0+. Features newer than baseline are marked Since.

Site management layer above the framework — sites, templates, menus, content areas. Landing sites / Sites24: skill bitrix-landing.

Sites (Multisite)

ORM tablet: \Bitrix\Main\SiteTable → table b_lang (main/lib/SiteTable.php). Legacy: CSite.

Key fields: LID (primary, e.g. s1), NAME, DIR, DOC_ROOT, SERVER_NAME, SITE_NAME, LANGUAGE_ID, CULTURE_ID, ACTIVE, DEF.

$site = \Bitrix\Main\SiteTable::getRow([
    'filter' => ['=LID' => SITE_ID],
    'select' => ['LID', 'DIR', 'SERVER_NAME', 'DOC_ROOT', 'LANGUAGE_ID'],
]);

$docRoot = \Bitrix\Main\SiteTable::getDocumentRoot(SITE_ID);

SITE_ID / SITE_DIR are available after kernel init. Resolve site by host/path: SiteTable::getByDomain($host, $directory).

Site Templates

Location: /local/templates/<template_id>/

/local/templates/mytemplate/
├── header.php
├── footer.php
├── description.php       # Template meta ($arTemplate), incl. EDITOR_STYLES
├── styles.css            # Content styles — also loaded by the visual editor
├── template_styles.css   # Template frame styles (header/footer/grid)
├── .styles.php           # Visual editor style list entries
├── components/           # Template-level component overrides
├── page_templates/       # Page layout templates
└── lang/

#WORK_AREA# — required placeholder in the site template (often a single-file template or between header.php / footer.php flow). The kernel injects the page body at #WORK_AREA#. Missing marker → admin error “set the #WORK_AREA# separator”.

Template selected per site in Admin → Sites → Edit. Prefer /local/templates/, not /bitrix/templates/.

Styles (CSS)

Store CSS next to the owner of the markup:

Owner of markup	Where CSS lives
Site frame (`header.php` / `footer.php`, grid, background)	`template_styles.css` of the site template
Page content that must be styleable in the visual editor	`styles.css` + `.styles.php` of the site template
Component template markup (`template.php`)	`style.css` next to the component template
JS-extension UI loaded via `Extension::load()`	CSS inside the extension (`config.php` `css` key) — skill `bitrix-extensions`
One-off page CSS	`Asset::getInstance()->addCss()` / classic `SetAdditionalCSS()`

styles.css vs template_styles.css: the visual editor renders content in an iframe and injects styles.css into its <head> — never put site-frame rules there, or they distort the editor; keep them in template_styles.css. Both files are editable in Admin → Settings → Product settings → Sites → Site templates (tabs "Site styles" / "Template styles").

Visual editor style list — .styles.php in the template returns entries (CSS rule itself goes to styles.css):

return [
    'example' => [                     // array key = CSS class name
        'tag' => 'p',                  // tag(s) the style applies to; comma-separated list allowed
        'title' => 'Test style',       // name shown in the editor
        'html' => '<span style="...">Preview</span>', // optional styled preview
        // optional 'section' => groups entries in the editor's style dropdown
    ],
];

Editor-only CSS files — EDITOR_STYLES in the template's description.php ($arTemplate): 'EDITOR_STYLES' => ['/bitrix/css/main/bootstrap.css', ...]. Loaded only in the visual editor; include them separately for the public site if needed.

Include APIs:

$APPLICATION->ShowCSS();          // classic, in header.php <head>: outputs page + template CSS set
$APPLICATION->SetAdditionalCSS('/local/templates/demo/additional.css'); // classic add to that set

\Bitrix\Main\Page\Asset::getInstance()->addCss(SITE_TEMPLATE_PATH . '/styles/page.css');
// 2nd param $additional=true → file goes to the template set, after styles.css / template_styles.css

\Bitrix\Main\UI\Extension::load('demo.product-card'); // extension JS+CSS from its config.php

Prefer Asset::addCss() (D7) or Extension::load() for new code; ShowCSS() / SetAdditionalCSS() belong to classic site templates.

Optimization (Admin → Settings → Product settings → Module settings → Main module): merge CSS files (main option optimize_css_files), use existing .min versions, gzip copies (compres_css_js_files, requires zlib). Merge applies only to Asset-registered CSS, is skipped in the admin section and Ajax mode, and can be disabled via disableOptimizeCss(). Merged files live in /bitrix/cache/css/<SITE_ID>/<template>/ (kernel / template_<hash> / page_<hash> sets) — after editing CSS clear the Bitrix cache (and browser cache) if the old look persists.

Section and Access Files

`.section.php`

Per-directory file (walked from current path up to site root). Typical contents:

<?php
$sSectionName = 'News';
$arDirProperties = [
    'TITLE' => 'News section',
    'keywords' => 'news, updates',
    'description' => 'Company news',
];

$sSectionName — used for breadcrumbs (GetNavChain).
$arDirProperties — directory properties; read via $APPLICATION->GetDirProperty() / merged into $APPLICATION->GetProperty().

`.access.php`

Per-directory file permissions (PERM[...]). Managed by $APPLICATION->SetFileAccessPermission() / admin UI. Do not hand-edit unless you know the format; kernel includes it when resolving file rights.

Page Properties

$APPLICATION->SetPageProperty('title', 'About');
$APPLICATION->SetPageProperty('description', 'About the company');
$APPLICATION->SetPageProperty('keywords', 'about');

$title = $APPLICATION->GetPageProperty('title', 'Default');
// GetProperty: page first, then directory (.section.php), then default
$desc = $APPLICATION->GetProperty('description');

SetPageProperty / GetPageProperty — current page only.
SetDirProperty / GetDirProperty — directory props (often from .section.php).
GetProperty — page → dir → default.

Common keys: title, description, keywords, plus custom uppercase IDs.

Menus

Menu types per site (top, left, …).
Files: /.top.menu.php, /.left.menu.php in site root or section.
Component: bitrix:menu.

Page Templates

/local/templates/<id>/page_templates/ — reusable layouts for the visual editor.

Include Areas

bitrix:main.include — editable content blocks:

$APPLICATION->IncludeComponent('bitrix:main.include', '', [
    'AREA_FILE_SHOW' => 'file',
    'PATH' => '/include/phone.php',
]);

Files typically under /include/ or /local/include/.

Breadcrumbs

Auto from $sSectionName in .section.php along the path.
Manual: $APPLICATION->AddChainItem('Title', '/path/').
Component: bitrix:breadcrumb.

Users and Groups

CUser, \Bitrix\Main\UserTable — users.
Groups control permissions via \CMain::GetUserRight() and group IDs.
User fields (UF) — CUserTypeEntity, \Bitrix\Main\UserFieldTable; register in module DoInstall; access via USER.UF_* in ORM or user fields API.

Admin Panel

/bitrix/admin/ — admin scripts. Custom pages via module install admin files, or modern UI (bitrix-ui). Legacy lists: CAdminList / CAdminForm.

Checklist

Site-specific code checks SITE_ID / SITE_DIR.
Template has #WORK_AREA#; overrides in /local/templates/.
Site-frame CSS in template_styles.css; editor-visible content CSS in styles.css (+ .styles.php); component CSS in the template's style.css; new code uses Asset::addCss() / Extension::load().
Section meta/breadcrumbs via .section.php; rights via .access.php / API.
Page meta via SetPageProperty / GetProperty.
Menus via .menu.php or Admin UI; includes for editable fragments.
Landings / composite sites → bitrix-landing when applicable.

Signals

GitHub stars: 31
Forks: 5
Last commit: Aug 2026

Advanced

Catalog kind: skill
Gateway key: bitrix-cms-basics
Source: github.com/bxmaximum/bitrix-framework-skills

github.com/bxmaximum/bitrix-framework-skills

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