Work with Image Content in Salesforce CMS

Salesforce CMS Image Content and References

When you update images in Salesforce CMS, the content that references the image updates too. For example, you’re creating a news piece about how to choose a day pack for outdoor adventures. You add an image of outdoor gear to your CMS workspace and publish it. Next, you add the image to the news piece and publish the news content. The image is now live in the news content for your readers to see.

Later, you want to change the image in the published news piece from a piece of outdoor gear to hiking socks. In Salesforce CMS, you edit the image and publish it. The news piece, which is already published and live for your readers, updates with the new image immediately.

Image References

Whether you’re working in a CMS workspace or an enhanced CMS workspace, you can publish images to various channels and sites. But adding image references to content in a CMS workspace is different from adding image references to content in an enhanced CMS workspace.

In a CMS workspace, you can add references to images in CMS content items such as news or documents. For example, you can add a banner image to news content and a thumbnail to a document.

To add a thumbnail to a document, add the image’s relative URL in the Link to Thumbnail field. The relative URL for CMS images is /cms/delivery/media/{CMS content key}. For example, if the image’s CMS content key is MC12345, the relative URL is /cms/delivery/media/MC12345. If you want to use an external image as the document thumbnail, enter the full external URL in the Link to Thumbnail field. Ensure that the domain of the hosted image is added to your org’s trusted URL list in Setup.

In a CMS workspace, the Used by card on the content detail page tells you which other content or channels use or reference the image.

Note Experience Cloud site references link to the site level. If you remove the image reference from a site component such as an LWR template site logo, browser icon (favicon), or Rich Text Editor, the link displays in the Used by card even if the site no longer uses it.

In an enhanced CMS workspace, you can add an image reference only to news content. The Usage Info tab on the content detail page shows which other content or channels use or reference the image.

Publish Image Scenarios

You can publish saved images in Salesforce CMS. When you publish an image for the first time or after an update, it’s immediately available for use in all channels. When you update then publish an image, the new image replaces your last published version, and the previous version is archived in Salesforce CMS.

Scenario	Result
Publish an image for the first time.	The image is immediately available for use in all channels. Configure your site to reference and include this image. After you add a reference to this image in another piece of content and publish that content, the image appears on your live site.
Update and publish an image that isn’t referenced anywhere.	The image is immediately available for use. It replaces your last published version in the CMS workspace. The previous version is archived.
Update and publish an image that’s referenced in other content.	The image is immediately available for use in all channels. It replaces your last published version in the CMS workspace. The previous version is archived. If you added the image to your site, it immediately updates your live site and all content references. If the previous image is cached, it remains visible until the cache expires or is cleared.

Unpublish Image Scenarios

When you unpublish an image, it’s immediately removed from your live site and from all content that references it. The image is archived.

Scenario	Result
Unpublish an image that’s referenced in other content.	The image is immediately removed from your live site and from all content that references it. The image is archived. A broken content icon appears in the published content where the image is referenced.
Unpublish an image that isn’t referenced in other content.	The image is immediately removed from your live site and from all content that references it. The image is archived.

Draft Image Scenarios

When you edit a published image and save it as a draft, it can be used as a reference in other content. Any content that references the draft updates when the image is published or deleted.

Scenario	Result
Create a draft of an update to a published image.	You can work on a draft of the image while the published version is live on the site. The published image doesn’t change until the draft is published.
Create a draft of an unpublished image.	You can work on a draft of the image. References to the unpublished image don’t change until the draft is published.

Delete Image Scenarios

After you unpublish an image, you can delete the image from Salesforce CMS. When you delete an image, it’s removed from your CMS workspace and all versions are deleted. A broken content icon appears in the published content where the image is referenced.

Note After you delete a file, it can remain cached for up to 90 days.

Salesforce CMS Managed Content ID (MCID)

The managed content ID (MCID) is a unique identifier for content in Salesforce CMS. You can find the MCID in two places after content is added to the workspace.

• The output file from the import success email you receive after content is imported.
• In your CMS workspace, the MCID appears in the URL on the content detail page. Open the content detail page, and in the browser address bar, locate the /content/20Y.../ portion of the URL. The prefix 20Y indicates the MCID.