Content Licensing in XenT: A Complete Guide

XenT includes a powerful content licensing system that displays license information in your post footers. Whether you want Creative Commons licensing, custom restrictions, or per-post flexibility, XenT has you covered.

Quick Start

Set your global default license in your configuration:

// user.config.ts
defaults: {
  license: 'CC-BY-4.0', // Your default license
}

That’s it! All your posts will now display this license unless overridden.

Creative Commons Badges

XenT automatically detects Creative Commons licenses and displays official CC badges for instant recognition:

Supported CC licenses:

  • CC-BY-4.0 - Attribution
  • CC-BY-SA-4.0 - Attribution-ShareAlike
  • CC-BY-NC-4.0 - Attribution-NonCommercial
  • CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0 - Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
  • CC-BY-ND-4.0 - Attribution-NoDerivatives
  • CC0 or Public Domain - No rights reserved

Visual Features:

  • Official Creative Commons badge graphics
  • Centered display for clean visual balance
  • Clickable links to license details on creativecommons.org
  • Badge-only display (no redundant text) for cleaner design

Per-Post License Override

Override the global default for specific posts using frontmatter:

---
title: 'My Special Post'
license: 'All Rights Reserved' # Override global default
---

Common override examples:

license: "MIT"                    # For code/technical content
license: "All Rights Reserved"    # Restrict usage
license: "CC-BY-NC-4.0"          # Non-commercial only
license: "Public Domain"          # No restrictions
license: ""                       # Hide license entirely

Hiding License Information

Sometimes you don’t want license info displayed:

Hide globally:

defaults: {
  license: '',  // Empty string = no license display
}

Hide for specific posts:

---
title: 'Corporate Post'
license: '' # Override to hide just this post
---

Common use cases for hiding:

  • Corporate/client work
  • Guest posts with different policies
  • Portfolio showcases
  • Legal/sensitive content

Custom License Text

XenT supports completely custom license text for maximum flexibility:

license: "Available under Creative Commons with attribution to Example Blog"
license: "Free to share with credit and link back"
license: "Contact author for commercial usage rights"
license: "Licensed for educational use only"

Configuration Examples

Open Content Blog:

defaults: {
  license: 'CC-BY-4.0',  // Encourage sharing with attribution
}

Mixed Commercial/Open:

defaults: {
  license: 'All Rights Reserved',  // Conservative default
}
# Override per post
license: 'CC-BY-4.0' # Make specific posts open

Portfolio Site:

defaults: {
  license: '',  // No licensing by default
}

Best Practices

Choose Appropriate Defaults

  • Personal blog: CC-BY-4.0 encourages sharing
  • Business blog: All Rights Reserved protects content
  • Technical blog: Consider CC-BY-SA-4.0 for knowledge sharing
  • Portfolio: Often no licensing needed

Be Consistent

  • Avoid mixing too many license types
  • Use frontmatter overrides sparingly
  • Document your licensing policy on an About page

Consider Your Audience

  • Creative Commons for educators/researchers
  • Custom text for clear, human-readable terms
  • No license for purely personal content

Technical Details

The licensing system uses Astro’s content collection schema with automatic defaults:

// Automatic schema behavior
license: z.string().default(config.defaults.license);

This means:

  • No license: field → uses global default
  • license: "" → hides license display
  • license: "Custom" → shows custom text

Display Location

License information appears in the post footer, after tags but before comments. This placement follows web conventions and doesn’t interfere with reading flow.

Troubleshooting

License not showing?

  • Check that defaults.license is set and not empty
  • Verify the post isn’t overriding with an empty string

CC badge not appearing?

  • Ensure exact hyphen format: CC-BY-4.0 not CC BY 4.0
  • Check for typos in license text
  • Badge displays only for supported CC license formats

Want to hide all licensing?

  • Set defaults.license: '' in your config
  • This affects all posts unless individually overridden

Migration from Other Themes

From themes with footer copyright: XenT deliberately avoids site-wide “All Rights Reserved” footers to prevent confusion between site licensing and content licensing. Content licensing is more specific and user-friendly.

From themes without licensing: Start with a permissive default like CC-BY-4.0 and restrict specific posts as needed rather than the reverse.

The XenT licensing system balances flexibility with simplicity, giving you granular control while maintaining clean, professional presentation. Whether you’re running an open knowledge blog or protecting commercial content, XenT adapts to your licensing needs.