Is it possible to create a multilingual website structure with subdirectories in Webflow while maintaining a relational database perspective and using country-specific CMS that references the main English CMS?

Webflow does not natively support multilingual subdirectory structures (e.g., /fr/, /de/, etc.) or relational databases between CMS collections, but it is possible to approximate this with specific strategies.

1. Understand Webflow's CMS Limitations

• Webflow CMS is flat, not relational. Collections cannot reference collections in a deeply relational way (e.g., conditional lookups or true relational joins).
• You can use Reference or Multi-reference fields to simulate relationships—but they are one-way.
• Webflow doesn’t support folder-based multilingual URL structures by default. All CMS collection URLs share a base slug (e.g., /blog/post-title).

2. Multilingual Structure Workarounds

To mimic language subdirectories in Webflow:

• Create CMS Collections for each language, e.g., Blog (EN), Blog (FR).
• Set collection slugs to simulate subdirectories: e.g., set Blog FR’s slug as /fr/blog, Blog DE as /de/blog, etc.
• For static pages, duplicate the page and assign it a slug like /fr/about to simulate structure.

3. Country-Specific CMS Referencing Main English CMS

To relate foreign-language CMS items to English originals:

• Use a Reference or Multi-reference field in each localized CMS collection (e.g., Blog FR) to reference the English CMS collection (e.g., Blog EN).
• Label the reference as "Source post", for example.
• This creates a one-way connection where you can access source post data from the localized entry (e.g., original title, publish date), but not vice-versa.

4. Managing Content on a “Relational” Basis

While not fully relational, mimic integrity via:

• Design consistent CMS field structures across all language versions.
• Create a shared collection of categories/tags, and link them via reference fields in all language-based collections.
• Use unique slugs for multilingual posts, and ensure each localized item refers back to the base English item to prevent duplication or orphaned content.

5. Alternatives or Enhancements

To better handle multilingual and relational features:

• Use Webflow + Weglot for subdirectory language management (Weglot supports subdirectories for paid plans).
• Or, use Webflow as a frontend and manage content via a headless CMS (like Sanity or Contentful) for true relational and multilingual control.
• Combine Webflow with custom code or third-party tools (like Make/Integromat or Zapier) to sync and manage related entries between language-based CMS collections.

Summary

You can mimic multilingual subdirectory structure and approximate relational data by creating separate CMS collections per language with reference fields linking back to an English “source” CMS. However, due to Webflow CMS limitations, this structure requires manual setup and has no true relational database behavior. For better scalability, consider external CMS solutions or integration tools.