How can I organize and display multiple CMS items with different content using a rich text element in Webflow?

To display multiple different CMS items inside a single Rich Text element in Webflow, you’ll need to structure your content carefully, because Rich Text elements are designed to handle content from a single CMS field only.

1. Understand Rich Text Element Limitations

• A Rich Text element in Webflow can only display content from one Rich Text field in a CMS Collection at a time.
• You cannot dynamically combine multiple CMS items into one Rich Text field via native Webflow CMS alone.
• Rich Text elements are ideal for long-form content with styles such as paragraphs, headings, images, embeds, and lists — all from a single CMS item.

2. Use Multi-Reference Fields (Webflow CMS workarounds)

If you want to include multiple CMS items of similar type (e.g., authors, tags, related articles) inside another CMS item:

• Add a Multi-Reference field to your CMS Collection (e.g., connect Blog Post to multiple FAQs or Author Bios).
• Inside your main CMS template (e.g., blog post template), add a Collection List bound to the Multi-Reference field.
• Place individual Rich Text elements inside that Collection List to show rich content from each referenced item.

Note: Each referenced CMS item still needs its own Rich Text field.

3. Manually Merge Content (If Structured Content Is Static or Limited)

If you need to display multiple distinct content blocks in a single Rich Text:

• Manually copy/paste content from different sources into the same Rich Text field when creating or editing the CMS item.
• You can create visual separation between content types using headings, dividers, or labels within the Rich Text.

4. Consider Custom Code Options (if Dynamic Merging Is Essential)

If you require advanced scenarios like:

• Listing multiple CMS items inside one Rich Text block dynamically
• Custom logic for how content is grouped or combined

Then:

• Use custom JavaScript with Webflow’s data-wf attributes or CMS Webflow.js data binding to merge content at runtime.
• Alternatively, consider combining data via Webflow’s CMS API using a backend (e.g., Make, Xano, or Airtable) to pre-process and merge CMS content into a single Rich Text field.

5. Use Custom Fields Strategically

If content types are predictable (e.g., “Intro”, “Body”, “Quote Section”, “Related Notes”), define multiple fields in CMS:

• Use distinct Rich Text fields per content section
• On the CMS Template page, stack multiple Rich Text elements, one for each section
• This provides modular control with the flexibility of rich formatting per block

Summary

To organize and display multiple CMS items with different content inside one Rich Text element in Webflow, your best native option is to combine or reference them manually or via Multi-Reference fields. For advanced dynamic merging, consider custom code or CMS automation tools.