diff --git a/PSConfluencePublisher/Manifest.Tests.ps1 b/PSConfluencePublisher/Manifest.Tests.ps1
index afbdecb..93884c8 100755
--- a/PSConfluencePublisher/Manifest.Tests.ps1
+++ b/PSConfluencePublisher/Manifest.Tests.ps1
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ BeforeAll {
     Import-Module (Join-Path $PSScriptRoot 'PSConfluencePublisher.psd1') -Force
 }
 
+
 AfterAll {
     
 }
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ Describe 'Get-Manifest' `
             InModuleScope Manifest `
             {
                  Mock Get-Content {
-                     return '{"pages":{}, "attachments": {}}'
+                     return '{"pages":[], "attachments": []}'
                  }
 
                  #mocking Get-Content, therefore file name can be bogus
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ Describe 'Get-Manifest' `
             InModuleScope Manifest `
             {
                  Mock Get-Content {
-                     return '{"pagges":{}, "attsdachments": {}}'
+                     return '{"pagges":[], "attsdachments": []}'
                  }
 
                  #mocking Get-Content, therefore file name can be bogus
@@ -52,8 +53,8 @@ Describe 'Set-Manifest' `
             InModuleScope Manifest `
             {
                  $mockManifest = @{
-                     'pages' = @{}
-                     'attachments' = @{}
+                     'pages' = @()
+                     'attachments' = @()
                  }
 
                  Mock Set-Content {
@@ -76,8 +77,8 @@ Describe 'Set-Manifest' `
             InModuleScope Manifest `
             {
                  $mockManifest = @{
-                     'pagges' = @{}
-                     'attachments' = @{}
+                     'pagges' = @()
+                     'attachments' = @()
                  }
 
                  #mocking Get-Content, therefore file name can be bogus
@@ -97,8 +98,8 @@ Describe 'Set-Manifest' `
             InModuleScope Manifest `
             {
                  $mockManifest = @{
-                     'pages' = @{}
-                     'attachments' = @{}
+                     'pages' = @()
+                     'attachments' = @()
                  }
 
                  Mock Set-Content {
@@ -128,8 +129,8 @@ Describe 'Set-Manifest' `
             InModuleScope Manifest `
             {
                  $mockManifest = @{
-                     'pages' = @{}
-                     'attachments' = @{}
+                     'pages' = @()
+                     'attachments' = @()
                  }
 
                  Mock Set-Content {
@@ -155,3 +156,260 @@ Describe 'Set-Manifest' `
         }
     }
 }
+
+
+Describe 'New-PagesManifestIndex' `
+{
+    Context 'default' `
+    {
+        BeforeEach `
+        {
+             $mockManifest = @(
+                 @{
+                     'Title' = 'foobar0'
+                 },
+                 @{
+                     'Title' = 'foobar1'
+                 }
+             )
+        }
+
+        It 'from pipeline' `
+        {
+            $index = New-PagesManifestIndex -Manifest $mockManifest
+
+            $index.foobar0 | Should -Be 0
+
+            $index.foobar1 | Should -Be 1
+        }
+
+        It 'from pipeline' `
+        {
+            $index = ,$mockManifest | New-PagesManifestIndex
+
+            $index.foobar0 | Should -Be 0
+
+            $index.foobar1 | Should -Be 1
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+
+Describe 'New-AttachmentsManifestIndex' `
+{
+    Context 'default' `
+    {
+        BeforeEach `
+        {
+             $mockManifest = @(
+                 @{
+                     'ContainerPageTitle' = 'foobar0'
+                     'Name' = 'attachment0'
+                 },
+                 @{
+                     'ContainerPageTitle' = 'foobar1'
+                     'Name' = 'attachment1'
+                 }
+             )
+        }
+
+        It 'from parameter' `
+        {
+            $index = New-AttachmentsManifestIndex -Manifest $mockManifest
+
+            $index."foobar0:attachment0" | Should -Be 0
+
+            $index."foobar1:attachment1" | Should -Be 1
+        }
+
+        It 'from pipeline' `
+        {
+            $index = ,$mockManifest | New-AttachmentsManifestIndex
+
+            $index."foobar0:attachment0" | Should -Be 0
+
+            $index."foobar1:attachment1" | Should -Be 1
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+
+Describe 'Get-AncestralPageGenerationCache' `
+{
+    Context 'default' `
+    {
+        BeforeEach `
+        {
+            $mockManifest = @(
+                @{
+                    'Title' = 'foobar0'
+                },
+                @{
+                    'Title' = 'foobar1'
+                    'AncestorTitle' = 'foobar0'
+                }
+            )
+
+            $mockIndex = @{
+                'foobar0' = 0
+                'foobar1' = 1
+            }
+        }
+
+        It 'selects single operation by title' `
+        {
+            $result = New-AncestralPageGenerationCache `
+                -Title 'foobar0' `
+                -Manifest $mockManifest `
+                -Index $mockIndex
+
+            $result.Count | Should -Be 1
+
+            $result.foobar0 | Should -Be 0
+        }
+
+        It 'automatically builds index' `
+        {
+            $result = New-AncestralPageGenerationCache `
+                -Title 'foobar0' `
+                -Manifest $mockManifest `
+
+            $result.Count | Should -Be 1
+
+            $result.foobar0 | Should -Be 0
+        }
+
+        It 'accepts a pipeline' `
+        {
+            $result = New-AncestralPageGenerationCache `
+                -Manifest $mockManifest `
+                -Index $mockIndex
+
+            $result.Count | Should -Be 2
+
+            $result.foobar0 | Should -Be 0
+
+            $result.foobar1 | Should -Be 1
+        }
+    }
+
+
+    Context 'more complex' `
+    {
+        BeforeEach `
+        {
+            $mockManifest = @(
+                @{
+                    'Title' = 'foobar0'
+                },
+                @{
+                    'Title' = 'foobar4'
+                    'AncestorTitle' = 'foobar3'
+                },
+                @{
+                    'Title' = 'foobar1'
+                    'AncestorTitle' = 'foobar0'
+                },
+                @{
+                    'Title' = 'foobar3'
+                    'AncestorTitle' = 'foobar2'
+                },
+                @{
+                    'Title' = 'foobar2'
+                    'AncestorTitle' = 'foobar1'
+                }
+            )
+
+            $mockIndex = @{
+                'foobar0' = 0
+                'foobar1' = 2
+                'foobar2' = 4
+                'foobar3' = 3
+                'foobar4' = 1
+            }
+        }
+
+        It 'uses index' `
+        {
+            $result = New-AncestralPageGenerationCache `
+                -Manifest $mockManifest `
+                -Index $mockIndex
+
+            $result.foobar0 | Should -Be 0
+
+            $result.foobar1 | Should -Be 1
+
+            $result.foobar2 | Should -Be 2
+            
+            $result.foobar3 | Should -Be 3
+            
+            $result.foobar4 | Should -Be 4
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+
+Describe 'Optimize-PagesManifest' `
+{
+    Context 'default' `
+    {
+        BeforeEach `
+        {
+            $mockManifest = @(
+                @{
+                    'Title' = 'foobar0'
+                },
+                @{
+                    'Title' = 'foobar4'
+                    'AncestorTitle' = 'foobar3'
+                },
+                @{
+                    'Title' = 'foobar1'
+                    'AncestorTitle' = 'foobar0'
+                },
+                @{
+                    'Title' = 'foobar3'
+                    'AncestorTitle' = 'foobar2'
+                },
+                @{
+                    'Title' = 'foobar5'
+                    'AncestorTitle' = 'foobar2'
+                },
+                @{
+                    'Title' = 'foobar2'
+                    'AncestorTitle' = 'foobar1'
+                }
+            )
+
+            $mockGenerationCache = @{
+                'foobar0' = 0
+                'foobar1' = 1
+                'foobar2' = 2
+                'foobar3' = 3
+                'foobar4' = 4
+                'foobar5' = 3
+            }
+        }
+
+        It 'from parameter' `
+        {
+            Optimize-PagesManifest `
+                -Manifest $mockManifest `
+                -Lo 0 `
+                -Hi ($mockManifest.Count - 1) `
+                -GenerationCache $mockGenerationCache
+
+            $mockManifest[0].Title | Should -Be 'foobar0'
+
+            $mockManifest[1].Title | Should -Be 'foobar1'
+
+            $mockManifest[2].Title | Should -Be 'foobar2'
+
+            $mockManifest[3].Title | Should -Be 'foobar5'
+
+            $mockManifest[4].Title | Should -Be 'foobar3'
+
+            $mockManifest[5].Title | Should -Be 'foobar4'
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/PSConfluencePublisher/Manifest.psm1 b/PSConfluencePublisher/Manifest.psm1
index 7fa0a22..d285b51 100755
--- a/PSConfluencePublisher/Manifest.psm1
+++ b/PSConfluencePublisher/Manifest.psm1
@@ -89,3 +89,270 @@ function Set-Manifest
         Set-Content -Path $File -Value $raw
     }
 }
+
+
+function New-AncestralPageGenerationCache {
+    <#
+        .SYNOPSIS
+            Calculate the numeric ancestral generation of a page
+
+        .DESCRIPTION
+            The Get-AncestralPageGeneration calculates a numeric ancestral
+            generation of a page, which is used for sorting.
+
+            The index required as input can be retrieved through the 
+            New-PagesManifestIndex function.
+
+        .EXAMPLES
+            $generation = Get-AncestralPageGeneration `
+                              -Title 'foobar4' `
+                              -Manifest @() `
+                              -Index @{}
+    #>
+    Param(
+        # Pages manifest
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)] [Array] $Manifest,
+        # Title of page to calculate generation of
+        [Parameter()] [String] $Title,
+        # Index for lookup of page metadata manifest item position
+        [Parameter()] [Collections.Hashtable] $Index
+    )
+
+    Begin
+    {
+        $cache = @{}
+
+        If (-Not $Index)
+        {
+            Write-Debug "rebuilding index"
+
+            $Index = ,$Manifest | New-PagesManifestIndex
+        }
+    }
+
+    Process
+    {
+        ForEach ($pageMeta in $Manifest)
+        {
+            $generation = 0
+
+            $pageMeta = $Title ? $Manifest[$Index.$Title] : $pageMeta
+
+            $ancestor = $pageMeta.AncestorTitle
+
+            $pageMeta_ = $pageMeta
+
+            While ($ancestor)
+            {
+                $generation += 1
+
+                $pageMeta_ = $Manifest[$Index."$($pageMeta_.AncestorTitle)"]
+
+                $ancestor = $pageMeta_.AncestorTitle
+            }
+
+            $cache[$pageMeta.Title] = $generation
+
+            if ($Title) {Break}
+        }
+    }
+
+    End {$cache}
+}
+
+
+function Optimize-PagesManifest
+{
+    <#
+        .SYNOPSIS
+            Sort Pages Manifest in accordance with the pages ancestry
+
+        .DESCRIPTION
+            The Optimize-PagesManifest function sorts a Pages manifest in
+            accordance with the pages ancestry. This makes sure that an ancestor
+            is already published, before its descendant is published.
+
+            The sorting is done with a quick-sort algorithm, using the Hoare
+            partitioning scheme.
+
+            Older/lower ancestral generations take precedence over
+            higher/younger ones. Syblings within a generation are treated 
+            as LIFO, where the youngest (last) has precedence over the oldest
+            (fist).
+
+        .EXAMPLE
+            $manifest Optimize-PagesManifest -Manifest ,@()
+
+            or 
+
+            $manifest = ,@() | Optimize-PagesManifest
+
+        .NOTES
+            whichever system generates the manifest should already output the
+            array in the correct order, however it is not wise to depend upon
+            this.
+    #>
+    Param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)] [Array] $Manifest,
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)] [Int] $Lo,
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)] [Int] $Hi,
+        # cache for storing the numeric ancestral generation of pages
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)] [Collections.Hashtable] $GenerationCache
+    )
+
+    Process
+    {
+        $pivotPageMeta = $Manifest[($Lo + $Hi) / 2]
+
+        $pivot = $generationCache[$pivotPageMeta.Title]
+
+        # left index
+        $i = $Lo
+
+        # right index
+        $j = $Hi
+
+        While($i -le $j)
+        {
+            # Move the left index to the right at least once and while
+            # the element at the left index is less than the pivot
+            While (
+                $generationCache."$($Manifest[$i].Title)" -lt $pivot `
+                -And `
+                $i -lt $Hi
+            )
+            {
+                $i += 1
+            }
+
+            # Move the right index to the left at least once and while
+            # element at the right index is greater than the pivot
+            While (
+                $generationCache."$($Manifest[$j].Title)" -gt $pivot `
+                -And `
+                $j -gt $Lo
+            )
+            {
+                $j -= 1
+            }
+
+            If ($i -le $j)
+            {
+                $tmp = $Manifest[$i]
+
+                $Manifest[$i] = $Manifest[$j]
+
+                $Manifest[$j] = $tmp
+
+                $i += 1
+
+                $j -= 1
+            }
+
+            If ($Lo -lt $j)
+            {
+                Optimize-PagesManifest `
+                    -Manifest $Manifest `
+                    -Lo $Lo`
+                    -Hi $j `
+                    -GenerationCache $GenerationCache
+            }
+
+            If ($i -lt $Hi)
+            {
+                Optimize-PagesManifest `
+                    -Manifest $Manifest `
+                    -Lo $i `
+                    -Hi $Hi `
+                    -GenerationCache $GenerationCache
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+
+function New-PagesManifestIndex
+{
+    <#
+        .SYNOPSIS
+            Create an index of pages from a manifest
+
+        .DESCRIPTION
+            The New-PageIndex function builds a page index from a manifest
+            for faster lookup of page metadata. The title of a page is used for
+            indexing, since a page title is unique within a Confluence space.
+
+        .INPUTS
+            Manifest
+
+        .OUTPUTS
+            Returns a Hashtable, where the key of each key-value pair is the
+            page title and attachment name, and the value is the index of the 
+            array item within the Attachments porition of the manifest.
+
+        .EXAMPLE
+            New-PageIndex -Manifest @{}
+    #>
+    Param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory, ValueFromPipeline)] [Array] $Manifest
+    )
+
+    Process
+    {
+        $index = @{}
+
+        For($i = 0; $i -lt $Manifest.Count; $i += 1)
+        {
+            $index[$Manifest[$i].Title] = $i
+        }
+
+        $index
+    }
+}
+
+
+function New-AttachmentsManifestIndex
+{
+    <#
+        .SYNOPSIS
+            Create an index of page container attachments from a manifest
+
+        .DESCRIPTION
+            The New-AttachmentIndex function builds an attachment index from a 
+            manifest for faster lookup of attachment metadata. The title of 
+            the container page, including the attachment name a is used for
+            indexing, since attachment names are unique within a container page.
+
+        .INPUTS
+            Manifest
+
+        .OUTPUTS
+            Returns a Hashtable, where the key of each key-value pair is the
+            interpolation of the container page title and attachment name, and 
+            the value is the index of the array item within the Attachments 
+            porition of the manifest.
+
+        .EXAMPLE
+            New-AttachmentIndex -Manifest @{}
+    #>
+    Param(
+        #manifest
+        [Parameter(Mandatory, ValueFromPipeline)] [Array] $Manifest
+    )
+
+    Process
+    {
+        $index = @{}
+
+        For($i = 0; $i -lt $Manifest.Count; $i += 1)
+        {
+            $key = "$($Manifest[$i].ContainerPageTitle):" + `
+                   "$($Manifest[$i].Name)"
+
+            $index[$key] = $i
+        }
+
+        $index
+    }
+}
+
diff --git a/PSConfluencePublisher/manifest.schema.json b/PSConfluencePublisher/manifest.schema.json
index 1910e70..71d683b 100755
--- a/PSConfluencePublisher/manifest.schema.json
+++ b/PSConfluencePublisher/manifest.schema.json
@@ -6,19 +6,15 @@
     "type": "object",
     "properties": {
         "pages": {
-            "type": "object",
-            "patternProperties": {
-                ".*": {
-                    "$ref": "#/definitions/page"
-                }
+            "type": "array",
+            "item": {
+                "$ref": "#/definitions/page"
             }
         },
         "attachments": {
-            "type": "object",
-            "patternProperties": {
-                ".*": {
-                    "$ref": "#/definitions/attachment"
-                }
+            "type": "array",
+            "item": {
+                "$ref": "#/definitions/attachment"
             }
         }
     },
@@ -31,7 +27,11 @@
             "type": "object",
             "description": "Local Confluence page/container attachment metadata",
             "properties": {
-                "PageId": {
+                "Title": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "description": "Title of page"
+                },
+                "Id": {
                     "type": "string",
                     "description": "Id of attachment defined by Confluence instance. The id is generated after the publishing of a page."
                 },
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
                 }
             },
             "required": [
-                "Hash",
+                "Title",
                 "Ref"
             ]
         },
@@ -60,7 +60,11 @@
             "type": "object",
             "description": "Local Confluence page/container attachment metadata",
             "properties": {
-                "AttachmentId": {
+                "Name": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "description": "name of attachment, which must be unique within the container page"
+                },
+                "Id": {
                     "type": "string",
                     "description": "Id of attachment defined by Confluence instance. The id is generated after the publishing of an attachment."
                 },
@@ -83,6 +87,7 @@
                 }
             },
             "required": [
+                "Name",
                 "Hash",
                 "MimeType",
                 "ContainerPageTitle",