Collections are structured data that make it easy to manage site content at scale. They are essentially tables of data organized in rows and columns. Collections are then Connected to widgets, dynamic pages, custom widgets and more in order to display that content on your pages. Collections may also be used in order to limit the editing of protected sections of the website like a header, this allows updates without direct access to the section. In some cases an external collection may even be used to allow someone to update information on the website without having to even access the website at all, like our PlusPortals or via a Google Sheet.
Collections can be either:
- Internal - A table of data you manually create and maintain on the website
- External - Data that is created and maintained outside the website
Examples of data that may be best entered into a collection: Directories of People or Departments, Extracurricular Clubs, Athletic Teams, Activities, Special Events, Job Postings and more. Even our PlusPortals integrations are considered a collection.
To Create/Edit a Collection:
- Click on Content from the Left Panel
- Choose Collections (bottom option)
- Then choose +Add Collection OR choose an existing collection to Edit it.
- If creating a new Collection, you will need to choose your Collection Type. Typically, internal Collections are used most often; but you may opt for an Image Collection or Google Sheet.
- Be sure to Name your collection (top). Note that editing/changing the Collection Name of an existing collection will cause it to become disconnected from widgets (if the collection is already connected).
- Add/Edit Content in your Collection. The Columns represent your Fields of data and Rowsrepresent entries or items.
- To add a Column (field) use the plus sign + in the upper right corner of the table. Adding new columns to an existing table is fine, but you will need to go edit the connection settings to incorporated new fields into a connected widget.
- Column Fields can be set as different "Types" of data (text, image, link, etc). Column Field Type cannot be changed if there is already active data in that column (to protect it).
- Use the +Add Row button to add new entry lines to the table
- When editing an existing cell of data click on it OR hover over a row and click the "pencil" icon to open a editor popup (recommended)
- Be sure to close the collection and preview your site, then Republish the site to make your changes go live.
- Internal Collections are limited to 500 rows and 50 fields (columns).
- A single external collection's data is limited to 20MB.
- Renaming a collection or field will disconnect it from any widgets/pages connected to it.
- Collection names and field names are limited to 50 characters.
- Text fields in internal collections are limited to 2000 characters.
- External collections (Google Sheets, Airtable and external database) are limited to 100 fields.
- Changes to external collections update automatically every hour (no republish needed).
- Changes to internal collections need a site republish to be live
- Widgets are limited in the number and types of fields they can be connected to.
Widgets may be connected to collections to dynamically display back the content from those tables. Multiple widgets may be connected to a single collection, even a Dynamic Page template can be connected to a collection, making collections very powerful tools. For example, connecting multiple Photo Gallery widgets to a staff directory collection, and then using a category field (column) to filter and display staff by a department. Also see this article about Connected Widgets.
To Connect a Widget to a Collection or Update a Connection:
- Access the Widget settings either via right Click or use the gear in the widget editor.
- Choose Connect/Connected Data (depending on if it is already connected)
- Choose the Collection the Widget will be Connected to
- Map the fields of the widget to the proper collection fields. Note that field mappings are restricted to and by the "type" of data and the type of content the widget is capable of displaying. For example, a Link can only be mapped to a proper link type field in the collection.
- Access Filter & sort tab (top middle) if you need to apply/edit either a sort or fixed filter. Fixed filters allows for only displaying a specific a Category, Tag, or Department from the collection.
Widgets are limited to what types and amounts of data they can display. You can only map certain data types to the widget IF that widget can interface with that type of data. For example, a button widget interfaces with Text and a URL (Link), but is not capable of displaying an image. A Photo Gallery widget would require at least one data field to be set as image type in order for it to work properly.