Content items, Content Types and Fields

Content items

A Content item is the basic unit of content that is managed in the platf= orm.

The substance of a Content item is made up of different Fields and their= values, as defined by the Content Type. These Fields can cover data rangin= g from single variables or text lines to media files or passages of formatt= ed text.

Aside from the Fields, each Content item is also characterized by genera= l data that controls the Content item's place in the system.

Content item general information

Content ID =E2=80=93 a unique number by wh= ich the Content item is identified in the system. These numbers are = not recycled, so if an item is deleted, its ID number will not be reused wh= en a new one is created.

Name =E2=80=93 a user-friendly name for the Content ite= m. The name is generated automatically based on a pattern specified in the = Content Type definition.

Content item Name is always searchable, even if the Field(s) used to gen= erate it are not.

Type =E2=80=93 the Content Type on which the Content it= em is based.

Owner =E2=80=93 a reference to the user who initially c= reated the Content item. This reference is set by the system the first time= the Content item is published. The ownership of an item cannot be modified= and will not change even if the owner is removed from the system.

Creation time =E2=80=93 exact date and time when the Co= ntent item was published for the first time. This is set by the system and = cannot be modified.

Modification time =E2=80=93 exact date and time when th= e Content item was last modified. This is set by the system and cannot be m= odified manually, but will change every time the item is published again.

Status =E2=80=93 the current state of the Content item.= It can have three statuses: 0 =E2=80=93 Draft, 1 =E2=80=93 Published and 2= =E2=80=93 Archived. When an item is created, its status is set to draft. After publishing the status changes to published. Whe= n a published Content item is moved to Trash, this item= becomes archived. If a published item is removed from the Trash (= or removed without being put in the Trash first), it will be permanently de= leted.

Section ID =E2=80=93 the unique number of = the Section to which the Content item belongs. New Content items are= placed in the Standard section by default. This behavior can = be changed, but content must always belong to some Section.

Versions =E2=80=93 total number of versions of this Con= tent item. A new version is created every time the Content item is modified= and it is this new version that is edited. The previous / published versio= n along with earlier versions remain untouched and its status changed to Archived. A Content item always has at least one= version.

The Fields that are available in a Content item are defined by the Conte= nt Type to which the Content item belongs.

Content Types

Content T= ype metadata

Each Content Type is characterized by a set = of metadata which define the general behavior of its instances:

Name =E2=80=93 a user-friendly name that describes the = Content Type. This name is used in the interface, but not internally by the= system. It can consist of letters, digits, spaces and special characters; = the maximum length is 255 characters. (Mandatory.)

Note that even if your Content Type defines a Field meant to store a nam= e for the Content item (for example, a title of an article or product name)= , this will not be the same as this Name, as this one is a piece of metadat= a, not a Field.

Identifier =E2=80=93 an identifier for internal us= e in configuration files, templates, PHP code, etc. It must be= unique, can only contain lowercase letters, digits and underscores; the ma= ximum length is 50 characters. (Mandatory.)

Description =E2=80=93 a detailed description of th= e Content Type. (Optional.)

Content name pattern =E2=80=93 a pattern for naming a n= ew Content item based on this Content Type. The pattern usually consists of= Field ide= ntifiers that tell the system about which Fields it should use when gen= erating the name of a Content item. Each Field identifier has to be surroun= ded with angle brackets. Text outside the angle brackets will be included l= iterally. If no pattern is provided, the system will automatically use the = first Field. (Optional.)

URL alias name pattern =E2=80=93 a = pattern which controls how the virtual URLs of the Locations will be genera= ted when Content items are created based on this Content Type. Note that on= ly the last part of the virtual URL is affected. The pattern works in the s= ame way as the Content name pattern. Text outside the angle brackets will b= e converted using the selected method of URL transformation. If no pattern = is provided, the system will automatically use the name of the Content item= itself. (Optional.)

Container =E2=80=93 a flag which indicates if Content i= tems based on this Content Type are allowed to have sub-items or not.

This flag was added for convenience and only affects the interface. In o= ther words, it doesn't control any actual low-level logic, it simply contro= ls the way the graphical user interface behaves.

Default field for sorting children =E2=80=93 rule for s= orting sub-items. If the instances of this Content Type can serve as contai= ners, their children will be sorted according to what is selected here.

Default sort order =E2=80=93 another rule for sorting s= ub-items. This decides the sort order for the criterion chosen above.

Default content availability =E2=80=93 a flag which ind= icates if Content items of this Content Type should be available even witho= ut a corresponding language version. If this flag is not set, a Content ite= m of this Type will not be available when it does not have a language versi= on corresponding to the current siteaccess. By setting this flag you can ma= ke instances of this Content Type available regardless of the language crit= erion.

3D"Creating

Field defini= tions

Aside from the metadata, a Content Type contains any number of Field def= initions (but has to contain at least one). They determine what Fields of w= hat Field Types will be included in all Content items created based on this= Content Type.

A Content Type and its Field definitions can be modified after creation,= even if there are already Content items based on it in the system. When a = Content Type is modified, each of its instances will be changed as well. If= a new Field definition is added to a Content Type, this Field will appear = (empty) in every relevant Content item. If a Field definition is deleted fr= om the Content Type, all the corresponding Fields will be removed from Cont= ent items of this type.

SINCE 1.3/16.= 04

You can assign each Field defined in a Content Type to a group by select= ing one of the groups in the Category drop-down. Available groups can be configured in the content repositor= y.

Fields

A Field is the smallest unit of storage in the content model and the bui= lding block that all Content items consist of. Every Field belongs to a Fie= ld Type.

Field va= lue validation

The values entered in a field may undergo validation, which means the sy= stem makes sure that they are correct for the chosen Field Type and can be = used without a problem.

Whether validation is performed or not depends on the settings of a part= icular Field Type. Validation cannot be turned off for a Field if its Field= Type supports it.

Field details
Aside from the Field Type, the Field definition in a Content Type provid= es the following information:

Name =E2=80=93 a user-friendly name that describes the = Field. This name is used in the interface, but not internally by the system= . It can consist of letters, digits, spaces and special characters; the max= imum length is 255 characters. If no name is provided, a unique one is auto= matically generated.

Identifier =E2=80=93= an identifier for internal use in configuration files, templates, PHP code= , etc. It can only contain lowercase letters, digits and underscores; the m= aximum length is 50 characters. This identifier is also used in name patter= ns for the Content Type.

Description =E2=80=93 a detailed description of the Fie= ld.

Required =E2=80=93 a flag which indicates if the Field = must have a value for the system to accept the Content item. In other words= , if a Field is flagged as Required, a user will not be able to save or pub= lish a Content item without filling in this Field.

Note that the Required flag is in no way related to Field validation. A = Field's value is validated whether the Field is set as required or not.

Searchable =E2= =80=93 a flag which indicates if the value of the Field will be indexed for= searching.

The Searchable flag is not available for some Fields, because some Field= Types do not allow searching through their values.

Translatab= le =E2=80=93 a flag which indicates if the value of the Field = can be translated. This is independent of the Field Type, which means that = even Fields of Types such as "Float" or "Image" can be set as translatable.=

Depending on the Field Type, there may also be other, specific informati= on to fill in. For example, the "Country" Field Type allows you to select t= he default country, as well as to allow selecting multiple countries at the= same time.