Field types
When you add a field to a content type, the first thing you choose is its field type. The field type decides what can go into the field (text, a number, an image, a list of blocks) and what editors see when they fill it in. Manablox comes with thirteen field types. This page describes each of them.
You add fields in the admin under Content types: open a type, click Add field and pick a field type from the list. How the builder works is explained in Building content types. Developers can add their own field types too; see Custom field types.
At a glance
Section titled “At a glance”The names below are the ones the Add field list shows.
| Field type | What editors see | Typical uses |
|---|---|---|
| Text | A one-line box, a bigger box, or a code box | Headlines, summaries, short labels |
| Rich text | A text editor with a toolbar | Article bodies, descriptions |
| Number | A number box | Prices, quantities, ratings |
| Boolean | A Yes/No switch | “Show on start page”, “Sold out” |
| Date | A date picker, with or without time | Event dates, publication dates |
| Select | A dropdown, or buttons to tick several | Categories, colours, sizes |
| Link | A choice between a document and a web address | Call-to-action buttons, “Read more” links |
| Asset | An image or file picker | Hero images, downloads, galleries |
| Content reference | A search to pick other documents | Related articles, the author of a post |
| User reference | A dropdown of the space’s members | The person responsible for a page |
| Block | One block with its own fields | A fixed hero section |
| Blocks | A list or grid of blocks | Page builders: sections stacked freely |
| Content template | A dropdown of templates | A shared footer or sign-up section |
Settings every field has
Section titled “Settings every field has”Whatever its type, every field has these settings:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Label | What editors see above the input. Can be changed at any time |
| Technical name | The name the website’s code uses. Fills itself in from the label, and is locked once the type is saved |
| Required | The document cannot be saved while this field is empty. See Required and unique |
| Translated | The field keeps a separate value per language. Off means one value shared by all translations; see Languages and translations |
| Unique | No two documents of this type may hold the same value in this field. See Required and unique |
| Placement | Main column (with the title and the body) or Sidebar (beside it, for extra details) |
| Width | 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of the column. Two 50% fields share a row |
| Placeholder | Grey example text shown in an empty input |
| Help text | A hint shown under the input |
The settings that belong to one field type are grouped under Value (what the field holds and how it is entered) and Rules (what a value must satisfy).
Required and unique
Section titled “Required and unique”Both switches are checked every time a document is saved, drafts included. If a field breaks one of them, nothing is saved and the field shows the reason: “This is required.” or “Another document of this type already uses this value.”
What counts as empty
Section titled “What counts as empty”Required refuses an empty field. What empty means depends on the field type:
| Field type | Empty means |
|---|---|
| Text | Nothing, or only spaces |
| Rich text | No text, no image and no divider |
| Select | Nothing chosen |
| Asset, Content reference, User reference | Nothing picked. An automatic list is never empty |
| Blocks | No blocks |
| Date | No date |
| Number, Boolean, Link, Block, Content template | No value at all, for example a cleared link, no block added or No template. 0 and No count as values |
How unique works
Section titled “How unique works”Unique makes sure no two documents of the same content type in the same space hold the same value, for example an article number or a product code.
- It works for Text, Number and Date fields, and for Select, Asset, Content reference and User reference fields that allow only one choice. On other fields, and on the fields of a block type, the switch has no effect.
- Values must match exactly to clash:
Shoeandshoeare different. - Empty fields are never compared, so any number of documents may leave the field empty.
- A translated field is compared within one language: an English and a German document may share a value. A field that is not translated holds one value for every language, so it is compared across all of them.
- The translations of one document never clash with each other.
- Saving compares with the drafts of the other documents. Publishing compares with what the other documents have live. If publishing is refused, the message pops up instead of appearing on the field.
- A copy made with the duplicate button starts with the default values in its unique fields instead of the original’s values. See Editing content.
Plain text without formatting. Editors see a normal text box.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Input | Single line, Multi-line (a bigger box for a few sentences) or Code (a box in a fixed-width font, for snippets such as an embed code) |
| Default value | The text a new document starts with |
| Min length, Max length | How short or long the text may be. With a maximum, editors see a counter such as 12 / 80 |
| Must match (regex) | A pattern the whole text has to follow, for example an order number like ABC-123. Leave empty unless a developer gives you a pattern |
Typical uses: a headline, a short summary (Multi-line), a button label, an SEO description.
Rich text
Section titled “Rich text”Formatted text: headings, bold and italic, lists and links. Editors see a text editor with a toolbar above it. The website receives the text in a structured form, not as a finished web page, so it can style it to match the design.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Editing tools | Which buttons the toolbar offers. Click a tool to switch it on or off |
The available tools are Bold, Italic, Strikethrough, Code, Link, Heading, Bulleted list, Numbered list, Quote, Code block, Divider, Align left, Align centre and Align right. A new Rich text field starts with Bold, Italic, Link, Heading, Bulleted list and Numbered list.
Typical uses: the body of an article, a product description, the text inside a teaser block.
Number
Section titled “Number”A number. Editors see a number box.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Default value | The number a new document starts with |
| Whole numbers only | No decimals, for things you count |
| Minimum, Maximum | The allowed range |
Typical uses: a price, a quantity in stock, a rating from 1 to 5, the number of seats at an event.
Boolean
Section titled “Boolean”A yes or no. Editors see a switch labelled Yes or No.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| On by default | New documents start with the switch on |
Typical uses: “Show on the start page”, “Sold out”, “Hide from search engines”.
A date, or a date with a time. Editors see their browser’s date picker.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Precision | Date only or Date and time |
| Default to now | A new document starts with the current date (and time) filled in |
Typical uses: the date of an event, the day a blog post was written, an application deadline.
Select
Section titled “Select”A choice from a fixed list of options. With one choice, editors see a dropdown (the - entry means “nothing chosen”). With several choices allowed, they see the options as buttons and click each one they want.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Options | The choices, one per line, in the order they are offered |
| Allow several | Editors may pick more than one option |
Typical uses: a blog category, a colour, a clothing size, the layout variant of a block (“light” or “dark”).
One link, either to a document in the same space or to an address somewhere else. Editors first choose A document or An address. For a document they click Pick a document and search for it; for an address they type it, for example https://example.com/page. Below that they can choose Same tab or New tab and write an optional link text. Clear the link empties the field.
A link to a document keeps working when that document moves, because the website always gets the document’s current address.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| A document in this space | Editors may link to a document |
| An address elsewhere | Editors may type a web address |
| Can link to | Limits document links to certain types, for example only Pages. Empty means any type |
| Let the editor choose the tab | Shows the Same tab / New tab choice |
| Opens in | The same tab or A new tab: the default, and the only choice when editors may not choose |
| Let the editor write the link text | Shows the link text box |
An address typed without https:// gets it added. Addresses that would run code when clicked (such as javascript:) are refused when you save; mailto: and tel: links are fine.
Typical uses: a call-to-action button in a teaser, a “Read more” link, a link to a partner’s website.
An uploaded image or file from the space’s library. Editors click Choose asset and pick from the library. The library window can also upload a new file, which is then picked straight away. A chosen image shows as a thumbnail with a small x to remove it; Replace swaps it. If the space has AI set up, Generate an image or Generate a video can appear as well; see AI.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Accepted file types | Which kinds of file the picker offers, for example only images. Empty means everything the space accepts |
| Allow several | Editors may pick more than one file |
| Which files | With several allowed: The ones an editor picks, or Whatever matches a filter (see Automatic lists) |
| Renditions delivered, Sizes of its own | Only for image-only fields: which resized versions of the image the website receives. Leave them to your developer |
Typical uses: the hero image of a page, a PDF download, a photo gallery (with Allow several). Uploading and managing files is explained in Images and files.
Content reference
Section titled “Content reference”A pointer to one or more other documents in the space. Editors click Link content, type in the search box and click a document to add it. Each linked document shows as a row with a small x to remove it.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Can link to | Limits the choice to certain document types, for example only Team members |
| Allow several | Editors may link more than one document |
| Which documents | With several allowed: The ones an editor picks, or Whatever matches a filter (see Automatic lists) |
The website only sees linked documents that are published.
Typical uses: “Related articles” under a blog post, the author of a post (pointing at a Person document), the products shown in a campaign.
User reference
Section titled “User reference”A pointer to a person who works in the space. Editors see a dropdown of the space’s members, with Nobody for an empty field.
Typical uses: the person responsible for a page, a contact person on a job offer.
Exactly one block of one block type, with that block’s fields shown right inside the document. An empty field shows a button Add followed by the block’s name, for example Add Hero; the trash button removes the block again.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Block type | The one block type this field holds |
Typical uses: a fixed hero section at the top of every landing page, an optional newsletter box. Build the block type first; see Building content types.
Blocks
Section titled “Blocks”A list of blocks that editors assemble freely: the page builder. Editors click Add block (or Add followed by the block’s name when only one type is allowed), fill in the block’s fields, and reorder blocks by dragging them or with the move up and move down buttons. Under Layout they can switch from a simple list to a grid with columns. The details are in Editing content.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Allowed block types | Which block types editors can add. Pick at least one, or editors see “No block types configured for this field.” |
| At least, At most | How many blocks the list must and may hold |
Typical uses: the sections of a landing page, the content of a blog post built from text, image and quote blocks.
Content template
Section titled “Content template”A pointer to a template: a block list written once under Templates and used by many documents. Editors pick a template from a dropdown (or No template). Under the dropdown a link Edit opens the chosen template; it says “not published yet” when the template has never been published.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Offer these templates | Which templates editors can pick. Empty means every template in the space |
The website receives the template’s blocks as if they were written in the document itself. A template that is not published delivers no blocks.
Typical uses: a standard footer section, a sign-up box that should look the same on every product page.
Automatic lists
Section titled “Automatic lists”An Asset or Content reference field that allows several items can fill itself. Set Which files or Which documents to Whatever matches a filter, and the field no longer stores a hand-picked list. Instead the website gets whatever matches the filter at the moment it asks, so the list is never out of date. Editors see the current matches in the document, but cannot change them there: the filter belongs to the content type.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Matching this text | Only items that contain this text. Empty means everything the other settings allow |
| Only below this document | Content reference only: only documents under this one in the tree |
| Ordered by | Content reference only: their place in the tree, title, when they went live, when they were created, when they were last edited, or slug |
| Direction | First to last or Last to first |
| How many | How many items, up to 100 |
| Skipping the first | Leaves out the first items, for example to show “the next 10” in a second field |
Example: a “Latest news” field on the home page, set to documents of type Blog post, ordered by when they went live, last to first, 3 items. The home page then always shows the three newest posts without anybody touching it.