Content types

This topic is intended for administrators and developers with administration access rights in Optimizely.

Content in Optimizely can be page types and block types, folders, or media files such as images and documents. Content can also be products in a product catalog in Optimizely Commerce.

Content types and properties

Page types and block types contain the properties where editors enter information, such as a link to an image on a web page.

For a content type, you define a set of properties that can hold information, such as a link to an image, a web page, or editorial text. A typical website has a set of content types that match the identified functions needed on that website.

The content type is the foundation from which you create one or many page or block instances. To display content to visitors, the page type or block type and its properties need to be mapped to corresponding rendering.

The content concept in Optimizely is based on inheritance from a "generic" content type, which then is used to create specific content types, such as a page type or a media folder. Using this feature, developers can create custom content types when they set up new websites.

You can define page types in code or from the admin view. However, you can define block types only in code.
For page types defined in code and for all block types, you can define "non-breaking changes" of properties in admin view.
You are notified if you cannot change the settings defined in code in admin view.
If you make changes to a page type defined in code, you can reset the changes to the original values defined in code.

Page types

Changing page type settings may cause the website to stop working. Although you can create page types in admin view, you should create them from code.

Editing a page type

To edit settings for an existing page type:

Go to Admin > Content Types.
Select the page type from the list.
Click Settings.
Modify the form.
Click Save.

Because you can identify page types and their properties in code or from the admin view, you can change some settings from admin view. If a page type is created from code, this is shown on the page type information page under General.

You cannot delete certain page types defined in code. These are typically page types upon which other page types are based, such as the standard or default page and the start page.

Using the Access level area, you can define which users or user groups will have access to the page type.

Creating a page type from admin view

Go to Admin > Content Types, and click Create New Page Type.

Set values in the Information tab.

Field	Description
Name	Enter the name of the page type.
Display name	Enter the name to be displayed in the list of available page types.
Description	The text describing the page type, appears in the list of available page types.
Sort index	Determines the sorting (ascending sort order) in the list of available page types in edit view; default is 100.
Available in edit view	Makes the page type available for selection when creating new pages in the editorial interface. You should hide page types that are rarely used by editors, such as the start page type. You can make these available when needed, and then hide them again.

Set the values on the Access level tab.
You can use the Search box to filter and find users and groups you want to give access to.
Set values on the Default Values tab.
You can set default values for some of the built-in properties in Optimizely CMS from admin view. You can also specify default values for the properties from code, but these are not visible in the admin view.
Set values on the Available Page Types tab.
When creating new pages, limit the available page types in the page type list to make it easier for editors to chose the correct page type. For example, for a News List parent page, you can specify that the only available page type is News Item.
Click Save.

Copying an existing page type

When you copy a page type, its properties are copied also. You can then edit the information for the page type and its properties. Copy a page type as follows:

Select Copy Page Type in the Manage Page Types tab in admin view.
Select the page type that you want to copy from the drop-down list and click Copy. A window appears containing the exact same properties.
Edit the page type information to suit your requirements and click Save.

Copied page types are untyped and you need to add the path to the display template, otherwise pages based on the page type will not have a preview.

Block types

Block types are similar to page types, and you can modify some settings from admin view.

Edit the settings for an existing block type as follows:

Select the block type on the Block Type tab and click Settings.
Change one or several of the settings as described for Creating a page type from admin view.
Click Save.