Collection

The Collection block puts a list of content on the page (events, posts, people, venues, and more), drawn straight from your content and shown as cards. Use it on landing and index pages, such as an upcoming-events listing, a blog feed, a company roster, or a venue directory. Add it, choose what to list, and the cards stay current as you add or remove content.

Choosing what to list

Two controls sit at the top of the block.

Layout sets the shape of the listing: Grid (default), Scroller (a swipeable row), or Grouped. Grouped is only available when you set the listing to people. For any other content type, the block falls back to a grid.

Collection chooses the content type to list: Posts, Events, People, Seasons, Series, Works, Venues, Organizations, Pages, or Blogs. Leave it blank to hand-pick a mixed list of items across types.

Content

The Content tab holds an optional Title shown above the listing and a Description shown beneath it.

Once you choose a content type, the Populate by option decides where the items come from:

• Collection (default): list everything of the chosen type automatically.
• Manual Selection: pick specific items yourself in Select Items.
• Smart Collection: use a saved smart collection that targets the chosen type.

When the content type is Posts and you set Populate by to Smart Collection, a Match current post's categories option also appears. Turn it on to ignore the chosen smart collection and show the newest posts that share at least one category with the post the block is on. The current post is excluded. If it has no categories, the block shows no posts. This only produces results when you place the block on a post page.

When the list is built automatically (the Collection or Smart Collection option), two extra controls appear: Sort By, which can be Most Recent (default), Oldest, or A-Z, and Limit, the maximum number of items to display (default 10).

With the content type left blank, the Populate by, Sort By, and Limit controls do not appear. You hand-pick a mixed list directly in Select Items.

Some content types add their own controls:

• Posts, when listed automatically, can be narrowed by Blog, Authors, and Categories.
• Events offer a Hide past events toggle (on by default).

Hide when empty (off by default) removes the whole block from the page when the listing has nothing to show.

The View All Link group adds a link to the full listing. Turn on Show View All Link (off by default). Set its Position to Top Right (default), Bottom Right, or Bottom Left. Choose where it points.

Grouped people

When the layout is Grouped and you set the listing to people, the Content tab changes. Source chooses between:

• Manual Groups: build named Participant Groups. Each group has a Group Name, a Show Images toggle, and a list of people, each with an optional Role / Title.
• Event Participants: pull the line-up from a single Event. Toggles let you Show Name, Show Role, Show Pronouns, Show Biography, and Show Image for each person.

Image Style sets the shape of the portraits: Portrait (default), Circle, or Square.

Cards

The Cards tab has one control: Card Pattern, a reusable design created in the Cards section under Design for the selected Website Builder theme. It defaults to the first pattern that matches the content type you list. See Card patterns to create one and choose which details it shows.

Behaviour

Click Action sets what happens when a visitor clicks a card: Link (default, opens the item's own page) or Modal (opens it in a pop-up without leaving the page). The pop-up option is available for people, events, seasons, series, works, venues, and organizations.

In a grid layout, Enable Filters (off by default) adds a filter bar visitors can use to narrow the list. The available filters depend on the content type:

• Events: Venue Filter, Season Filter, Series Filter, Organization Filter.
• Posts: Blog Filter, Author Filter, Category Filter, Tag Filter.
• Organizations: Type Filter.

You can also filter by your own custom attributes: add each one under Custom Attribute Filters, with an optional Custom Label. Filter Section Label sets the heading shown beside the filters, such as Filter by. Dropdown Background sets the menu background, while Dropdown Text sets both its text and border color.

Layout options

The grid and scroller each have their own placement controls on the Layout tab.

Shared controls

Beyond the options above, the Collection uses the standard block controls.

• Layout controls: set the container width and overall placement.
• Spacing and padding: adjust the margin and padding around the block.
• Colour scheme in blocks: set the color scheme for the heading and cards.

Example

To build an upcoming-events page, add a Collection, set Layout to Grid, and set Collection to Events. Leave Populate by on Collection with Sort By set to Most Recent so the soonest events lead, and keep Hide past events on. Set Columns to 3. On the Behaviour tab, turn on Enable Filters and keep the Venue Filter and Season Filter so visitors can narrow the list. Add a Title of "What's on", then turn on Show View All Link. Set its Position to Top Right and point it at your full events page.

Where to go next