Adding Properties to Types

Properties are the building blocks of a Type. They operate like fields in a web form when a user is editing a topic of that type.

There are some default properties that are included in every new Type. These are:

Name - the unique name for each topic instance. Example: 'World War II'
Alias - an optional property for alternative names for the topic instance. Example: 'WWII'
Article - (also called 'Description'), it is an extended text input box that supports rich formatting (HTML)
Image - provides an upload mechanism to add images to a flipbook that will appear for a topic instance.
Webpage - a list of links to other web sites

Property Name

Each property has a display name, which is the label that will appear on a topic page to identify the content. (For instance, Birth Date : February 10, 1969).

To add a new property, you simply click the 'Add New Property' button and type in a display name for the property. These new properties are displayed in the 'User Created Properties' section. Note: A display name must be unique for that type. You may also want to use a plural name because the property often contains a list of items (example: 'siblings' instead of 'sibling').

'Expected' Types

Creating a name for a property is only half the story. You also need to describe what type of data you are expecting the user to input. A property can be thought of as either 'simple' or 'complex'

Simple Properties - these are properties that contain simple text or numbers. A list of these core properties is found here . To add a property of this type, type the name of this Type such as 'text' and the property will accept inputs of that type.

Complex Properties - these properties link to other types in the system. You'll want to use a complex property for most lists of things. Specifying an existing type works exactly the same as specifying a simple type, you simply start to enter the name of the type and select that type from the auto-complete list (instead of clicking 'create new') -- the distinction is that when a user adds an item to a property of this type, they will be linking to another type (either new or existing).

You will also find cases where there is no existing type that is appropriate for your property. In these cases you would add your new type by entering the name of your type in and clicking 'create new' - the same rules apply to creating a Type in this way as if you created it from the Types page.

What is a suggested property?

It should be clear that creating a link from one type to another is pretty easy to do. However, there is another wrinkle which is how to create a link back from the type you created. These links appear as suggested properties in Schema editor. [More]