Content Lists

You can create dynamic or static lists of items which have been published in SDL Digital Experience Accelerator.

  • Static—for example, a fixed selection of images to make a gallery.
  • Dynamic—for example, a simple list of the most recent 5 new articles to show on the homepage, or a full paged list of news articles on the news index page.

You manage static lists using an Item List Component, and dynamic lists using a Content Query component.

Static Lists: Creating an Item List Component

Create a Component using the Item List Schema and enter appropriate content. The content required depends on the type of list you want to display: for an image gallery, you only need to link to the image and provide an optional caption in the heading field. For a paged list, you must provide a heading and a link.

Add the Component a Page using a the appropriate Component Template that matches the desired layout.

Dynamic Lists: Creating a simple Content Query Component

Create a Component using the Content Query Schema and enter appropriate content. For example, enter a heading (optional) and additional links (for example, if your list shows top 5 items, but you want to link through to a full list).

Specify Component Metadata:
  • select the content type that you want to show in the list, for example News Article.
  • select the maximum number of items to show. For non-paged lists, this is the total number of items to show. For paged lists, this is the page size, not the maximum number of results.
  • specify the type of sorting required for your list.

Add the Component a Page using a the appropriate Component Template that matches the desired layout.

Templates for displaying content lists

The following types of templates are available for displaying lists:

  • List [3-Column] — a non-paged list suitable for showing a small dynamic list on a landing/home page
  • List [2-Column] — a non-paged list suitable for showing a small dynamic list on a landing/home page
  • Paged List — suitable for showing a full paged list as an index page
  • Thumbnail List — suitable for showing an image gallery of thumbnails which you can click to see the full item (only available for static lists)

Configuring new Content Types

The set of content types used to filter dynamic lists on is a category within the Content Manager. If you create a new Schema and you want to add it as a Content Type option when creating dynamic lists:

  • Add a new Keyword to the Content Type category.
  • Give the Keyword a Title which an editor can relate to, for example the same title as the Schema
  • Add a value and in the Key field using the following convention:
    {moduleName}.{schemaRootElementName} eg core.newsArticle

By default, a dynamic list uses the Component Title and Last Published Date as display values in the list. However, if your Schema uses the Standard Metadata Embedded Schema in the metadata, these values are overridden by the Short Title (name) and Creation Date (dateCreation) values.