Creating Definitions (Content Types)

Content types let you shape Qik around your organisation's data. A content type (the dashboard also calls it a definition) describes a kind of record: its name, its fields, how they're validated and how it behaves. Once it exists, your team can create records that follow that structure.

For example, you might create a "Project" content type with fields for status, deadline and project lead. Your team can then create individual Project records, filter them, export them and automate around them.

Base types

Every content type you create extends a built-in base type and inherits its features. Common choices:

• Article — general-purpose content and the default.
• Profile — a kind of person record, such as "Student" or "Contractor", with all the usual profile features.
• Event — a kind of event, such as "Workshop" or "Match", inheriting dates, attendance and rostering.
• Scope — a kind of group or organisational unit, such as "Team" or "Department".
• Submission — a form. Each form is a content type whose records are its submissions.
• Workflow card — a workflow. Each workflow is a content type whose records are its cards.

Choose the base type carefully: it decides which built-in features your records get. If you only want to add fields to every record of a built-in type (for example, a "Dietary requirements" field on all profiles), use System → Custom Fields instead of creating a new content type. See Custom Fields.

Creating a content type

1. Go to Content in the navigation.
2. In the Your Content Types panel, click New Type (or, if you have none yet, Click here to create your first Content Type).
3. Enter the Title (Singular), for example "Project", and the Title (Plural), for example "Projects".
4. Choose what it Defines Type: the base type it extends.
5. Check the Database Key. It's filled in for you from the title and base type, and must be unique within your organisation.
6. Optionally choose a Category to group related content types together in the Content section.
7. Save. You can then add fields in the Field Editor tab.

Forms and workflows are created from the Forms and Workflows sections rather than here, but they are content types too and use the same editor.

The Field Editor

The Field Editor tab has three areas:

• Field Tree (left) — every field, in a tree you can drag to reorder. Use Add Field and Add Group to add more, Collapse All / Expand All to tidy the view, and each field's menu for Duplicate Field, Add Field After or Add Field Inside (for groups). Copy Fields and Paste Fields move fields between content types.
• Preview (centre) — a live preview of the form people will fill in. Try it as you build, and use Reset Preview to clear it.
• Edit (right) — the settings for the selected field, on the Field Settings and Expressions tabs.

Adding a field

Click Add Field and pick a starting template from the "Add a Field" list. Templates include Basic Text Field, Rich Text Area, Select Dropdown, Checkbox, Switch, Yes / No Button, Buttons, Number Field, Currency Input, Range Slider, Email Input, Phone Number, URL Input, Date Picker, Time Picker, Date Object, Color Picker, Address, Person / Profile, Content Reference, Content Search, Value Search, File Upload, Image Upload, Video Upload, Audio Upload, GPS Location, Signature Pad, Timezone Selector and Text or HTML Code. You can change any setting afterwards.

Field types

Each field has a data type, which decides what it stores:

• Basic Text / String — text, shown as a single line, text area, dropdown and so on depending on the widget.
• Boolean — yes or no.
• Number / Decimal — any number, including decimals.
• Integer / Whole Number — whole numbers only.
• Email Address — validated as an email address.
• URL — validated as a web address.
• Date — a date or date and time.
• Database Key — a short, machine-friendly identifier.
• Content Reference — a link to another record, such as a person or an event.
• Generic Object Literal — structured data, mainly for developers.

Use Add Group to gather related fields (for example an address) together.

Field settings

• Title — the label people see.
• Key — the field's database name. It must be unique; the editor warns you about duplicate keys.
• Type and Widget — what is stored and how the input looks.
• Minimum / Maximum — how many values are required and allowed. Set minimum to 1 to make a field required; set maximum to 1 for a single value, or higher (or 0 for unlimited) to allow several.
• Options — the choices for dropdowns, buttons and similar widgets.
• Description — help text shown with the field.
• Expressions — logic for default values, showing or hiding fields, or calculated values.

Other settings

Depending on the base type, the content type editor has further tabs, including Basic Info, Workflow Settings, Group Settings, Roster Settings, Confirmation (forms), Automation, Enrichment, Administration and Advanced. Useful settings include:

• Default Scopes — the scopes new records are created in by default.
• Restrict Scopes — scopes records of this type must always be created in.
• Default Sort — how lists of this type are ordered.
• Category — groups content types in the Content section.
• Automation — notifications and actions that run when records are created, updated or deleted, and workflows that new records are added to. See Definition Automations.

Permissions

Creating and editing content types needs permission to manage definitions, which is normally limited to administrators and builders. Access to the records of a content type is controlled separately, by roles and access passes, and can be granted for one content type without the others. See Permission strings explained.

FAQs