Managing component types | Doghouse SaaS Knowledge Base [Skip to content](#main) [ ![Doghouse SaaS Knowledge Base](/storage/branding/01M3N8PQ7PSDNQBBKKJM6XGW03.svg) ](https://nginx.deploy-lagoon-production.districtcms-docs.dh1.amazee.io) [Product documentation](/articles) [Roadmap](/roadmap) Toggle navigation [Product documentation](/articles) [Roadmap](/roadmap) 1. [Home](/) › 2. [Product documentation](/articles) › 3. [Fields & content structure](/articles?category=21) › 4. Managing component types Managing component types ======================== Updated 2 days ago · 5 min read Search Search Overview -------- Every component an editor adds to a page, such as a Text block, a Card grid or an Accordion, is built from a component type. The type decides which fields the component has and how they appear on its form. The same building blocks go by two names: Where you are What they are called The editing form of an article or landing page **Components** Under **Structure** **Paragraph types**, after the tool that provides them This article calls them component types throughout. For what each component does on a page, see [**Site components overview**](/articles/site-components-overview). > **⚠️ Important:** This is administrator work. Content editors cannot reach these screens. --- Finding the list ---------------- Go to **Structure**, then **Paragraph types**. The page that opens is headed **Paragraphs types**. ![The Paragraphs types list with the Operations menu of Feature cards open, showing Manage form display, Manage display, Edit and Delete, and the Add paragraph type button at the top right, outlined in red.](/storage/gpvr9DVjgYGEPMakOpkfH2Rs8zcYwKkUZ2enmZ21.png) Column What it shows **Icon** An optional picture for the type. None of the built-in types use one. **Label** The name editors see when they add the component. **Machine name** The name the site uses internally. The built-in types all start with gt\_. It cannot be changed once the type is saved. **Description** A line saying what the type is for. **Operations** **Manage fields**, with an arrow beside it for everything else. ### Components and the items inside them The list holds two kinds of type. Components are what editors add to a page. Items go inside a component, one for each card, step or person, and cannot be placed on a page on their own. An item's description ends by saying which component it is used inside. Component Item added inside it Text None Alert None CTA None Card grid Card Feature cards Feature Highlights Highlight Value chips None. Chips are typed straight in. Accordion Accordion item Tabs Tab Process steps Step People Person Listing None Webform None --- What you can do with a type --------------------------- Each row's main button is **Manage fields**. The arrow beside it opens the rest. Once you are inside a type, all but **Delete** also appear as tabs along the top. Choice What it is for **Manage fields** The fields the component holds, such as a heading, a body or a link. **Manage form display** The order of those fields on the component's form, and how each one is filled in. **Manage display** Which fields show on the page, and how. **Edit** The label, icon and description. **Delete** Removes the type. See Deleting a type, below. ![Manage fields for Card grid, with the Edit, Manage fields, Manage form display and Manage display tabs outlined in red, and the Cards field shown as accepting the Card type only.](/storage/Y0SpDUprkjPHrGR0vbXVvo61HEzgvKCMjbHMsN5E.png) A component that holds items has a field for them. On Card grid it is **Cards**, and its **Paragraph type: Card** line shows that only cards can go in it. These screens work the same way as they do for content types. See [**Adding a field to a content type**](/articles/adding-a-field-to-a-content-type) and [**Controlling how a field appears**](/articles/controlling-how-a-field-appears). > **💡 Note:** The built-in components are laid out by templates in your site's theme, which pick out their fields by name. Changes on **Manage display** therefore have little effect on them. It matters most for a type you add yourself. --- Adding a new component type --------------------------- 1. Go to **Structure**, then **Paragraph types**, and press **Add paragraph type**. 2. In **Label**, type the name editors will see. The machine name is filled in from it as you type. To change the machine name, press **Edit** beside it. This is your only chance, as it is fixed once saved. 3. If you want one, choose a picture under **Paragraph type icon**. 4. In **Description**, say in one line what the component is for, as the built-in types do. 5. Press **Save and manage fields**, then add its fields. See [**Adding a field to a content type**](/articles/adding-a-field-to-a-content-type). ![The Add Paragraphs type form with Quote typed as the Label and its machine name quote beside it, the Description box, and the Save and manage fields button, outlined in red.](/storage/g2he5IUszbwvqmQpbKveVLJgnv0XhZ8taBEjbaP0.png) ### Making it available on pages A new type is not offered to editors until you allow it. Articles and landing pages each have their own **Components** field, so do this once for each. Events have no components. 1. Go to **Structure**, then **Content types**, and press **Manage fields** on **Article**. 2. On the **Components** row, press **Edit**. The page is headed **Components settings for Article**. 3. Under **Reference type**, check that **Which Paragraph types should be allowed?** is set to **Include the selected below**. 4. In the **Paragraph types** list, tick your new type. 5. Check that the 13 components in the table above are ticked too. Any type left unticked here is no longer offered to editors. 6. Press **Save settings**. 7. Repeat for **Landing page**. > **⚠️ Important:** Do not tick item types such as Card or Step here. They only work inside their own component. And if you save with nothing ticked at all, the field allows every type on the site, items included. ### What a new type does, and does not do Works straight away Needs a developer Editors can add the component on the content types you allowed it on, fill in its fields, and save and publish the page. On the published page, the component appears in a plain default layout, without the styling of the built-in components. Each built-in type has its own template in the site's theme, and a new type needs one too before it matches your design. Before you add a type, check whether an existing component can do the job with its settings. For example, a Card grid already offers several card styles and column counts. --- Changing a type --------------- **Edit** changes the label, icon and description. A new label shows to editors straight away, and pages that already use the component are not affected. Take care with the built-in types. Their templates expect particular fields, so deleting a field from one can stop that component displaying properly on every page that uses it. Ask your developer before you change one. Deleting a type --------------- If no page uses the type, **Delete** asks you to confirm, then removes it. If the type is in use, the page tells you how many times, and offers a button to delete them all, such as **Delete all 30 existing Paragraphs**. The type itself stays until they are gone. > **⚠️ Important:** That button removes every component of that type from every page at once, published pages included. It does not ask again, and the components do not go to the Trash, so they cannot be restored. Check the pages that use it first, and ask your developer if you are unsure. > **ℹ️ Info:** For the fields that sit on content types rather than components, see [**How fields work**](/articles/how-fields-work). Related articles ------------------ - [ Site components overview → ](/articles/site-components-overview) - [ How fields work → ](/articles/how-fields-work) - [ Adding a field to a content type → ](/articles/adding-a-field-to-a-content-type) - [ Controlling how a field appears → ](/articles/controlling-how-a-field-appears) Was this article helpful? ------------------------- Your feedback helps us prioritise what to rewrite. 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