How to Set Subtypes in Composer
Within Composer Settings, you have the option to configure which ANS meta fields appear on your tabs for Composer. Remember, ANS stands for Arc Native Specification, and it’s the schema we use to save and store your data. You can find ANS meta field configuration at the bottom of Composer settings. Drag and drop any of the options into the Available Option List section to appear wherever you prefer. For example, some users like subtype to appear on the Planning tab and others on the Meta tab. Where you choose for it to appear is up to you. For more detailed information about each available setting, see Composer Settings.
When to use subtype
We recommend using subtype as a way to give a classification to the type of content that is in a story, which should be paired with how this story appears to your readers on your front end. For example, you can set an Opinions subtype that you use to identify opinion pieces. Other common examples of subtype that you may use include categorizations like Politics, Coronavirus, and Long_form.
In short, subtype lets you indicate which page template type you want this article to use to render the content. Subtype is typically used to distinguish between news and opinions, or breaking news and blog article formats, and so on. You must configure the PageBuilder Editor app with the appropriate resolvers to match the article subtype to the corresponding page template. To learn how to create a content-mapped template, see Creating a content mapped template.
Because subtypes are typically paired with front-end templates in PageBuilder, subtypes are different from a few other ways you might choose to classify your content. The following list provides other common classification ANS fields and when you might use them instead of subtype:
Kickers/Labels - Kickers or labels represent different buckets of content types, called label types. Think of these label types as being a type descriptor that applies to a whole story. Each label type can have one value (called a label) that you select from a fixed set that you preconfigure, or you can also allow free entry. You can also use this info for external purposes (for example, to show readers Coronavirus labels on relevant stories) or as internal markers. You also have the ability to associate a URL with each label so that when a user clicks the label, you can direct traffic to a specific destination. Learn more at How to Use Kickers and Labels.
Tags - Tags are a lightweight, flexible option for categorizing your content in Arc. Think of them as a way of indicating that a piece of content has a relationship, even a weak one, to a broader topic. They are less formal than the sections you can manage in Site Service. Learn more about tag management in How to Configure Permissions for Managing Tags.
Sites (including Site Service custom fields) - You can use several fields in Site Service to populate the custom features and blocks on the front end. For more on Site Service, see Site Service.
Syndication - The Syndication fields designates whether you received this content from a certain syndication or whether it's set for use in an outbound syndication.
Sponsored Content - Sponsored content indicates the content is from a third-party advertiser. Use this field to designate content that is paid for by an advertiser and intended to promote the advertiser’s product.
Paywall status - Mark your content’s paywall status manually (or use Composer Templates to mark them automatically) to determine its accessibility by readers inside and outside your website’s paywall. Paywall statuses are customized to match your integrated paywall provider’s categories.
All of these fields can overlap in terms of how they apply meta-information to the document or in terms of how this metadata flags the document with respect to the front end or other downstream publishing channels. To learn how you can use ANS fields to correspond to front-end display, see Configuring resolvers.
Setting up subtypes
To get started, configure the Subtype setting under ANS meta field configuration in Composer Settings. Here you can set Subtype as required to publish, or choose to Edit picklist. Edit picklist opens a new tab where you can create and configure the various subtypes you want to have for your organization.
Note
When naming a subtype, avoid using spaces or hyphens. We recommend using either no separator or an underscore (for example, longform or long_form). Avoid hyphens because the Content API treats hyphenated terms as separate tokens. For example, long-form would be broken into long and form, and would not return an exact match in queries.
After you have your Subtypes set up from the picklist in ANS meta field configuration, you can view that subtypes appear on your desired tab within the Composer story editor. The drop-down options are limited to the options you set in your Subtype picklist.
Remember, subtypes are most powerful when they are paired with specific templates within PageBuilder to determine a uniform way for these subtype articles to be displayed on your front end. To do so, you must set a resolver configuration within PageBuilder. Learn more here about how to create a Configuring resolvers.