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Templates & Layouts

Templates allow editors to centrally control content and reuse content. They allow a developer to not have to hard code layout decisions and instead use rules to apply user layouts in template content stored separately from the page, or give the user a choice on which layout they want.

Server-rendered frontends

Hydra works with any frontend, including ones that have no client-side

Live Preview

To make your site editable with Hydra you load hydra.js in your frontend and call initBridge(). This sets up a two-way communication channel that handles authentication, page navigation, and live content updates.

Listings & Dynamic Blocks

A listing block fetches content from the server (e.g. latest news) and renders each result as a separate block, repeating each block once per result entry. This means a listing can be moved between containers and reuse normal blocks for what it repeats.

Custom Blocks

Define custom block types directly in your frontend configuration via the blocks option in initBridge. No Volto plugin deployment required. Each block type needs an id, title, and a blockSchema with its field properties.

Container Blocks

A block — or the page itself — is divided into regions, and each region holds an ordered list of blocks. Sliders have a slides region, grids have columns, accordions have panels; a page has its main items region (and optionally a header, footer, …).

Simple Search

Templates and layouts

A template is a piece of pre-built page structure that someone (often a developer or site admin) has saved separately. When you apply a template to a page, the page gets the template's structure overlaid: some blocks are fixed and can't be edited, some can be edited but not moved, and some are open slots where you fill in your own blocks.

Selecting blocks

The editor has two modes when a block is selected: text mode (you're editing inside the block) and block mode (the whole block is selected as a unit).

Links and media

The link picker, image picker, and upload dialog are part of Hydra's chrome — they look the same on every site. What varies by design system is which links and images are click-to-edit in the preview: a site might wire up every link inline, or only a few "primary" links, with everything else editable from the sidebar. Same applies to images.

Editing text

Click into any text in the preview that's marked inline-editable and start typing. There are two kinds of text fields: simple text (like a title) and slate (rich text — the body of a paragraph block, descriptions, etc.).

Containers

A container block holds other blocks inside it — sliders, columns, accordions, grids, generic sections. The blocks inside are called its children. Containers can be nested (a column inside a row inside a section).

Adding and moving blocks

The block chooser, slash menu, and drag handles are part of Hydra and look the same everywhere. What you can pick from those choosers — the list of block types — comes from your site's design system. One site might offer "Lead paragraph", "Pull quote", "Stat highlight"; another might just have "Text" and "Image". Mechanic is identical.

Developer Reference

Schema

Pass this object inside the blocks option when calling initBridge() to register this block type with the admin UI. See Custom Blocks for the full setup guide.

{
  "search": {
    "blockSchema": {
      "properties": {
        "facetsTitle": {
          "title": "Facets Title"
        },
        "facets": {
          "title": "Facets",
          "widget": "object_list",
          "typeField": "type",
          "allowedBlocks": [
            "checkboxFacet",
            "selectFacet",
            "daterangeFacet",
            "toggleFacet"
          ]
        },
        "listing": {
          "title": "Listing",
          "widget": "blocks_layout",
          "allowedBlocks": [
            "listing"
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "checkboxFacet": {
    "blockSchema": {
      "properties": {
        "title": {
          "title": "Label"
        },
        "field": {
          "title": "Field",
          "widget": "select_querystring_field"
        },
        "multiple": {
          "title": "Multiple choices?",
          "type": "boolean",
          "default": false
        },
        "hidden": {
          "title": "Hide facet?",
          "type": "boolean",
          "default": false
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "selectFacet": {
    "blockSchema": {
      "properties": {
        "title": {
          "title": "Label"
        },
        "field": {
          "title": "Field",
          "widget": "select_querystring_field"
        },
        "hidden": {
          "title": "Hide facet?",
          "type": "boolean",
          "default": false
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "daterangeFacet": {
    "blockSchema": {
      "properties": {
        "title": {
          "title": "Label"
        },
        "field": {
          "title": "Field",
          "widget": "select_querystring_field"
        },
        "hidden": {
          "title": "Hide facet?",
          "type": "boolean",
          "default": false
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "toggleFacet": {
    "blockSchema": {
      "properties": {
        "title": {
          "title": "Label"
        },
        "field": {
          "title": "Field",
          "widget": "select_querystring_field"
        },
        "hidden": {
          "title": "Hide facet?",
          "type": "boolean",
          "default": false
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

JSON Block Data

Example JSON as stored in the Plone content API. This is the data structure your component will receive in the block prop.

{
  "@type": "search",
  "facetsTitle": "Filter by",
  "facets": [
    {
      "@id": "facet-1",
      "type": "checkboxFacet",
      "title": "Content Type",
      "field": "portal_type",
      "multiple": true,
      "hidden": false
    },
    {
      "@id": "facet-2",
      "type": "daterangeFacet",
      "title": "Date Range",
      "field": "effective",
      "hidden": false
    }
  ],
  "blocks": {
    "listing-1": {
      "@type": "listing",
      "variation": "summary",
      "querystring": {
        "query": [
          {
            "i": "portal_type",
            "o": "plone.app.querystring.operation.selection.any",
            "v": [
              "Document",
              "News Item"
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "blocks_layout": {
    "listing": [
      "listing-1"
    ]
  }
}

Component

Render component for your frontend framework. Add this to your block renderer's switch/map so it handles this @type.

function SearchBlock({ block, blockId }) {
  const [query, setQuery] = useState('');

  const facets = (block.facets || []).filter(f => !f.hidden);
  const listing = block.blocks_layout?.listing || [];
  const listingId = listing[0];
  const listingBlock = listingId ? (block.blocks?.[listingId]) : null;

  return (
    <div data-block-uid={blockId} className="search-block">
      {block.headline && <h2 data-edit-text="headline">{block.headline}</h2>}
      <input
        type="search"
        placeholder="Search..."
        value={query}
        onChange={e => setQuery(e.target.value)}
      />

      {facets.length > 0 && (
        <div className="facets">
          <h4 data-edit-text="facetsTitle">{block.facetsTitle || 'Filter'}</h4>
          {facets.map(facet => (
            <FacetRenderer key={facet['@id']} facet={facet} />
          ))}
        </div>
      )}

      {listingBlock && (
        <ListingBlock block={listingBlock} blockId={listingId} />
      )}
    </div>
  );
}

function FacetRenderer({ facet }) {
  switch (facet.type) {
    case 'checkboxFacet':
      return <fieldset data-block-uid={facet['@id']}><legend data-edit-text="title">{facet.title}</legend>{/* checkbox options */}</fieldset>;
    case 'selectFacet':
      return <label data-block-uid={facet['@id']}><span data-edit-text="title">{facet.title}</span><select>{/* options */}</select></label>;
    case 'daterangeFacet':
      return <label data-block-uid={facet['@id']}><span data-edit-text="title">{facet.title}</span><input type="date" /> – <input type="date" /></label>;
    case 'toggleFacet':
      return <label data-block-uid={facet['@id']}><input type="checkbox" /> <span data-edit-text="title">{facet.title}</span></label>;
    default:
      return null;
  }
}

<template>
  <div :data-block-uid="blockId" class="search-block">
    <h2 v-if="block.headline" data-edit-text="headline">{{ block.headline }}</h2>
    <input type="search" placeholder="Search..." v-model="query" />

    <div v-if="visibleFacets.length" class="facets">
      <h4 data-edit-text="facetsTitle">{{ block.facetsTitle || 'Filter' }}</h4>
      <template v-for="facet in visibleFacets" :key="facet['@id']">
        <fieldset v-if="facet.type === 'checkboxFacet'" :data-block-uid="facet['@id']">
          <legend data-edit-text="title">{{ facet.title }}</legend>
          <!-- checkbox options -->
        </fieldset>
        <label v-else-if="facet.type === 'selectFacet'" :data-block-uid="facet['@id']">
          <span data-edit-text="title">{{ facet.title }}</span><select><!-- options --></select>
        </label>
        <label v-else-if="facet.type === 'daterangeFacet'" :data-block-uid="facet['@id']">
          <span data-edit-text="title">{{ facet.title }}</span><input type="date" /> – <input type="date" />
        </label>
        <label v-else-if="facet.type === 'toggleFacet'" :data-block-uid="facet['@id']">
          <input type="checkbox" /> <span data-edit-text="title">{{ facet.title }}</span>
        </label>
      </template>
    </div>

    <ListingBlock
      v-if="listingBlock"
      :block="listingBlock"
      :block-id="listingId"
    />
  </div>
</template>

<script setup>
import { ref, computed } from 'vue';
const props = defineProps({ block: Object, blockId: String });
const query = ref('');
const visibleFacets = computed(() => (props.block.facets || []).filter(f => !f.hidden));
const listingId = computed(() => props.block.blocks_layout?.listing?.[0]);
const listingBlock = computed(() => listingId.value ? props.block.blocks?.[listingId.value] : null);
</script>

<script>
  import ListingBlock from './ListingBlock.svelte';
  export let block;
  export let blockId;

  let query = '';

  $: visibleFacets = (block.facets || []).filter(f => !f.hidden);
  $: listingId = block.blocks_layout?.listing?.[0];
  $: listingBlock = listingId ? block.blocks?.[listingId] : null;
</script>

<div data-block-uid={blockId} class="search-block">
  {#if block.headline}<h2 data-edit-text="headline">{block.headline}</h2>{/if}
  <input type="search" placeholder="Search..." bind:value={query} />

  {#if visibleFacets.length}
    <div class="facets">
      <h4 data-edit-text="facetsTitle">{block.facetsTitle || 'Filter'}</h4>
      {#each visibleFacets as facet (facet['@id'])}
        {#if facet.type === 'checkboxFacet'}
          <fieldset data-block-uid={facet['@id']}><legend data-edit-text="title">{facet.title}</legend><!-- checkbox options --></fieldset>
        {:else if facet.type === 'selectFacet'}
          <label data-block-uid={facet['@id']}><span data-edit-text="title">{facet.title}</span><select><!-- options --></select></label>
        {:else if facet.type === 'daterangeFacet'}
          <label data-block-uid={facet['@id']}><span data-edit-text="title">{facet.title}</span><input type="date" /> – <input type="date" /></label>
        {:else if facet.type === 'toggleFacet'}
          <label data-block-uid={facet['@id']}><input type="checkbox" /> <span data-edit-text="title">{facet.title}</span></label>
        {/if}
      {/each}
    </div>
  {/if}

  {#if listingBlock}
    <ListingBlock block={listingBlock} blockId={listingId} />
  {/if}
</div>