Sections are like folders that group your content. Keep everything of the same category together, then display them in one place. Sections can be created to display Room Bookings, Events, Resources, and more.

In this guide, we'll explore how to create, manage, and then publish your sections in VTS Activate.

1. Sections
2. Creating Sections
3. Manual Sections
4. Dynamic Sections
5. Pinning Content
6. Section Customization
7. Section Interactions
8. Displaying Sections
9. Search Sections

Sections

Sections collect content that has something in common—for your own organization and to display to your members in groups. Once you make a section, you can add as much content as you like and track their interactions in one place. You can even make a section dynamic—it will pull in all of your content with specific parameters, like all of the Pages you've made with the "Room Booking" Tag. 

A lot of people use sections to collect content that doesn't change very often, like a collection of building resources which you've made individual Pages for, but you can create any combination you need to.

Creating Sections

To make a section, head to Content in the navigation bar, choose Sections, then click the Create Section button. 

Add a title and description, then choose your Section type—manual or dynamic. Manual sections are populated by admins, and dynamic sections pull in content based on criteria. You can read up more later in this guide.

Whenever you're done, click the Create button.

You can make as many Sections as you want. They don't display anywhere unless you specifically add them to content, so you can use them as a way to organize your content too.

Manual Sections

Manual Sections only display exactly what you tell them to, and they only contain Pages. To add Pages to a manual Section, click into the Section, then use the Add content button. Choose the Page you want, then click Confirm. You can add a brand new Page to the section too—just use the New Page button.

To remove a Page from the Section, select the trash can icon to the left of the Page.

The Filter customizations are responsive and appear after selecting Save changes. Preview the section's Web and Mobile views with ease!

Dynamic Sections

Dynamic Sections collect content automatically based on criteria you choose. You can add any kind of content, unlike manual Sections. Whenever you make a Section, choose the Section type Dynamic to set things up.

To create your Dynamic Section:

1. Choose which Content Tags or Content Categories you want the Section to collect. You can add as many as you need—this is where the Section will get its content to display elsewhere. It's recommended you use Tags for the best experience.
2. If you share content between multiple channels, you can turn off the Display content created on this channel only toggle. This allows any content matching the criteria, created on or targeted to the channel, to pull into the section. 
3. Lastly, pick the types of content you want to show. 

Once you save the Section, all newly created content meeting the criteria will automatically be pulled into the section. It's a great way to create a space for content that's constantly changing and updating but fills a specific purpose. 

Section Customization

Under Preview, you have the option to add Standard Filters, Sorting, Group by, and Custom Filters. These allow your members to see the content inside the section exactly how you want. 

Standard filters should be used to filter out options, such as booking rooms. Custom filters don't filter out results.

Pro-tip: When displaying a section of events, Sort by start time allows you to showcase your events in order.

Filter by event date adds a filter to the top of the section, enabling users to select a time frame in which they want to view events. This only works for posts that have been designated as an event. 

Pinning Content

Within Dynamic Sections, you can pin content to the front of the section and drag and drop the pins into the order they should appear.

Section Appearance

Under Appearance, admins can change the Section pins formatting as well as Background Color, Icon Color, Icon, Logo, and Background. 

Section Interactions

Within your selected section, admins can view all interactions on the content included in the section. Reservations, submissions, RSVPs, etc are shown in a list or grid. Interactions can be downloaded as a CSV.

Displaying Sections

The contents of a section can be displayed as a single link or as a list of Info Cards. 

Section

This Content Block shows a single, selected Section. When a member selects the Info card, they see a list of the pages within that section.


Example: The Meeting Rooms section is displayed as a Pin on the page. Selecting the pin takes you to a page that lists the contents of the Section, in this case, five Meeting Rooms. 

Section Content List

This Content Block allows you to display all the content items in a Section as a list. The member does not have to select a link to view the contents. Sections can be displayed in a Grid or Carousel layout. 

If your section includes filters you wish to be displayed, ensure Show search & filters is toggled on.

Example: the Meeting Rooms section shown below lists all five available meeting rooms with a filter for the number of seats and the amenities in each room:

Interactions on Section List 

This content block shows a list of interaction receipts on content items within a Section.


Example: A user may reserve one or more Meeting Rooms for different times in the future. The Interactions on Section List content block shows the user their personal list of upcoming reservations for all the meeting rooms in that section:

Creating a Search Section

With Activate's searching capabilities, your Members can search the app for important information. This is accomplished with a Dynamic Section. 

Create a Dynamic Section and name it Search. Under Content Categories, scroll to the bottom and Select All. This selects all Categories. 

Under Content Types, select all the available content type options.

Toggle off Display content created on this channel only. This ensures your other content will appear if utilizing multiple Channels. 

Save when finished. 

Open the Search Section, and add the Standard Filter, Filter by Name. This is what adds a search bar to the top of the section for Members to use. Configure the Appearance. Match the colors and themes of other hot buttons on your Channel. It is helpful to add a magnifying glass icon.

Review the content that is pulled into your section. All published content of all content categories and types will be displayed. This includes Tab pages. 

Add the new section to the Member view using the Section content block. It can be a hot button on any tab. Now when Members enter the search area, they can search all available content.