Hey everyone! I am trying to use PhilippX’s jQuery Multiple Nested CMS Lists, but I have not been able to get it to work.
I have a CMS collection called “Work” where you can find case studies. Within those case studies, there will be credits. And within the credits there will be people’s names. Some of those names will be clickable links, that will either lead you to an external link, or an internal page, or just link no where, and display as text only.
The difficulty here is that every project has different credits, and some individual roles have multiple people, who may all have different “states” of links. (Some people will have links and others won’t).
The way I have set up my credits (can be seen in the CMS page for “H-Town Takeover” is that:
Within the “WORK” cms, there is a multireference field connecting to the “CREDITS” CMS collection.
-Within the CREDITS CMS collection, there is another multi-reference connection leading to the “PEOPLE” CMS collection.
Basically, the Work CMS points to Credits, and the Credits point to People.
I have figured out a way to use Webflow’s native tools to make the information display as I want it. (Can be seen in the designer under the “H-Town Takeover” CMS page. Inside the second credits page section).
However, I cannot duplicate/copy this structure. (Since Wbbflow only allows 1 nested sequence). If this limit didn’t exist, I would not be here right now.
I am trying to use PhillipX’s jQuery solution but I cannot for the life of me find a way to make it work. I have 0 coding experience and I have already spent 2 weeks trying to learn and figure out how to make Webflows native tools interact in the way I want them to. Would anyone please be able to help? Any of you guys out there with YouTube channels? Any and all help would be appreciated.
Hey Jerzy, going to PM you with a video walking through your CMS collection design and how you’ve structured your data. I think making some changes there will help you a lot with the problems you’re facing.
Since it’s not related to the jQuery question specifically, doesn’t make sense to share that here.
For anyone else trying to help/understand, here is a better explanation as to how and why the CMS is set up this way:
TL:DR,
Webflow allows max 10 references per collection.
To bypass this restriction, I added 4 multi-reference fields within the “WORK” CMS collection that links to the “Credits” CMS collection.
Then, within the Credits CMS collection, there is a multi-reference field that links to the “PEOPLE” CMS collection list. This is this way, because some credits have more than 1 person in them.
I would love to answer more questions, and I am not even sure if I am making things more difficult than it needs to be, or if what I am just doing is just that complicated.
Great discussion in our PM chat, I’ll start posting some of our results here so others can find them.
Webflow doesn’t have a querying language like SQL, which means you have to plan your structure in advance in order to get the data views you need for the arrangements you want. Its not that hard though once you get the basic principles.
I’m putting together a guide on how to organize collections & references so that they are as easy as possible to create your end views. Since your project design relates to film production, with projects, people, roles, credits, I’m using IMDB as a model.
Navigate around and check out the CMS to see how everything is stich together. The key is that since the Credits are the center of the display you want, they have to be a Centerpiece of the CMS design as well- however since a credit links to a person, a movie, and a role, when we approach things from this direction, we don’t encounter the limitations of multiref fields.
This makes it vnery clean to navigate, design around, and -importantly- to manage the data.
Also about your question on how to format a list as CSV.
This technique works great for movie credits, and of course you can sort, filter, and limit your collection list however you want to control the ordering and number of items you display.
Hey everyone, thanks to Michael @memetican I have been able to figure out a solution! Will share it in a few days, to hopefully help others. Thank you once again Michael you are a professional and expert in every sense of the words.
