Type Tray

Lullabot-sponsored project

This module is sponsored by Lullabot, and we keep a special eye on its maintenance. Read the Architecture Decision Record on why we use this module.

This module helps sites with a large number of content types to improve the usability of the Content -> Add page.

Features

• Two versions of the page: A grid or a list of content types
• Allows grouping content types together by category
• Provides the ability to assign an icon to each content type
• Provides the ability to assign a thumbnail to a content type shown in the list version
• Allows an extended description (WYSIWYG) to be used in the list version
• Allows to sort content types within each category group

Configuration

After installing the module, navigate to Configuration -> Content authoring -> Type Tray Settings (or visit /admin/config/type-tray/settings), and define the categories to be used there. You can optionally indicate the label to be used on content types that are not categorized.

Now edit each content type (for example /admin/structure/types/manage/article if your type is named article), and click the Type Tray vertical tab. There you can include:

• The category this content type should be in.
• The path to a thumbnail file describing the desktop representation of the content. This can be screenshot of your content with all fields populated, or any illustration that help editors have a better idea of how the content will look like on the page. It will be displayed in the "List" version of the Type Tray page.
• The path to an icon file. This is a graphic image that conceptually represents the content, and will be displayed both in the "Grid" and "List" versions of the Type Tray page.
• The extended description text. Optionally, you can use this field to describe when editors should use this type, or any other editorial indications. When visiting the Type Tray in the "List" version, this value will be displayed if it's not empty, falling-back to the main content type description otherwise.
• Optionally, provide a weight value if you want to sort content types within the same category.

Note: The order of groups (categories) in the Type Tray page will be the same
as the order categories are defined in the Settings page mentioned above.

Sample screenshots

Modules that integrate with Type Tray

• Gin Type Tray
• Schema.org Blueprints (through the schemadotorg_type_tray submodule)

Additional information

• This project was first developed for the State of Georgia, and you can learn more about their implementation on this blog post.