Contentful parameters

After you install the Contentful integration, the following parameter types are available. You can use these to incorporate content from Contentful into your components and compositions.

Parameter typeDescription
Contentful EntrySelect a single entry from Contentful.
Contentful Multi EntrySelect multiple entries from Contentful.
Contentful QuerySpecify search criteria that's used to select a single or multiple entries from Contentful.

Contentful Entry#

This parameter type allows a Uniform user to select a single Contentful entry.

To allow a user to select an entry from Contentful, you must add a parameter to a component. The parameter is used to store the identifier to the selected entry when the user selects an entry.

  1. In Uniform, navigate to your component.

  2. Add a new parameter using the parameter type Contentful Entry.

  3. The following values can be specified:

    NameDescription
    Select Linked SourceSpecifies which Contentful space is the source for the entry that can be selected.
    Allowed Content TypesSpecifies which content types will be available to select from when the parameter value is edited. You can select multiple content types in order to allow the user to select from a larger set of entries.
    RequiredIndicates whether the value is required when the component is used.
    parameter-config
    Contentful Entry parameter with a single content type selected.

When you use a component with a Contentful Entry parameter, by default no entry will be selected. You are prompted to select an entry.

  1. Click Select.

    edit-value-default

  2. Click the entry you want to select.

    edit-value-filters

    About this step

    A couple of filters are available. The dropdown allows you to filter by content type. The text box allows you to filter by entry title.

  3. Click Accept to save your selection.

    edit-value-selected

  4. You will see details about the entry you selected, including the title and some metadata.

    edit-value-saved

    About this step

    After your selection is saved, you are presented with the following options:

    • If you want to edit the selected entry in Contentful, click Edit.
    • If you want to deselect the entry, click Unlink.

When an entry is selected, Uniform only stores the identifier for the entry. Your front-end application must retrieve the details for the entry. Uniform provides an enhancer to simplify this process.

tip

Using the enhancer provided by Uniform saves you from having to write logic to interact directly with Contentful.

How Uniform stores the selected entry#

The following is an example of what Uniform stores for the parameter.

{ "type": "contentfulEntry", "value": { "entryId": "######################", "source": "######################" } }

There are two identifiers in this value:

  1. The entry that was selected.
  2. The source key for the linked content source.

Uniform provides an enhancer so you don't need to write the API calls to Contentful to retrieve data for entries.

tip

For more information about the enhancer, see the package documentation.

  1. In Contentful, create a content delivery access token for the enhancer to use to make API calls to Contentful.

  2. Add the following npm packages to your front-end application:

    contentful @uniformdev/canvas @uniformdev/canvas-contentful

  3. In a text editor, open the file where you retrieve the composition definition from Uniform.

    About this step

    You are looking for the code calls the async function getComposition. The code below assumes the object returned is set in a variable composition.

  4. Add the following import statements:

    import { EnhancerBuilder, enhance } from '@uniformdev/canvas'; import { createContentfulEnhancer, ContentfulClientList, CANVAS_CONTENTFUL_PARAMETER_TYPES, } from '@uniformdev/canvas-contentful'; import { createClient } from 'contentful';

  5. Add the following code:

    const client = createClient({ space: '!!! YOUR CF SPACE ID !!!', environment: '!!! YOUR CF ENVIRONMENT NAME !!!', accessToken: '!!! YOUR CF ACCESS TOKEN !!!', });

    About this step

    We recommend you moving the Contentful credentials to environment variables rather than hard-coding them in the front-end app.

  6. Add the following code:

    const clientList = new ContentfulClientList({ client }); const contentfulEnhancer = createContentfulEnhancer({ client: clientList })

  7. Add the following code:

    await enhance({ composition, enhancers: new EnhancerBuilder().parameterType( CANVAS_CONTENTFUL_PARAMETER_TYPES, contentfulEnhancer ), context: {}, });

    About this step

    This registers the enhancer to be used for any occurrence of the Contentful Entry parameter.

Next steps

Now the parameter value in the composition is mutated to include the field values for the selected Contentful entry (instead of just being identifiers).

Contentful Multi Entry#

This parameter type is added and edited the same way as Contentful Entry. When editing the parameter value, you can select additional entries by clicking the button Select new.

contentful-multi-entry
Example of the editing interface for an Contentful Multi Entry parameter on a component.

When entries are selected, Uniform only stores the identifiers for the entries. Your front-end application must retrieve the details for the entries. Uniform provides an enhancer to simplify this process.

tip

Using the enhancer provided by Uniform saves you from having to write logic to interact directly with Contentful.

The following is an example of what Uniform stores for the parameter.

{ "type": "contentfulMultiEntry", "value": { "source": "default", "entries": [ "######################", "######################" ] } }

There are two identifiers in this value:

  1. An array of the entries that were selected.
  2. The source key for the linked content source.

Uniform provides an enhancer so you don't need to write the API calls to Contentful to retrieve data for entries.

tip

For more information about the enhancer, see the package documentation.

  1. In Contentful, create a content delivery access token for the enhancer to use to make API calls to Contentful.

  2. Add the following npm packages to your front-end application:

    contentful @uniformdev/canvas @uniformdev/canvas-contentful

  3. In a text editor, open the file where you retrieve the composition definition from Uniform.

    About this step

    You are looking for the code calls the async function getComposition. The code below assumes the object returned is set in a variable composition.

  4. Add the following import statements:

    import { EnhancerBuilder, enhance } from '@uniformdev/canvas'; import { createContentfulEnhancer, ContentfulClientList, CANVAS_CONTENTFUL_MULTI_PARAMETER_TYPES, } from '@uniformdev/canvas-contentful'; import { createClient } from 'contentful';

  5. Add the following code:

    const client = createClient({ space: '!!! YOUR CF SPACE ID !!!', environment: '!!! YOUR CF ENVIRONMENT NAME !!!', accessToken: '!!! YOUR CF ACCESS TOKEN !!!', });

    About this step

    We recommend you moving the Contentful credentials to environment variables rather than hard-coding them in the front-end app.

  6. Add the following code:

    const clientList = new ContentfulClientList({ client }); const contentfulEnhancer = createContentfulEnhancer({ client: clientList })

  7. Add the following code:

    await enhance({ composition, enhancers: new EnhancerBuilder().parameterType( CANVAS_CONTENTFUL_MULTI_PARAMETER_TYPES, contentfulEnhancer ), context: {}, });

About this step

This registers the enhancer to be used for any occurrence of the Contentful Multi Entry parameter.

Next steps

Now the parameter value in the composition is mutated to include the field values for the selected Contentful entry (instead of just being identifiers).

This parameter type allows a Uniform user to configure a query that will determine the Contentful entries that are retrieved.

This parameter type is added the same way as Contentful Entry.

Configuring this parameter type involves specifying the way a product search should work. You are able to control the following search settings:

FieldDescription
Filter by entry typeOnly entries that match the selected entry type are included.
CountThe maximum number of entries that are returned.
SortThe entry field used to sort the entries that are returned.
Sort OrderWhether the entries should be sorted in ascending or descending order.
edit-parameter-value
Example of the editing interface for a Contentful Query parameter on a component.

When an entry query is configured, Uniform only stores the search criteria, not the results of the search. Your front-end application must perform the search using that criteria. Uniform provides an enhancer to simplify this process.

tip

Using the enhancer provided by Uniform saves you from having to write logic to interact directly with Contentful.

The following is an example of what Uniform stores for the parameter.

{ "type": "contentfulQuery", "value": { "source": "default", "contentType": "EnrichedHero", "count": 5 } }

There are three identifiers in this value:

  1. The content type to use in the search.
  2. The maximum number of entries to search for.
  3. The source key for the linked content source.

Uniform provides an enhancer so you don't need to write the API calls to Contentful to retrieve data for entries.

tip

For more information about the enhancer, see the package documentation.

  1. In Contentful, create a content delivery access token for the enhancer to use to make API calls to Contentful.

  2. Add the following npm packages to your front-end application:

    contentful @uniformdev/canvas @uniformdev/canvas-contentful

  3. In a text editor, open the file where you retrieve the composition definition from Uniform.

    About this step

    You are looking for the code calls the async function getComposition. The code below assumes the object returned is set in a variable composition.

  4. Add the following import statements:

    import { EnhancerBuilder, enhance } from '@uniformdev/canvas'; import { createContentfulEnhancer, ContentfulClientList, CANVAS_CONTENTFUL_QUERY_PARAMETER_TYPES, } from '@uniformdev/canvas-contentful'; import { createClient } from 'contentful';

  5. Add the following code:

    const client = createClient({ space: '!!! YOUR CF SPACE ID !!!', environment: '!!! YOUR CF ENVIRONMENT NAME !!!', accessToken: '!!! YOUR CF ACCESS TOKEN !!!', });

    About this step

    We recommend you moving the Contentful credentials to environment variables rather than hard-coding them in the front-end app.

  6. Add the following code:

    const clientList = new ContentfulClientList({ client }); const contentfulEnhancer = createContentfulEnhancer({ client: clientList })

  7. Add the following code:

    await enhance({ composition, enhancers: new EnhancerBuilder().parameterType( CANVAS_CONTENTFUL_QUERY_PARAMETER_TYPES, contentfulEnhancer ), context: {}, });

About this step

This registers the enhancer to be used for any occurrence of the Contentful Query parameter.

Next steps

Now the parameter value in the composition is mutated to include the field values for the selected Contentful entries (instead of just being settings).

By default, the sort order for the query results is determined by the default Contentful sort order. You can override this using options on the enhancer for the Contentful Query parameter type:

new EnhancerBuilder() .parameterType( CANVAS_CONTENTFUL_QUERY_PARAMETER_TYPES, createContentfulQueryEnhancer({ clients: clientList, createQuery: ({ defaultQuery, parameter}) => { const newDefaultOrder = 'sys.createdAt'; const hasOrder = !!parameter.value?.sortBy; return { ...defaultQuery, ...(!hasOrder ? { order: newDefaultOrder } : undefined), }; }, }) )
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