Collections
Structured content your clients edit themselves, like menus, inventory, events, and listings, that your website reads from Dropl.
A collection is a list of items with the same fields, like a restaurant menu, an equipment inventory, or a class schedule. You design the fields once. Your client then adds and edits items from the Dropl dashboard on their phone, and your website reads the published items from Dropl.
The fastest way to set one up is to describe the content to your AI assistant. See Set up Collections with AI.
Create a collection
- Open Collections in the sidebar and pick the client site.
- Click New collection and start from a template (Menu, Inventory, and Events) or from scratch.
- On the Fields tab, add, rename, or reorder fields. A collection can have up to 50 fields.
Each collection belongs to one client site, like its showcases.
Field types
| Type | Key in the API | What your website receives |
|---|---|---|
| Short text | short_text | string |
| Long text | long_text | { markdown, html } (safe HTML: bold, italic, links, bulleted lists) |
| Number | number | number |
| Price | price | { amount, currency, formatted }, e.g. formatted: "$14.50" |
| Date | date | YYYY-MM-DD string |
| Date and time | datetime | ISO 8601 string in UTC |
| Toggle | toggle | boolean (never null) |
| Single select | select | the option's value |
| Multi-select / tags | multi_select | array of option values |
| Image | image | { id, altText, width, height, placeholderColor, srcset } |
| Images | images | array of images |
| Link | link | URL string |
Every field has a label (what your client sees), optional help text shown under it while editing, and a key. The key is set when the field is first saved and never changes, even if you rename the label later, so your website's code keeps working.
Changing fields safely
Adding a field is always safe. Renaming a field, changing its type, removing it, or removing a select option can lose data or break the website, so Dropl shows exactly what will change and how many items are affected, and asks you to confirm.
If someone else changed the fields after you opened them, Dropl won't overwrite their change. Reload the fields and try again.
The Activity tab shows who changed what, including changes made through the API or an AI assistant, which show the name of the API key they used (for example API key "Cursor"). The most recent schema change can be undone there while no data would be lost.
Items
On the Items tab you can search, filter, reorder by dragging, duplicate, and publish or unpublish items in bulk.
- Published items appear on the website. Drafts never do.
- New items are published unless you save them as a draft.
- Deleted items go to the trash and can be restored for 30 days. Deleting a whole collection works the same way.
Import and export
On the Import & export tab, upload a CSV file. Dropl matches columns to fields, shows a preview, and imports the valid rows. Rows with problems are listed with the row number and the field, so you can fix them and import just those again.
You can export any collection as CSV or JSON, or every collection of a site at once, so your client's content is never locked in.
What your clients see
Invite a client to their site from Settings → Sites. Their sidebar lists each collection by name under Your site. Clients can add, edit, reorder, publish, import, and delete items. They can't change fields, settings, or the website integration. Clients with view-only access can look but not edit.
The item form is built for phones: price fields open a number keypad, dates use the phone's date picker, and photos can be taken with the camera.
Plan limits
Each plan includes a number of collection items across your account. Items in the trash don't count. The Usage page shows how many you've used, and Dropl warns you at 80% and 100%. When you reach the limit, existing items keep showing on websites; only adding new ones is paused. You can add more items with an add-on from Billing. See pricing for each plan's limits.
Next steps
- Set up Collections with AI: describe the content, and let your assistant build it.
- Show collections on your website: the public endpoint, filters, and a Next.js example.