Ask the AI to summarize the term

The Concept at a Glance:

  • Dynamic List (Collection List) in Webflow: A feature that dynamically displays lists of items from a CMS collection.
  • CMS Item Loop: A mechanism that automatically iterates over CMS data to generate repeated content.
  • Automatic Updates: Any addition, change, or deletion in the collection is instantly reflected in the displayed list.
  • Customization and Filters: Allows filtering, sorting, and styling each item based on defined criteria.
  • Common Use Cases: Product listings, portfolios, blog posts, testimonials, events, and more.

What is a Dynamic List (List Collection) in Webflow?

A Dynamic List, or List Collection, is a key component of the Webflow platform that allows you to automatically and dynamically display a list of items from a CMS (Content Management System) collection. Instead of manually creating each item on a page, the Dynamic List goes through all the entries in a given collection and generates an item for each entry. This approach avoids manual repetition and makes it easier to manage content.

Thanks to this CMS item loop system, any modification in the data source — whether added, deleted, or updated — is instantly reflected in the display, ensuring consistency and time savings in managing dynamic websites.

How does the CMS item loop in a Dynamic List work?

The CMS item loop is a programming principle that consists in automatically browsing each element in a data collection, one by one, and displaying an element template for each entry. In Webflow, this mechanism is fully integrated into the Dynamic List component:

  • Connecting to the collection : When a Dynamic List is added to a page, it is linked to a specific CMS collection.
  • Automatic repeat : The list generates an item (a block, a map, a content item) for each entry in the collection.
  • Inserting data : For each item, dynamic fields (text, images, images, links, dates...) are filled in with the corresponding data for the element.
  • Style customization : Each item can be styled by hand once, the style will be automatically applied to all generated elements without laborious repetition.

This means that a single visual structure is created for all the data, ensuring consistency and efficiency.

What are the main features associated with the Dynamic List?

Webflow offers a complete range of options to exploit the power of Dynamic Lists:

  • Filters : To display only certain items in the collection according to criteria (category, date, status, etc.).
  • Tri : Allows you to organize items according to one or more fields (by decreasing date, alphabetical order, etc.).
  • Limiting the number of items : Useful for displaying a limited amount of content — for example, the last 5 articles of a blog.
  • Pagination : Addition of navigation to distribute items over several pages, improving ergonomics.
  • Actions and interactions : Each item on the list can include specific animations, interactions, and dynamic links.

These features make the Dynamic List the ideal tool for creating pages with evolving content, managed by a simple and intuitive CMS interface.

In which cases should you use a Dynamic List Webflow with a CMS item loop?

The practical cases are numerous and often concern the management of recurring or voluminous content:

  • E-commerce sites : Product list, category display, real-time promotions.
  • Blogs and news : Recent articles, archives, tags and dynamic categories.
  • Portfolios : Display of projects with images, descriptions and filters by type or date.
  • Events : Calendars, display of future or past events with sorting by date.
  • Customer testimonials/reviews : Automatic publication of customer feedback directly from the CMS.

Thanks to this system, content can be updated directly from the CMS dashboard without ever changing the structure or design of the page.

Key benefits and best practices for using Dynamic Lists

  • Time saver : No need to duplicate items, the list automatically adapts to changes.
  • Visual coherence : A unique style applied uniformly to each item.
  • Centralized management : The content is editable via the CMS, accessible to non-technical editors.
  • SEO optimization : Automated production of dynamic pages that can be indexed by search engines.
  • Scalability : Adapted to any data volume, without manual overloading.

Pour bien exploiter une Dynamic List, il est recommandé de structurer clairement sa collection CMS, d’organiser les champs de manière pertinente et de prévoir des filtres ou tris adaptés aux besoins fonctionnels du site.

In conclusion, the Webflow Dynamic List with its CMS item loop is a powerful technical solution that makes it easy to manage dynamic, scalable and perfectly coherent content, while offering a lot of creative freedom to designers and Webflow developers.