An index page is used as a directory for a certain resource type such as document pages, courses, groups, vehicles, forms etc which is then accessible to members or non-members via the sheepApp.

💡 Index pages give you more fine grain control over the output of the resources in the sheepApp, creating restrictions and additional filters allowing you to only show exactly what you want and who has access to it.

Common use cases for index pages can be:

✔️ Member only magazine archives

✔️ Courses

✔️ Specific forms directory

✔️ News page

✔️ Vehicles directory

✔️ Member-only groups directory

1. Go to Settings > Self-service App > Index Pages

2. Click 'Add Index Page' button on the right. This will bring up the side panel.

3. Set the title of your index page.

4. Set the path (optional) from which your index can be accessed from.

5. Select the template (required). We have a few options available and the one to choose can depend on what the index will contain.

In our example we are creating an index to store all our magazines which have been uploaded as document pages.

For this purpose a 'Grid Directory' is our go to template. This allows us to list our magazines in a grid format with thumbnail previews of the document type (if they have thumbnails set) and we can also switch to a list view as well.

Depending on the resource type your index is for you might be better off with another template. If you are setting up a groups index then 'Group Directory' is what you should use instead for example.

5. Add a photo (optional) Recommended size: 800x600px or another 4:3 ratio image. You can add a photo to your index page which will show in the header area of the index page along with the title and body text. Most of the time you can probably leave this out.

6. Add body content (recommended) to tell your users what the index is for. The body field supports markdown and we recommend filling this in to give the page some context.

7. Add fallback body content (recommended) this is displayed when a user does not have permission to view this index page and should inform them why they can't access it. Do they need to log in? Do they need to be an active member? etc. You can include some helpful snippets like a log in link or a sign up link. Working example below, just replace your-flock-name with your flock's path.

8. Add secondary photos (optional) you can add extra photos to your index which will show in the header area of the index page along with the title and body text.

9. Set your visibility settings (optional)

🟢 Public - If set to yes anyone with a URL to your index can access it even if they are not logged into the App.

🔴 Public - If set to no anyone with a URL to your index who is not logged in will see a preview with your fallback content or a message saying 'You do not have required access to view this content'.

🟢 Member Only - If set to yes only users who are logged in and with an active membership can view your index.

🔴 Member Only - If set to no any logged in user even if they don't have a membership can view your index.

For this example we only want our magazine archive to be available to members as a member benefit so we toggle the member only switch.

The below is shown to users who are either not logged in or do not have an active membership.

9. Add tags (optional) as you see fit, tags on the index page are not as important as tags on a document page.

10. Select the resource type (required) for the index. As we are setting up our example for magazines which are created as 'Document Pages' the resource type we need would be 'Page Document'.
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As you can see there are lots of resource types you could select depending on what type of index page you're building. From donation appeals to page news so on and so forth.

11. Set your index filters (recommended). By setting filters on the index page this allows us to be a little more specific about what we want to show in the sheepApp.

💡 In our example we are setting up a member only magazine archive index. The resource type we selected was 'Page Document'. And we only want to show documents that have been tagged with 'magazine' and a status of 'Active' .

Click '+ Add rule' > Select 'Tag' > 'any of' > 'magazine'

Click '+ Add rule' > Select 'Active' > 'is' > 'true'

There are a bunch of other filters available but tags and active are likely the most common ones to narrow your index page content to show want you need and to prevent things showing which shouldn't be.

12. Lastly make sure your index is active by selecting active in the top right of the side panel. Now you can access your index page from within the sheepApp at the path you set up earlier. If not it will default to index/{index-title}/

Member only magazine archive if logged in with an active membership.

Name: This searches what the documents title is set to in the CRM

Category: This currently searches any tags added and associated with the document in the CRM.

Date: The first input is from and the second is until. You can use a combination or just one to limit your results. This uses the Document Date set on the document in the CRM.

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View selector

To change the view you can click on the icons for either list or grid. Default view is Grid which shows thumbnails of each document if they have them. List view can be easier to see many at once.
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Allows you to easily to the document thumbnail. You can order the grid by either the Name or the Document Dat form the dropdown.

Allows you to easily see more documents and have access to a quick download button so no need to click through to a document. You can order the list by clicking on one of the table heading. You can also easily see each document date as well.
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If you want to create document pages for magazines which you can then pull into an index page then please see follow our article below