Customize Content Space
Overview
Monospace auto-generates content pages for every collection — a listing page, a create form, and an edit form. You can customize these at two levels:
- Data Model appearance — reorder fields, set display templates, and configure collection metadata.
- Create and edit pages — take full control of the form layout by ejecting the auto-generated form.
Reorder Fields
Open Data Model, select a collection, and drag fields to reorder them. The new order applies everywhere the collection's fields are listed — including auto-generated create and edit forms.
Fields with a custom sort order appear first. Fields without one appear after, sorted alphabetically.
Changes save automatically.
Display Templates
A display template controls how items from a collection are represented throughout the UI — in relation fields, breadcrumbs, and list views.
Configure it in Data Model > Collection > Appearance > Display Template.
The template editor accepts a mix of plain text and field references. Type / or click the + button to insert a field reference. Field references render as inline badges that resolve to the item's actual values at runtime.
When no display template is set, Monospace defaults to the first string-type field in the collection, or the primary key if no string field exists.
Collection Appearance
The Appearance section in the Data Model also allows you to:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Display Name | Override the collection label shown in the UI |
| Icon & Color | Visual identifier for the collection in navigation |
| Description | Help text shown alongside the collection |
| Hidden | Remove the collection from the content space sidebar |
Customize Create or Edit Pages
For more control over form layout, you can customize the create or edit page for any collection.
Open the Page Editor
- Navigate to the Content space.
- In the sidebar, find the collection you want to customize.
- Right-click (or open the menu on) the create or edit detail page.
- Select Customize Create Page or Customize Edit Page.
This opens the block editor with a Form block bound to the collection.
Eject the Form
By default, the Form block auto-generates fields from the collection schema. To take manual control, click Eject in the block editor sidebar.
Ejecting does the following:
- Inserts a FormField block for every visible field in the collection.
- Stops the form from auto-updating when the data model changes.
- Gives you full control to add, remove, and reorder FormField blocks.
Customize the Layout
Once ejected, you can:
- Reorder fields — drag FormField blocks to change their position.
- Remove fields — delete FormField blocks you don't need on the form.
- Add fields back — click Refresh Fields to insert any fields not already present.
- Override field labels — set a custom label or description on individual FormField blocks.
- Mark fields as required or disabled — configure per-field behavior.
Eject Individual Fields
Each FormField block auto-renders the appropriate input control for its field type. To replace the default input with a custom one, eject the individual FormField.
An ejected FormField accepts custom child blocks — any block tagged as a form control (text inputs, select dropdowns, date pickers, relation selectors, etc.).
Reset to Auto-Generated
Click Reset to discard all customizations and return the form to its auto-generated state. This removes all custom field ordering and layout changes.
See Also
- Data Model - collections, fields, and relations
- Introspection - how Monospace discovers your database schema