With Blueprints, you can add and organize data fields for any type of object or project, in the way that makes sense for you and your team, using your preferred terminology and institutional standards.
You know your objects, and you know what information you need to document. You shouldn’t have to skip over extraneous form fields or try to make objects “fit” into predefined categories.
Best of all, Blueprints are flexible and simple to update, whether you're adding, updating, or deleting fields.
What are Blueprints?
Blueprints are the data schemas for the objects in your Base. Think of them as custom forms with custom data fields. You can create and customize Blueprints for:
- Types of objects
- Exhibitions
- Projects with objects
- Groups of objects
When you set up a Blueprint, you’re setting up custom fields for information that you'll enter at the object level. If you add a field called Medium, you'll be able to enter medium information in that field on an object page.
The Core Blueprint
The first step in organizing your Blueprints is to create the Core Blueprint.
Your Core Blueprint serves two important functions:
- It is the default Blueprint selection for any object added to your Base.
- It is the foundation upon which all your other Blueprints will be built.
Ask yourself: What information do I want to document for every object in this Base?
If all your objects have an accession number and a description, you can add these fields to your Core Blueprint. Once added to the Core, these two fields will be included in any other Blueprint you create.
After setting up your Core Blueprint, you can still make updates as your needs evolve.
The Core can be as simple or as detailed as you like, with one field or thirty. At minimum, it will always include a title field.
Setting Up Blueprints
When you start a Base and visit Blueprints for the first time, we'll help you set up Blueprints.
In Step 1, you'll begin with the Core Blueprint. You'll see options for common types of fields. Select the ones that apply to ALL your objects. If nothing applies, click Next. Here we've chosen: Accession Number, Date, and Medium.
In Step 2, you can add Blueprints for object types. If you prefer, you can start with a template that comes with common fields. You’ll be able to rename, update, move, and delete these fields later.
In Step 3, if you’d like to set up an Exhibition Blueprint, add it here. This will use the exhibition template, which includes fields for tombstone information and object label text.
Then review and click Finish setup to create your first Blueprints.
In this example, we see the Core Blueprint, and Blueprints for Frames, Paintings, and a Portraiture Exhibition.
Adding Fields
Let’s take a look at the Core Blueprint to explore how to add additional fields. When you open a Blueprint for the first time, you'll take a quick tour to get acclimated.
There are three ways to add fields. Below the Fields tab, you’ll see Existing Fields, Types, and Presets.
Existing Fields
Under Existing Fields, you'll see all the fields in use across your Blueprints.. Selecting an existing field helps ensure consistency (for example, so that you don't create a new field called "Pub Date" when you already have a field called "Publication Date").
Presets
Existing Fields are ready-made options for common field types. Presets include: Accession Number, Artist, Contributor, Coverage, Creator, Credit Line, Date, Description, Dimensions, Format, Identifier, Language, Location, Maker, Medium, Publisher, Relation, Rights, Source, Subject, and Type.
Fields corresponding to the Dublin Core™ Metadata Element Set (DCMES)* are indicated by the words Dublin Core.
Types
Under Types, you’ll see all the available field types that can be added to a Blueprint.
To add a new field from Existing Fields, Presets, or Types, just hover over the name and a + icon will appear at right. Click to add the field to your Blueprint. It will appear at the end.
Any fields already in use in your current Blueprint will be grayed out in the list.
Field Types
Field types determine the type of information you’ll enter when you input data for your objects.
- Short Text: ideal for a single line of information
- Long Text: ideal for multiple lines of text like an object description, with the option to allow Markdown for special formatting (for example, for italicizing titles)
- Rich Text: for text requiring special formatting; allows use of bold, italics, underline, links, and notes
- Composed Text: allows you to combine/concatenate values from multiple fields
- Name Authority: select names and information from Getty's Union List of Artist Names® (ULAN)*
- Select: allows you to enter a list of selectable options like mat colors (can also be multiselect)
- File Select: allows you to select a preferred file or multiple files from an object’s available files
- Dataset Select: allows you to select an existing DataSet to generate a list of selectable options
- Object Select: lets you signal a group of objects, related objects, or relationships
- Structured List: ideal for adding separate list items, for example Bibliographic Citations or Provenance
- Date: allows for the entry of a date using a preferred format
- Number: customize numbering with minimum, maximum, and steps
- Auto-Increment: perfect for creating accession numbers or project-specific numbering systems
- Switch: allows you to create a toggle switch
- URL: for including a link to an online collection page or other resource
- Tags: ideal for adding searchable keywords for your objects
- Section Heading: headings for organizing your fields (for example, “Display Plans” or “Bibliography and Resources”); you can toggle on the option to collapse the fields within a section
- Spacer: adds an empty space within or between rows
For more about fields, see Setting Up Blueprint Fields.
Customize a Field
To customize a field, just click it. This opens up the Field Editor, which you can move around on the page.
In the Field Editor, add or edit the field label (for example, Date, Creation Date, Publication Date, etc.). Then select the preferred field type (for example, Short Text, Long Text, Date, etc.).
Here, for the Date Field Type, you can choose the data entry format. We've selected "Free text" since our dates will include circa, before, after, BCE/CE, etc., as well as date ranges.
We've also toggled on Required, since this information will be required for every object and Sortable, so that we can sort objects by the values entered in this field.
In notes, we signaled a formatting preference, ca. for circa, to ensure consistent data entry.
After customizing a field, Save the updates at lower right.
Arrange Fields and Rows
You can reorder fields via drag and drop.
You can also reorder entire rows by using dragger (icon with 6 dots) that appears to the right of a row on hover.
Delete Fields and Rows
When you hover over a field, an X will appear in the upper right hand corner. Click to remove the field.
To delete a row, from the action menu (three vertical dots), select Delete Row.
Adding Blueprints
Ceate Blueprints for specific types of objects, exhibitions, projects with objects, or groups of objects.
Remember, every new Blueprint you add will already contain the fields from the Core Blueprint. Core fields will display a padlock (these fields must be edited in the Core Blueprint).
Add a Blueprint by clicking the + icon, giving it a name, and selecting the category (Object for a type of object, Exhibition for an exhibition, Project for a project with objects, or Group for a group of objects).
For Object or Exhibition, you'll have the option to begin with a template.
Under the Settings Tab, you can add a helpful description of your Blueprint and, if necessary, update the type.
Structuring Blueprints
For each of your Blueprints, you can add and customize the fields for your objects and projects, and it’s simple to update them as your informational needs evolve.
- For a Prints Blueprint, you might add fields for Printmaker and State.
- For a Photographs Blueprint, you might add fields for Photographer and Negative Date.
- For a Portraiture Exhibition Blueprint, you might add fields for Sitter and Object Label.
- For a Fossils Blueprint, you might add fields for Geologic Age and Taxonomic Name.
Preview Blueprint Fields
You don't enter object data in a Blueprint. Instead, you're setting up the fields in which you'll be entering object information on an object's page.
To preview how Blueprint fields will display on an object page, click the eye icon in the upper right hand corner. Required fields display an asterisk and notes appear below.
Blueprint Actions
Inside a Blueprint, from action menu at upper right, you'll see several options.
- If you’d like a record of your Blueprint field structure, you can download it as JSON.
- If you’d like to duplicate your Blueprint, click Duplicate. This will create a copy you can rename.
- For uploading object data, you can Download CSV Template. The column headings in the CSV will correspond to the fields in your Blueprint. Read more in CSV Guidelines.
- To take the tour of the Blueprint UI elements, click Take a Tour
- When there are no objects using a Blueprint ("0 Objects use this Blueprint"), you'll see the option to delete it.
The Primary Blueprint
When you add an object, you’ll select its Primary Blueprint. This will most likely be an object type Blueprint (for example, Paintings for a painting or Ceramics for a vase). When you create or open the object, the Primary Blueprint generates the fields you'll see first.
In the object, you'll enter data in the fields generated by the selected Blueprint.
You can add Secondary Blueprints, change the Primary Blueprint, and remove a Blueprint from the object by selecting Edit from the Blueprint drop-down menu.
In this example, two of the seven Blueprints in the Base are associated with this object. Paintings is the Primary Blueprint, indicated by the blue star. Over the Moon, an Exhibition Blueprint, is a secondary Blueprint.
To designate another Primary Blueprint, click the star. To add or remove a Blueprint, click the circle to add or remove the check mark.
Locking a Blueprint Field
After you've entered object information in a field (for example, for the accession number or dimensions) you can go back to your Blueprint and toggle on the option to lock that field.
On an object page, locked fields will display a padlock and will be grayed out. No data can be entered or updated in a locked field unless that field is unlocked in the Blueprint.
Update Blueprints
From the Objects page, you can select an object or a group of objects for which you'd like to change the Primary Blueprint, add a Secondary Blueprint, remove a Blueprint.
Choose a Blueprint from the drop down menu and then click Update.
This is helpful, for example, when you create an Exhibition, Project, or Group Blueprint that you want to add as a Secondary Blueprint to one or more objects.
Accessing Blueprints
When the Base Owner of a Base adds Base Members, they can remove access to Blueprints in Settings.
Please Note: Blueprint access (the ability to add, edit, and delete Blueprints) is toggled on by default.
Blueprints empower you and your team to structure and prioritize data that matters for your objects and your projects.
Want to discuss Blueprint strategies and goals with us? Do you have questions about setting up your Blueprints?
*The Dublin Core™ Metadata Element Set (DCMES) is provided by the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
*Getty's Union List of Artist Names® (ULAN) is made available under the Open Data Commons Attribution License (ODC-By) 1.0.