---
title: Define page properties
slug: cms-saas/docs/define-page-properties
docTags: 
createdAt: 2026-07-30T20:18:09.000Z
---

:::hint{type="warning"}
**Important**
This topic is for CMS (SaaS) administrators and developers with administrative access rights.
:::

In Optimizely Content Management System (CMS) (SaaS), property types are the building blocks of content types. [Content types](docId\:IIrc48HRxDZe6C7wiVBVT) are the building blocks of web content.

CMS (SaaS) uses the following types of properties:

- **Default properties** – Set by the system and are available for pages and blocks regardless of type. See the following topics for property details:
  - [Block property](docId\:azwuj14qXR-995a_3WR7I)
  - [Choice property](docId\:P-L8aQH3jLFHU7Wpj3jHD)
  - [Content property](docId:_LNPrj81Ijp15B0VBhsRj)
  - [DateTime property](docId\:nqx5ICpgneSQ9eDGwXiBk)
  - [Guid property](docId\:H1HaULTpvF9LxyoJZwQQv)
  - [Link property](docId\:b_V9u3_NM19Fa14zgLfTm)
  - [Number property](docId:8REViwwWCYnXrJKy_1PwK)
  - [Text property](docId\:BaRJWKyAWdiLbjZgZFr2_)
- **User-defined properties** – Added to the page, block, and experience type definitions. See the following documentation:
  - [Create a page](docId:8njrgGSv22-Z2nYg9yFtD).
  - [Create a block](docId\:uYV7kiYOsmO5r-1wUnaHj).
  - [Create an experience from scratch](docId\:ZfmaHcYZYea6kONeldxNJ).
  - [Create an experience from a blueprint](docId:-s7XrO4ltsf7jtMxI-JIm).

## Create content type

You can create different [content types](docId\:IIrc48HRxDZe6C7wiVBVT) (Page, Block, Media, Experience, Element) by defining combinations of properties. To work with content types, go to **Settings** > **Content Types** > *\[select content type]* > **Properties**.

1. Go to **Settings** > **Content Type** and click **Create New** > **Page Type** (or other type).

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/qXJi6dnaOyKweRtHsW6aD-20260722-181223.png)

2. Enter the page information.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/7Qd1neHfaILakxyYy0HYP_33900430cbae76b10779e72e9a7347a1b91c28d4d5bd78937f72e24f8ac7cf89-image.png)

3. Click **Add Property** to define the properties for the page type.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/y-gH5QCWSInDqmQxfSHvR_65baa6f3d3fdc5344fb29907122d10de955207ec5dcfe1a55adcc57a647c142c-image.png)

4. Fill in the fields on the **Configure Property** page.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/fwzWYo1V5dWek3kPX7-R__abbc28b5f1f67efaefe614075bc6245428c738d296c7b94bfee2a047b89b87a8-image.png)

:::hint{type="info"}
**Note**
Each type has different validations that display.
:::

5. Click **Save**.

## View content type details

The Details page displays information about

- **GUID** – The content type's GUID.
- **Base** – The content type's base type.
- **From code** – Not applicable to CMS (SaaS).
- **Created** – When the content type was created.
- **Modified** – When the content type was changed.
- **Class Name** – Displays the API class to which the content type belongs, with additional information.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/Acvlt_oTmVNlKhWCLnun7_42e98663f422b44e5db347cb566787e71e7921a1d47498e01e718cac55a339be-image.png)

## Set default values

:::hint{type="info"}
**Note**
The **Default values** page only displays for page types.

It does not display for block, media, experience, or element types.
:::

- **Use adjusted default settings for pages using this page type**
  - Select to define the publishing options for this page type.
  - Clear to let the system set the publishing options (**Never** is the default for **Publish** after and **Unpublish after**) for this page type.
- **Sort index** – Not applicable to CMS (SaaS).
- **Publish after** – Enter a number and select minute, hour, and day. In the following example, content of this page type is automatically published to the application 30 minutes after you publish the page after editing.
- **Unpublish after** – Enter a number and select minute, hour, and day. In the following example, content of this page type is unpublished after 1 day (because you may have time-sensitive data that you want to display for only 1 day).

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/Hhp5kdVCMpUtllyAH1kD2_ad7477adf1b6e5bd84ced9f5df5d2e178275963b7e55417d9c54af8cb5e123a1-image.png)

## Set child content types

You can limit the content types that others can add as associated children of the content type.

- **None** – Default, for no child types.
- **All** – Any child type.
- **Selected** – Select the content types you want.

For example, perhaps you want the **Article** content type's children types to be limited to **Corporate Office** and **Article Group Page**.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/joQcIynkvu7ev92cD7PjW_b840d7544a546fd56f23a827e1c450a98a856e264f31b3f9090bbde2d96b1908-image.png)

## Set permissions for content type

If you want to make the content type available only to specific groups, open the **Permissions** tab.

1. Click **Delete** to remove the **Everyone** group.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/3X5hKJgjIbBmwaA6HGKyN_6d982030d9c29fc7167cf74001dfa6b9e558025a3410837add66c4b3a241d282-image.png)

2. Select **Add User/Group** > **Content Editors** (or another group or user).

:::hint{type="info"}
**Note**
Administrators manage users and groups through Opti ID.

- To add users, see [Manage users](docId\:afJzJCmm5TkQ4CDpUlXQh) in the Opti ID documentation.
- To add groups, see [Manage groups](docId\:WAK--fqnE1yE8NKjckoq7) in the Opti ID documentation.
:::

3. Click **Save**. The updated content type shows **Content Editors** in the **Access Level** column of the **Content Types** list.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/XVQFYaVH4wGM1poHhKDYi_a00e3c22fe850fd756677cca2da6d1ea2235fc39fb0b035daa36919ce34495b5-image.png)

When a user tries to **Create an Experience**, the **Blank experience** content type is visible and available only to users in the **Content Editors** group.

## Set content type details (Settings)

The **Settings** tab displays the basic settings of the content type.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/r0_TyLF3zCPcSlgld0GeD_b10ff359d327f8385ca4a60ee3a345a4ac9149cce65ded0b5c01034467668d3c-image.png)

- **Name** – Enter the internal name for this content type, using only alphanumeric characters and the underscore (\_). No spaces.
- **Display name** – Enter the name that displays in the **Content Types** list.
- **Description** – Enter a description for the content type, which displays when you are selecting a content type. The following example shows the Article Group Page page content type with its description.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/bL28XUe1mV-5pPJJJL4r6_74d98339a8bd00dff483bc9a037c02ceb671548b55280c597e5b5cf48f03c1a0-image.png)

- **Sort index** – Manually set the **Sort index** value for this page type. The sort index for a content type controls the order in which content types are listed on the **Content Types** page.
- **Available in edit view** – Enable this when you want to make the content type available in edit view. Clear it to make it inaccessible from edit view.
- **Delete Content Type** – Click **Delete Content Type** and confirm it to delete the content type. If your content type is in use, a message lists the items that you must delete before you can delete the content type.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/lY0lZkAgqS8kTbWTDnMPu_dbf32c61d8397991b9040ae255eecbc35d621d56889b18b9564f9cd53b156442-image.png)