Place: Schema Management

Archives with many metadata fields can quickly become hard to work with: long forms, related fields scattered across the page, and small changes that need a support request. Schemas let you control which metadata fields your team sees, how they’re organized, and which ones must be filled in, all from Place settings.

Enabling schemas

Schemas are managed per archive in Place settings. There is nothing to switch on, because every archive already has at least one schema.

Manage local or global archive settings permission is required to manage schemas.

How schemas work

A schema is the set of metadata fields used by assets in an archive. You decide how each field behaves and group related fields into sections. The same layout then appears everywhere your team works with that asset: the Information tab in the asset detail, the archive sidebar and the uploader.

Open your schemas

1. Go to Place settings.
2. Select Schemas.

From here you can:

• Create a new schema
• Duplicate an existing schema
• Rename a schema
• Search for a field by name

Set how each field behaves

For each field, you can:

• Make it Visible, so users can see it
• Make it Editable, so users can change it
• Make it Mandatory, so it must be filled in before upload
• Rename the field
• Choose a default value

Note: System fields are locked and can’t be made mandatory.

Organize fields into sections

Sections group related fields under a named heading, so long forms are easier to fill in. For example, you could put all usage-rights fields under “Usage rights”, and all expiry and embargo dates under “Dates”.

1. Add a section and give it a name.
2. Drag fields into the section, or use the field menu to move them with the keyboard.
3. Reorder, rename or collapse sections as needed.

What your team sees

• Fields appear in their sections, in the order you set, in the asset detail and the uploader
• A text field filled in several languages shows its translations under the field
• When editing a single asset, changes save directly
• When bulk editing assets that use different schemas, shared fields appear first, followed by a group of fields for each schema
• Uploads only check mandatory fields that the uploader can see and edit, so a field they can’t access won’t block their upload

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I add new fields to a schema?
No. You can change how existing fields behave and where they appear, but you can’t add fields to a schema or remove them. Contact your Customer Success Manager if you need a new field.

Can I delete a schema?
Not from Place settings. Contact your Customer Success Manager if you need a schema removed.

Should I create a separate schema for each asset type?
Usually not. Most archives work best with a single schema. Sections and field settings let you organize one schema clearly without needing several.

Will my changes affect existing assets?
Yes. Layout and field settings apply to every asset that uses the schema.