Using Collections and Collection Pages in the content feed

The most common methods for grouping content into entities or pages involve using the TV show concept, or manually or dynamically grouping selected content into a container.

However, we also offer another feature allowing you to group content, save these groups, and then use them in different scenarios in your service: the Collection. 

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What is a collection? 

A collection is a group of videos that belong together and that can be easily referenced in various contexts, such as in containers, but do not qualify as a TV show. For example, a collection could be:

• All videos of a certain genre 
• All movies starting with the letter A 
• All sports videos related to a certain team 
• A predefined list of videos, such as a playlist

Using collections can save you time when curating content. For instance - if you want to display a specific set of videos in different containers across different pages (and/or create a Collection Page), you only need to edit the collection once. 

There is no limit to the number of collections you can create or use, and you have complete flexibility in defining what counts as a collection in your context. 

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What types of collection are available? 

There are three types of collection: 

• Custom collections: Created by you, either through editorial selection or the dynamic algorithm.
• Synced playlists: Playlists created in your video provider that are synced to Accedo One. 
• User specific feeds: Favorites, Watch History, Continue Watching and Watch Again. 

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How do I create a collection?

To create a Collection, go to Content Manager > My Collections, and click on “Add New Collection”. 

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On the next page, you are able to choose between two methods: 

• Editorial Collection: Manually add each video
• Dynamic Collection: Create rules to automatically add videos from your catalog. 

This process works in the same way as adding content to a regular container. 

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Synced playlists and user-specific feeds are automatically available as long as the respective feature (e.g. Favorites) is enabled or the respective playlist is created in your video provider. 

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How can I use collections in my service? 

There are a few different ways you can use collections: 

Single container 

You can display any collection on any Browse page using a container. Simply click on the “New container” prompt in the Editor, choose “Existing Collection”, and then select the desired collection on the following page. 

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Containers are also ideal for user specific feeds. By creating containers for Favorites, Watch History, Continue Watching and/or Watch Again, you personalize the browsing experience and provide users with easy access to content they have shown interest in. 

Display your catalog in tab view 

A powerful way to use collections is through the tab view, which allows users to easily browse a large catalog by, for example, offering different genres or breaking up alphabetical content on a single page.

To set this up, create an editorial container on your Browse page and select the Collections you want to display in your tabs. 

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Then, you click on “Edit Style” and change the style of your container to Tab View. 

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Collection Page 

You may want to display a collection on a single “TV Show”-like details page, allowing viewers to binge-watch all the videos. This approach is ideal for shorter, episodic, and related content (such as a daily news show) rather than for movies. 

To create a Collection Page, go to Content Manager > Collection Pages, and click “Add a new collection page”. 

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On the following page, you will be prompted to enter a title, description and thumbnail/background image. You will also be asked to add collections. You can either add a single collection for a single video list, or multiple collections for a tabbed view (similar to TV show seasons). 

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Once created, you can add collection pages to containers, and they will also be displayed in search results just like regular TV shows and videos. 

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