Adding a component reference element to a template

You add a component reference element to an authoring template when you want the component reference to be used by a set of content items that use the same authoring template.

1. Open or create an authoring template.
2. Click Manage Elements.
3. Select Component reference as the element type.
4. Enter a name. Do not use double-byte and non-ASCII characters.
5. Enter a display title to use as the title of the element displayed indexes and forms.
6. If you have created a text provider plug-in for a multi-locale site, you can also select the text provider and enter a key to look up a string from the selected text provider. The text provider displays different display title for each language it has been configured for. The text entered in the Display Title field is only used if an appropriate display title is not available from the selected text provider, or if the text provider is not available.
7. Click Add. The component reference element is added to your form.
8. Go to the Default Content tab.
9. Go to the component reference element you added and click Select Component to select a component, or do nothing if you want your content creators to select a component.
10. Click to open the display properties of the element. This is where you define how the element is displayed on the content item form.
    1. To display the element as a required field select Identify this as a required field.
    2. To hide a field on the content form from all users select Hide field. You must specify a default value if the field is a required field.
       Note: Administrators and managers can choose to display hidden fields and elements in a content item by clicking Show hidden fields.
    3. Click Add to restrict users to only be able to reference the components types you select.
    4. Type field-specific help into Field help text. This displays above the element in the content form.

       If you have created a text provider plug-in for a multi-locale site, you can also select the text provider and enter a key to look up a string from the selected text provider. The text provider displays different help text for each language it has been configured for. The text entered in the Field help field is only used if an appropriate help text is not available from the selected text provider, or if the text provider is not available.

    5. Select the users or groups you want to grant edit access to a field or element by clicking Select Editors.
    6. Select the users or groups you want to grant view access to a field or element by clicking Select Viewers.
11. Save the authoring template.