Data-Bound Sections

A data-bound section is a design that shows the information of a record you choose — a provider, a service, a product, a post — instead of fixed sample text. You pick the record once; the section fills itself and stays up to date.

A provider spotlight section selected in the Page Builder with the Providers picker in the Settings panel

A data-bound section selected in the editor. The Settings panel shows a picker for the records to display and a limit.

Why data-bound sections exist

Ready-made sections come with sample wording. For some designs — a provider profile, a service page, a product showcase — the content is already in TruCMS. A data-bound section reads it for you, so you never retype a name, a price, a rating or a photo, and the section cannot drift out of date.

Insert a section from the Template Library → Select it → Pick the record in Settings → The section fills with real data → Save the page

Using one

Open the Page Builder and insert a section or full page from the Template Library. Booking and Shop layouts are the ones that use your records.
Click the section on the canvas to select it. If it is data-bound, its name appears in the selection and the Settings panel shows a picker (for example Providers, Services, Product or Posts).
Search and choose one or more records. For lists, set Max items to the number you want to show.
The section reloads with the real data within a moment. Change the choice at any time and it updates again.
Choose Save Content.

Until you choose a record, the section shows its sample wording, so it is obvious when a pick is still missing.

What you can bind to

Picker	Shows	Comes from
Providers	Names, photos, specialities, ratings, next free times and booking buttons of the staff you pick.	Booking
Services	Names, durations, prices, descriptions and booking links of the services you pick.	Booking
Locations	Names, addresses, opening details and the services available at the locations you pick.	Booking
Single Booking Service / Provider / Location (full page)	A whole story page about one service, staff member or place: introduction, details, the team, reviews, a live booking form pre-selected for it.	Booking
Product	One product: gallery, price, options, specifications and reviews.	TruCommerce
Products	A set of products, for example a “drop” or “shop the look” section.	TruCommerce
Product Categories	Categories with their images and product counts.	TruCommerce
Category (full page)	A whole page about one category.	TruCommerce
Posts	Published blog posts, for example a featured story.	Blog

Full-page bindings

A full page layout asks for the record only once. Every section of the page then follows that single record, so a service story page is built around one service from top to bottom.

How the data stays current

When you save, TruCMS stores the page with the real data already filled in, so public pages stay fast and keep working. It also remembers which records each page shows. From then on:

When a record changes — you edit a provider’s biography, change a product price, unpublish a post — the pages that show it are refreshed automatically. An unpublished record disappears from the section; publishing it again brings it back.
Every hour TruCMS also refreshes every page that uses data-bound sections, as a safety net. This uses the scheduler described in Scheduled Tasks, so make sure it is running.
When you open the page in the builder again the section is re-linked to its record, so you can change the choice or the limit at any time.

Changes not showing?

If a change to a record does not appear on a page after a while, check that scheduled tasks are running (see FAQ), then open the page in the Page Builder and save it once.

Good to know

Binding replaces the facts (names, prices, photos, ratings). The surrounding wording of a layout (headings such as Meet your specialist) is still yours to edit.
Only data that exists is shown. A layout never invents qualifications, opening hours or reviews that are not in TruCMS.
Removing a record you picked removes its card from the section; pick another record to fill the space.
Data-bound layouts need their module: Booking layouts need the Booking module, Shop layouts need TruCommerce.
Pages built from these layouts keep working if you later change the picked record; just reopen and pick again.

Page Builder · Template Library in the Builder · Dynamic Blocks & Shortcodes · Scheduled Tasks