Element Types & Data Types

UmBootstrap is built on Umbraco’s standard content architecture. Understanding these building blocks helps you create new layouts and features or customise existing ones.

Element Types

An element type is a document type with “Is Element” enabled. Unlike regular document types, element types can’t exist as standalone content — they’re used inside block grid and block list editors.

UmBootstrap uses element types for:

• Layouts (e.g. layout12, layout363) — container elements with areas
• Features (e.g. featureRichTextEditor, featureImage) — content blocks
• Feature components (e.g. featureComponentRichTextEditor) — compositions that provide specific properties
• Settings (e.g. featureSettings, layoutSettings) — configuration blocks for colour, visibility, etc.

Compositions

Compositions let element types inherit properties from other element types. UmBootstrap uses compositions extensively to keep things DRY:

Feature compositions:

• featureComponentFeatureTitle → provides the heading field
• featureComponentFeatureDescription → provides the lead text field
• featureComponentFeatureSummary → provides the footer text field
• One specific component per feature (e.g. featureComponentRichTextEditor)

Settings compositions:

• featureSettingsComponentColorPicker → background colour
• featureSettingsComponentHideDisplay → show/hide toggle
• layoutSettingsComponentColorPicker → layout background colour
• layoutSettingsComponentBackgroundImage → layout background image

A feature element type has no properties of its own — everything comes from compositions.

Data Types

A data type is a configured instance of a property editor. For example, “Rich Text Editor” is a property editor; a data type might be “Feature Content - Rich Text” with specific toolbar options configured.

Key data types in UmBootstrap:

• _Content Grid Default - Content - Block Grid — the main block grid, where layouts and features are registered
• Feature Settings - Colour Picker — the background colour picker used by feature settings
• Feature Component - Navigation In Page Items - Data List — the Contentment data list for in-page navigation

Property Editors

Property editors define the editing UI for a property. UmBootstrap uses both built-in Umbraco property editors and community ones:

• Rich Text Editor (Umbraco) — for rich text content
• Media Picker (Umbraco) — for images
• Block Grid (Umbraco) — the main page content editor
• Block List (Umbraco) — for repeating items within features
• Data List (Contentment) — for custom data source pickers
• UmbNav (community) — for site navigation

Naming Conventions

UmBootstrap follows strict naming conventions for element types:

Type	Pattern	Examples
Layouts	layout{columns}	layout12, layout363, layout39
Features	feature{Name}	featureRichTextEditor, featureImage
Feature components	featureComponent{Name}	featureComponentRichTextEditor
Feature settings	featureSettings{Scope}	featureSettings, featureSettingsNavigation
Layout settings	layoutSettings	layoutSettings

See the Layouts and Features sections for complete lists.