Easiest way to add custom content to a templated page?

[helen.hachtel]

I’m building an app that serves as a database of food items. Each food item is a “Thing” with a dedicated page that pulls in structured fields like “Taste,” “Smell,” and related recipes. This templated approach works well since most items follow the same format.

However, I now have a case where a specific food item needs a completely custom section. For example, one item requires a special cleaning process before it’s cooked, and I’d like to show that process using a mix of custom images and text—not something that fits into a standard field on the Food Item Thing.

What I’d like to do is:

• Create a fully custom-designed section (or page) just for that item
• Link that custom section to a specific Food Item
• On the standard templated page, include a conditional that says something like:
  “If this item has a custom section, show it here”

What’s the best way to set this up in Bubble? Should I create a separate data type for custom content blocks and link them via a field on the Food Item? Or is there a better way to handle this kind of one-off design within a mostly structured page layout?

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

[ruiz86]

There are a few ways you can handle this:

I believe the simplest approach is to create a new data type (e.g., CustomSection) with fields like title, description, image, etc. Then, in your FoodItem (formerly “Thing”), you add a field of type CustomSection.

On the front end, you can create a group that is initially hidden and collapsed. Set a condition like:
“When This FoodItem’s CustomSection is not empty → this group is visible.”
Inside this group, you display the fields from the CustomSection.

Another option is to create different layout templates for various item types. In this case, you could use an Option Set (e.g., TemplateType) with multiple predefined template types. Then, in your FoodItem data type, add a field of type TemplateType.

On the front end, use conditionals based on the selected TemplateType to control how the layout is displayed. This gives you the flexibility to create multiple unique templates and adds a more polished, “cool” feel to your app.