Create a Series Object

Introduction

A series is a collection of related videos organized into seasons and episodes — for example a TV show or a multi-part documentary. You create the series object in ViewLift Tools, attach existing videos as episodes, then place the series on site pages and detail layouts in Template Builder.

This article explains how to add a new series, complete its metadata, add seasons and episodes, publish it, and place it on the site.

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to help you:

• Create a new series object in ViewLift Tools
• Fill in the metadata, images, and other settings required to publish
• Add seasons and attach videos as episodes
• Know how to place the series on trays and which Template Page renders it

Scope

This article covers:

• Creating a series in ViewLift Tools → Content Management → Series
• Completing the series object (metadata, images, monetization, availability, SEO)
• Building Seasons and adding episode videos
• Publishing or scheduling the series
• The required Template Builder points for trays and the Show Template Page

It does not cover full Template Builder how-to (that is a separate documentation set), or creating the episode files themselves. Create those first with Create a VOD Object. Live streams, playlists, and collections are separate content types.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• Access to ViewLift Tools with permission to create and publish content
• Access to Template Builder
• At least one video already created in Tools if you want to add episodes now (you can also add seasons later)
• A 16:9 thumbnail image (recommended 1920 × 1080 px), already cut to size — Tools does not crop images for you
• Your metadata ready before you start: title, description, tags, and categories

Example used in this article
Throughout the steps below we use one running example — a documentary series called Championship Chronicles. Season 1 holds episode videos such as Championship Final — Match Highlights. Replace the sample values with your own.

Step 1: Open Series in ViewLift Tools

1. Log into ViewLift Tools.
2. From the main menu, open Content Management.
3. In the content type selector at the top of the list, choose Series.

Figure 1. ViewLift Tools → Content Management → Series. Use the content-type dropdown to select Series, then click + Add New Series.

The Series list shows existing series objects. You can search by title, tag, or category.

Step 2: Create a Series Object

1. On the Series list, select + Add New Series in the header. The button is labelled with the content type you selected, so it reads Add New Series while Series is active.
2. The Add New Series dialog opens.
3. Enter a Title (required). Example: Championship Chronicles.
4. Optionally enter a Description. Example: A season-long look at the teams, the final, and the stories behind the title.
5. Select Create.

Tools creates the series as a draft and opens the series editor.

Permalink is not set in this dialog. It is generated on the detail page — editorialize it before you publish (see Step 3).

Figure 2. Add New Series dialog. Enter a Title (required) and an optional Description, then select Create.

Step 3: Complete Content Metadata

Open the series. The detail page sidebar includes Content Metadata, Manage Images, Monetization, Geo-Restrictions, Availability & Scheduling, Seasons, Trailers, Cast & Crew, Metadata & Macros, Audio & Subtitle Metadata, SEO, and Version History.

Start with Content Metadata.

Figure 3. Series detail page, Content Metadata. Required fields are Title and Permalink.

To link a team or a person, that object must already exist in Tools.

Permalink guidelines

Use the same rules as other content types:

• Start with a slash (/)

• Lower-case letters only

• No spaces or special characters except dash (-) or underscore (_); dashes are preferred

• No leading or trailing whitespace

• Keep it SEO-friendly (about 59 characters)

• Remove auto-generated numeric identifiers when you editorialize the path

• Good: /championship-chronicles

• Avoid: /Championship Chronicles_S1_final

You can change the permalink later if you need a better URL. To see who changed it and when, open the Version History tab.

Quick settings

Step 4: Manage Images

Open Manage Images.

The 16:9 Landscape image is required to publish. Recommended size: 1920 × 1080 px. Upload images already cropped to the correct aspect ratio. Tools does not crop for you.

Figure 4. Manage Images. 16:9 Landscape is marked Required. Expand a ratio row to upload a thumbnail already cropped to that ratio. Tools does not crop images.

After you publish the series and curate it onto a tray, these images appear on that tray and in search.

Step 5: Add Seasons and Episodes

This is the step that makes a series different from a single video. Open Seasons.

Episodes are existing video objects. Create and encode those videos first (Create a VOD Object), then attach them here. A video can belong to only one season at a time.

Create a season

1. Select New Season.
2. Tools adds Season 1, then Season 2, and so on.
3. Expand a season to edit:
   • Title — for example Season 1 or 2024
   • Description — optional season summary, for example From the opening round to the championship final.
4. Drag a season card to change season order. Season numbers update to match the order.

If there are no seasons yet, the panel shows No seasons added and Click “New Season” to get started.

Figure 5. Seasons. Select New Season on the left. Search videos on the right, then drag a video onto a season.

Add episodes

1. Select (expand) the season that should receive episodes.
2. On the right, use Search to find videos. Hint text under the search box is Drag items into a season on the left.
3. Drag a video onto the season on the left. The video becomes an episode in that season. Example: drag Championship Final — Match Highlights into Season 1.
4. Drag episodes inside the season to set playback order.
5. Use the trash control on an episode or season to remove it.

Videos already assigned to any season are removed from the search list so they cannot be added again.

When you have unsaved season changes, a banner titled Unsaved Changes appears: You have unsaved changes. Make sure to save before closing. Select Save Changes before you leave the page.

Figure 6. Drag videos into a season to add episodes. If the Unsaved Changes banner appears, select Save Changes before you leave the page.

On a video that is already an episode, the video detail header can show a link such as Episode 1 of Championship Chronicles - Season 1, which opens this series.

You can publish a series with no seasons yet, but viewers will not have episodes to play until you add them.

Step 6: Configure Additional Series Settings

These sections are optional for many sites. Complete the ones your service uses before you publish.

Monetization

Attach the subscription model, plans, or plan groups that should unlock this series. If no model is attached, playback follows your site’s default entitlement rules.

1. Select Add Model and choose the monetization model, for example SVOD.
2. Under Monetization Plans, select the plans or plan groups that unlock the series, for example Premium Monthly.
3. Save your selection.

Season or episode entitlements may still depend on how plans are set up for your site.

Figure 7.1. Monetization. Select Add Model, then attach the subscription model, plans, or plan groups that should unlock this series.

Figure 7.2. Monetization. Select Monetization Model.

Figure 7.3. Monetization. Select Monetization Plans.

Geo-Restrictions

Use Licenses when the series may only be watched in certain countries. Move a license from Available Licenses to Applied Licenses, then select Apply License Changes.

Zipcode Groups are not available on a series object. If you need postal-code blackouts, apply them on the episode videos.

Licenses must be created once in Tools before you can attach them.

Availability & Scheduling

Set when the series becomes available to users. Series only has the content availability window — not AIR Date or Season AIR Date. Episode-level air dates still live on each video object.

Setting a start date does not publish the series for you. You still publish (or schedule) the object in Step 7 — the availability window then controls when viewers can actually open it.

Trailers and Cast & Crew

• Trailers — attach a promo or teaser. The trailer must already exist as its own video object. Example: attach Championship Chronicles — Trailer.
• Cast & Crew — production credits. The fields are Cast and Director.

Metadata & Macros

Metadata & Macros stores extra key/value pairs that your site or apps can read. Use it for anything the standard fields do not cover.

Example: key sponsor, value Acme Sports. Select Add Metadata to add a row.

Audio & Subtitle Metadata

Use Audio & Subtitle Metadata when your players need extra audio or subtitle labels for the series. Add values under Audio Metadata and Subtitle Metadata.

SEO (Search & Discovery)

Write the SEO title and description for a viewer searching on Google, not for your internal naming. Championship Chronicles 2024 performs better than series_s1_final.

Version History

Open Version History to see who changed the series and when. Use it to check edits such as a permalink change, a title update, or who published the series.

Step 7: Publish the Series

Required before publish:

• Title
• Permalink
• 16:9 Landscape image

Seasons and episodes are not required to select Publish, but add them before you expect a full watch experience.

1. When you are ready, select Publish to go live now.
2. Or use Schedule to publish at a later date and time.
3. After publish, use Update for further metadata changes, Unpublish to take it down, or Archive to retire it.

Figure 8. Series detail header. Use Publish (or Schedule) to go live. After publish, use Update, Unpublish, or Archive.

The new series is now in the CMS library. It does not appear on the website until you curate it onto a page or a user opens its permalink (which uses the Show Template Page).

Step 8: Curate the Series on a Template Builder Page

To show the series on Home (or any Modular Page):

1. Open AppCMS → Edit Template Builder.
2. Open Modular Pages and find the page (for example, Home).
3. Add or select a tray module. Typical trays:
   • VL HighlightTray
   • VL LandscapeTray
   • VL Vertical Tray
4. Open module settings and set a tray title, for example Championship Series.
5. Choose Content Selection:
   • Manually Curate — search for the series and stack items in the order you want.
   • Programmatically Generate — fill the tray from tags or categories. For example, generate from the tag documentary and every new series with that tag joins the tray automatically.
6. Set Content Type to Series (or Any) if the tray filters by type.
7. In Thumbnail Type, choose the ratio that matches the images you uploaded. Template Builder writes these with an asterisk — 16*9, 3*4, 32*9, 9*16, 1*1, 4*3.
8. Publish the Template Builder page.

Changes can take about 5–10 minutes to appear on the website because of caching. To verify sooner, use a private window, another browser, or clear cookies and cache.

Clicking a series thumbnail takes the user to that series’ detail page (the Show Template Page).

Step 9: Show Template Page

The layout for an individual series is defined by the Show Template Page. Some sites also list Show Detail Page. Both page types use the same show-detail modules.

1. In Template Builder, open Template Pages.
2. Open Show Template Page (or Show Detail Page).
3. The featured module is VL Show Detail (some sites also have VL Show Detail 02).
4. Customize the page in that module:
   • Player Config — set the Default Player Provider used for playback.
   • Enable Seasons — turn this on so the seasons and episodes UI appears on the series page. It is off by default.
   • Monetisation CTA — set the Primary CTA and Secondary CTA shown to a viewer who is not entitled to the series.
   • Season tray title (default copy is Seasons), Play All, episode numbers, trailers tray, fonts, and on-page copy.
5. Publish the template.

You can have more than one Show Template Page, but only one can be set as the default. Series use the default template unless a custom template is assigned on the series object.

Troubleshooting

Best Practices

• Write titles for viewers, not for files. Championship Chronicles works far better in search and on trays than series_s1_final.
• Create episode videos first, then attach them under Seasons. The series object does not upload video files.
• Save season changes when the unsaved banner appears. Leaving the page without saving drops the drag-and-drop work.
• Tag consistently. Programmatic trays are built from tags and categories, so a misspelled tag means the series silently never appears.
• Turn on Enable Seasons on the Show Template Page before you expect a seasons UI on the site.
• Fill in SEO fields for any series you expect to be found through search engines.

FAQs

Q. Can I create a series before I have any episode videos?
Yes. Create the series, then add seasons and drag videos in later. Viewers will not have episodes to play until videos are attached.

Q. Do I upload video files on the series object?
No. Upload and encode files on Videos. The series only links those videos as episodes.

Q. Can the same video be in two seasons?
No. Once a video is an episode in a season, it is removed from the search list so it cannot be added again.

Q. Can I publish without a 16:9 image?
No. Title, permalink, and a 16:9 Landscape image are required to publish.

Q. Can I duplicate a series?
No. Duplicate is not available for series in ViewLift Tools. Create a new series and attach the videos under Seasons.

Q. Can I edit a series after publishing?
Yes. Open the series, change what you need, and select Update. You do not have to unpublish first.

Q. Is it possible to have two Show template pages?
Yes, but only one can be set as the default.

Q. I published the series but I do not see it on Home.
Publishing adds it to the library. You still need to curate it onto a tray (manually or by tag/category) and publish that Template Builder page. Allow a few minutes for cache.

Q. How do I hide a series from trays and search without unpublishing it?
Enable Hide Content (Search & Trays) in Quick Settings on the series object.

Q. Why does the series page show no seasons even though I added them in Tools?
Open the Show Template Page and turn on Enable Seasons on VL Show Detail. That switch is off by default.

Important Information

• Create the series object in Tools. Template Builder only places that object on pages and defines the detail layout.
• Episodes are videos. Create them with Create a VOD Object, then attach them under Seasons.
• Save season changes when the unsaved-changes banner appears.
• Upload images at the correct aspect ratio. Tools will not crop them.
• Use the same permalink style as other content: /lowercase-path-with-dashes.
• Tray thumbnail type must match the image ratios you uploaded (especially 32:9 for ultra-wide carousels).
• On the Show Template Page, turn on Enable Seasons so viewers can browse seasons and episodes.
• Cache can delay frontend updates by 5–10 minutes.

Glossary

Contact Support

If you need help beyond this article, contact the ViewLift support team.

• Email: techsupport@viewlift.com
• Phone (US): +1-800-859-0420
• Phone (UK): +44-203-014-8921

Support hours: B2C requests are handled Monday to Friday. B2B support is available 24/7.

After the series is published in Tools, users can open it on the site by permalink, or from a tray after you curate it in Template Builder. The detail layout is the Show Template Page.