Managing Your Collections
Organize, edit, move, archive, and perform bulk actions on your collections.
Overview
Once you have created your collections, managing them effectively is key to staying organized and productive. Collections Manager provides a comprehensive set of tools for organizing, editing, sorting, and maintaining your collections over time.
This guide covers the essential management tasks you will use regularly, from organizing collections into folders and applying tags, to archiving old content and performing batch operations across multiple collections at once.
Tip: If you are new to Collections Manager, start with the Getting Started guide to learn the basics before diving into advanced management features.
Organizing Collections
Collections Manager supports several organizational structures to help you keep your workspace clean and navigable.
Folders
Folders provide a hierarchical structure for grouping related collections together. You can create folders within the My Collections view and nest collections inside them.
Create a Folder
Navigate to My Collections and click the New Folder button in the toolbar. Enter a name for the folder and click Create.
Move Collections into Folders
Drag and drop a collection card onto a folder to move it inside, or use the Move to... option from the collection's context menu (three-dot icon). You can nest folders up to three levels deep.
Sub-Collections
Sub-collections allow you to create a parent-child relationship between collections. Unlike folders (which are purely organizational containers), sub-collections are full collections that inherit certain properties from their parent, such as visibility settings and collaborator access.
To create a sub-collection, open a parent collection and click Add Sub-Collection in the collection's action bar. The sub-collection will appear nested under the parent in the sidebar and breadcrumb navigation.
Tags
Tags are flexible labels you can apply to any collection. Unlike folders and sub-collections, tags are non-hierarchical and allow a single collection to belong to multiple categories simultaneously.
- Add tags when creating or editing a collection.
- Click a tag anywhere in the interface to filter and view all collections with that tag.
- Use the tag manager in Settings to rename, merge, or delete tags across your account.
Tip: Combine folders for broad categorization (e.g., "Projects", "Resources") with tags for cross-cutting labels (e.g., "urgent", "2026-q1", "design"). This gives you the best of both hierarchical and flat organization.
Editing Collection Details
You can update a collection's details at any time after creation. Open the collection you want to edit and click the Edit button (pencil icon) in the top-right area of the collection header.
Editable Fields
The following fields can be modified:
- Collection Name — Update the display name. The URL slug will remain unchanged to avoid breaking shared links.
- Description — Add or modify the collection's description to reflect its current purpose.
- Type — Change the collection type (Standard, Smart, or Shared). Note that changing from Shared to another type will remove all collaborator assignments.
- Visibility — Switch between Private, Organization, and Public. Increasing visibility makes the collection accessible to more users; decreasing it restricts access.
- Tags — Add, remove, or modify tags associated with the collection.
- Cover Image — Upload or change the cover image displayed on the collection card.
Warning: Changing a collection's type from Shared to Standard or Smart will remove all collaborators and their access. This action cannot be undone. Make sure to notify collaborators before making this change.
Open the Edit Panel
Navigate to the collection and click the Edit button (pencil icon) or press E on your keyboard while viewing the collection.
Make Your Changes
Update the fields you want to change. All changes are previewed in real time before saving.
Save Changes
Click Save Changes to apply your edits. A confirmation toast will appear to confirm the update was successful. All changes are logged in the collection's activity history.
Moving Collections
Collections can be moved between folders and across organizational boundaries. This is useful when restructuring your workspace or transferring ownership of collections to different teams.
Moving Between Folders
There are two ways to move a collection to a different folder:
- Drag and Drop — In the My Collections grid or list view, click and hold a collection card, then drag it onto the target folder. A blue highlight will indicate a valid drop target.
- Context Menu — Click the three-dot menu on a collection card and select Move to.... A modal will appear showing your folder hierarchy. Select the destination and click Move.
Moving Between Organizations
If you belong to multiple organizations, you can transfer a collection from one organization to another:
Open the collection and go to Settings (gear icon).
Scroll to the Transfer Collection section at the bottom of the settings panel.
Select the target organization from the dropdown and confirm the transfer. You must have admin privileges in the destination organization.
Warning: Transferring a collection to another organization will update its visibility and permissions to match the destination organization's defaults. Existing collaborators from the source organization may lose access.
Sorting and Filtering
Collections Manager provides powerful sorting and filtering tools to help you find exactly what you need, especially when working with a large number of collections.
Sorting Options
In the My Collections view, use the sort dropdown in the toolbar to order collections by:
- Last Modified (default) — Most recently updated collections appear first.
- Name (A-Z / Z-A) — Alphabetical sorting by collection name.
- Date Created — Newest or oldest collections first.
- Item Count — Collections with the most or fewest items first.
- Size — Collections sorted by total storage usage.
Filtering Options
Use the filter panel (funnel icon in the toolbar) to narrow down your view:
- By Type — Show only Standard, Smart, or Shared collections.
- By Tag — Filter by one or more tags. Use AND mode to show collections matching all selected tags, or OR mode to show collections matching any selected tag.
- By Visibility — Filter by Private, Organization, or Public visibility.
- By Date Range — Show collections created or modified within a specific date range.
- By Collaborator — Show only collections shared with a specific team member.
Tip: You can save frequently used filter combinations as Saved Views. Click the bookmark icon next to the filter bar after applying your desired filters, give the view a name, and access it from the Saved Views dropdown whenever you need it.
View Modes
Toggle between different view modes using the icons in the toolbar:
- Grid View — Displays collections as visual cards with cover images and summary information. Best for browsing.
- List View — Displays collections in a compact table with sortable columns. Best for managing large numbers of collections.
- Board View — Organizes collections into columns by type or status. Best for workflow management.
Archiving vs Deleting
When you no longer need active access to a collection, you have two options: archiving and deleting. Understanding the difference will help you make the right choice.
Archiving
Archiving removes a collection from your active views without destroying it. Archived collections:
- Are moved to the Archive section, accessible from the sidebar.
- Retain all items, metadata, tags, and version history.
- Do not appear in search results or dashboard widgets by default (toggle "Include archived" to see them).
- Can be restored to active status at any time with a single click.
- Continue to count toward your storage quota.
Tip: Use archiving for completed projects, seasonal resources, or collections you may need to reference later. It keeps your active workspace clean without losing any data.
To archive a collection, click the three-dot menu on the collection card and select Archive, or open the collection and click Archive in the settings panel.
Deleting
Deleting permanently removes a collection and all its contents. Deleted collections:
- Are moved to the Trash for a 30-day grace period.
- Can be restored from the Trash within those 30 days.
- Are permanently destroyed after 30 days and cannot be recovered.
- Release storage quota once permanently removed.
Danger: After the 30-day Trash retention period, deleted collections and all their items are permanently destroyed with no possibility of recovery. Always double-check before emptying your Trash.
Warning: Deleting a Shared collection removes access for all collaborators immediately. They will not be able to view or recover the collection. Consider archiving instead if collaborators may still need reference access.
| Feature | Archive | Delete |
|---|---|---|
| Data preserved | Indefinitely | 30 days |
| Restorable | Always | 30 days |
| Visible in search | Optional | No |
| Counts toward storage | Yes | Released after purge |
| Collaborator access | Retained | Revoked |
Bulk Actions on Collections
When you need to perform the same operation on multiple collections at once, bulk actions save significant time. Collections Manager supports selecting and acting on multiple collections in a single operation.
Selecting Multiple Collections
There are several ways to select multiple collections:
- Checkbox Selection — In grid or list view, hover over a collection card to reveal its checkbox. Click the checkbox on each collection you want to select.
- Select All — Click the Select All checkbox in the toolbar to select all collections on the current page.
- Shift-Click — Click the first collection, then hold Shift and click the last collection to select a contiguous range.
Available Bulk Operations
Once you have selected two or more collections, a bulk action bar appears at the bottom of the screen with the following options:
- Move to Folder — Move all selected collections into a single folder.
- Add Tags — Apply one or more tags to all selected collections simultaneously.
- Change Visibility — Set all selected collections to Private, Organization, or Public.
- Archive — Move all selected collections to the archive.
- Export — Download all selected collections as a ZIP archive containing JSON or CSV files.
- Delete — Move all selected collections to the Trash.
Tip: For large-scale operations involving hundreds of collections, consider using the Bulk Operations interface or the API for programmatic batch processing.
Warning: Bulk delete operations move all selected collections to the Trash simultaneously. A confirmation dialog will appear showing the exact number of collections and items affected. Review the list carefully before confirming.
Collection Settings
Each collection has its own settings panel where you can configure advanced options beyond the basic edit fields. Access collection settings by opening a collection and clicking the Settings (gear icon) button in the action bar.
Permissions
Control who can view, edit, and manage the collection:
- Viewer — Can view the collection and its items but cannot make changes.
- Editor — Can add, edit, and remove items within the collection.
- Admin — Full control including editing collection settings, managing collaborators, and deleting the collection.
Permission changes take effect immediately. Collaborators receive a notification when their role is updated.
Visibility
Configure who can discover and access the collection:
- Private — Only you (and invited collaborators on shared collections) can access it.
- Organization — Any member of your organization can find and view the collection.
- Public — Anyone with the link can view the collection. Public collections may also appear in the Explore directory.
Metadata
The metadata section shows system-level information about the collection:
- Collection ID — The unique identifier used in API calls and integrations.
- Created — Date and time the collection was created, and by whom.
- Last Modified — Date and time of the most recent change to the collection or its items.
- Version — The current version number, incremented with each change.
- Item Count — Total number of items in the collection.
- Storage Used — Total disk space consumed by all items and attachments.
Tip: The Collection ID is especially useful for API integrations. You can copy it directly from the metadata section using the clipboard icon next to the ID field.
Activity Log
The activity log at the bottom of the settings panel provides a complete history of all actions performed on the collection, including:
- Items added, edited, or removed
- Collection details updated (name, description, visibility, etc.)
- Collaborators invited, removed, or role changes
- Archive and restore events
- Bulk import and export operations
Each log entry shows the action taken, the user who performed it, and the timestamp. You can filter the activity log by action type or date range using the controls at the top of the log section.