Understanding Custom Attributes in VIDIZMO
Custom attributes are the metadata properties you define for your media, fields such as Department, Case Number, or Recording Date that capture the information your organization tracks. You create each one in portal settings and decide how it behaves: which media types it applies to, whether it's required, and whether viewers can search by it. Content managers fill in the values, and viewers filter by the attributes you make searchable.
Overview
A title and a description tell you what a video is. Custom attributes tell you everything else. They turn a loose pile of content into a structured, searchable library: mark a recording with the department that produced it, the project it belongs to, or the date it was captured, and that detail becomes a filter and a facet for search.
You decide how each attribute behaves when you create it. You can make it mandatory, so nothing publishes without a value. You can apply it to every media type or limit it to specific ones, such as videos, documents, or images. And you can make it searchable, so its values feed both keyword search and the AI-driven discovery in your portal.
Custom attributes come in two kinds. User-defined attributes are the ones you create and manage. System-defined attributes are captured automatically during processing, when VIDIZMO reads technical details from the media file, such as dimensions and duration, and saves them as Meta Data. You don't create these, but you can edit them and choose whether each one is displayed with the media, searchable in the portal, and facetable in your search filters.
Use Cases
Custom attributes fit wherever your content needs structure that titles and tags can't give it:
- Add a Department attribute so every video carries the team that owns it.
- Make Case Number mandatory so no evidence is published without one.
- Filter a year of footage down to a single Recording Date range.
- Record a shoot location with a Geospatial attribute and find everything captured near a site.
- Capture a reviewer with a User Picker attribute so you can search by who signed off.
Field Types
Every custom attribute has a field type. The type decides what a user enters, how VIDIZMO validates it, and how it behaves in search. Choose the type that matches the data you're capturing.
| Field type | What it captures | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Text | A single line of free text, with optional pattern validation | Names, reference codes, short notes |
| Rich Text | Formatted text entered in a rich editor, with a maximum length | Long descriptions, formatted summaries |
| Number | A numeric value, with optional minimum, maximum, and decimal precision | Ratings, counts, durations, identifiers |
| Date | A single date, restricted to an allowed range | Recording dates, review deadlines, expiry dates |
| Dropdown | One choice from a list you define | Status, category, region |
| Multi-Select | Several choices from a list you define | Topics, applicable departments, tags |
| Boolean | A true or false value, with an optional default | Approved, archived, contains sensitive content |
| URL | A web address, restricted to protocols you allow | Source links, related pages, reference material |
| An email address, validated against a format you choose | Contact owner, point of contact | |
| User Picker | A portal user, selected by name | Reviewer, owner, assigned editor |
| Color | A color, chosen from a color picker and stored as a hex value | Visual labels, brand or team color coding |
| Geospatial | A latitude and longitude, set on a map | Capture locations, incident sites |
| Media/Evidence | A reference to another item in your library, selected from a browse list | Linking related items, such as a parent or source recording |
Note: System-defined attributes use a separate Meta Data type that captures technical details from the file. You can't create this type yourself, but you can edit its settings. VIDIZMO populates the values automatically.
Validation
Validation keeps the values content managers enter clean and consistent. The options you see depend on the field type:
- Text and Email accept a preset pattern (such as Alphanumeric Only or Corporate Email Only), a custom regular expression, and a custom error message shown when input doesn't match.
- Number accepts a minimum and maximum value. Turn on Integer Only to allow whole numbers, or set Decimal Places (1 to 3) to cap precision.
- Date accepts an earliest and latest allowed value. Each limit can be a fixed date, today, or a number of days before or after today.
- URL accepts a list of allowed protocols, such as
httpsorftp. At least one protocol is required. - Rich Text accepts a maximum length.
- Text, Number, Email, and URL can be marked Unique, so no two media items share the same value.
Cross-Field Validation Rules
Cross-field rules connect one attribute to another, so a field can react to what's entered elsewhere. You define them on the attribute, and they run as content managers fill in the media settings form. Most attributes offer three rule types:
- Comparison checks this attribute's value against another attribute or a fixed value, and shows an error when the check fails. For example, an end date that must be on or after a start date.
- Conditional Required makes this attribute mandatory only when another attribute meets a condition.
- Conditional Visibility shows or hides this attribute based on another attribute's value.
A Comparison rule can be enforced two ways. AND is hard validation, so it blocks the save when the rule is violated. OR is advisory, so it shows a warning but lets the save continue.
As an example, consider media that uses Content Type, Publish Date, Expiry Date, Requires Approval, Approver, and External URL attributes:
- A Comparison rule keeps Expiry Date on or after Publish Date, so no one can save content that expires before it goes live.
- A Conditional Required rule makes Approver mandatory only when Requires Approval is True.
- A Conditional Visibility rule shows External URL only when Content Type is External Link, keeping the form free of fields that don't apply.
Number and Text attributes also offer a Formula rule, which computes the attribute's value from other fields.
Attribute Options
Each attribute carries a set of options you turn on when you create or edit it. They control whether a value is required, where it shows, and how it behaves in search:
- Mandatory requires content managers to enter a value before they can publish the media.
- Display with Media shows the attribute and its value on the media's details and playback pages.
- Searchable lets users find media by the attribute's value in keyword search and Advanced Search.
- Facetable adds the attribute to the Filter By panel as a facet, with a count beside each value. The attribute must be searchable first, and this option isn't available for Multi-Select or Media/Evidence.
- Unique prevents two media items from sharing the same value. It applies to Text, Number, Email, and URL.
Custom attribute values also follow the access rights of the media they belong to. A user who can't open a media item can't see its custom attributes.
How Custom Attributes Work in Search
A searchable attribute is indexed when its media is processed, which makes its values available to both keyword search and Advanced Search. In Advanced Search, each attribute offers operators suited to its type, a date range for Date, a numeric range for Number, proximity for Geospatial, or a value match for Dropdown.
Marking an attribute Facetable adds it to the filter panel as a facet, with a count beside each value. Faceting needs the attribute to be searchable first. Multi-Select and Media/Evidence attributes can't be faceted, though they remain searchable.
For the full set of operators and how to build a query, see How to Use Advanced Search in the Media Library.
Custom Attribute Properties
Along with its options, each attribute has these properties you set when you create or edit it.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The attribute's display name. Up to 200 characters. Can't contain commas, colons, or semicolons. |
| Field Type | The kind of value the attribute holds. Set once and can't be changed after the attribute is created. |
| Description | Explains the attribute's purpose. Up to 500 characters. |
| Field Values | The list of options for Dropdown and Multi-Select types, entered as comma-separated values. Up to 4,000 characters. |
| Media Types | The media formats the attribute applies to, such as video, audio, or document. At least one is required. |
See Also
- How to Manage Custom Attributes
- Understanding Library Settings
- How to Use Advanced Search in the Media Library
- Understanding Search in VIDIZMO