Global configs are in many ways similar to Collections. The big difference is that Collections will potentially contain many documents, while a Global is a "one-off". Globals are perfect for things like header nav, site-wide banner alerts, app-wide localized strings, and other "global" data that your site or app might rely on.
As with Collection configs, it's often best practice to write your Globals in separate files and then import them into the main Payload config.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
slug * | Unique, URL-friendly string that will act as an identifier for this Global. |
fields * | Array of field types that will determine the structure and functionality of the data stored within this Global. Click here for a full list of field types as well as how to configure them. |
label | Text for the name in the Admin panel or an object with keys for each language. Auto-generated from slug if not defined. |
description | Text or React component to display below the Global header to give editors more information. |
admin | Admin-specific configuration. See below for more detail. |
hooks | Entry points to "tie in" to collection actions at specific points. More |
access | Provide access control functions to define exactly who should be able to do what with this Global. More |
versions | Set to true to enable default options, or configure with object properties. More |
endpoints | Add custom routes to the REST API. More |
graphQL.name | Text used in schema generation. Auto-generated from slug if not defined. |
typescript | An object with property interface as the text used in schema generation. Auto-generated from slug if not defined. |
custom | Extension point for adding custom data (e.g. for plugins) |
dbName | Custom table or collection name for this global depending on the database adapter. Auto-generated from slug if not defined. |
* An asterisk denotes that a property is required.
You can find a few example Global configs in the Public Demo source code on GitHub.
You can customize the way that the Admin panel behaves on a Global-by-Global basis by defining the admin property on a
Global's config.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
group | Text used as a label for grouping collection and global links together in the navigation. |
hidden | Set to true or a function, called with the current user, returning true to exclude this global from navigation and admin routing. |
components | Swap in your own React components to be used within this Global. More |
preview | Function to generate a preview URL within the Admin panel for this global that can point to your app. More. |
livePreview | Enable real-time editing for instant visual feedback of your front-end application. More. |
hideAPIURL | Hides the "API URL" meta field while editing documents within this collection. |
Global admin options can accept a preview function that will be used to generate a link pointing to the frontend of
your app to preview data.
If the function is specified, a Preview button will automatically appear in the corresponding global's Edit view. Clicking the Preview button will link to the URL that is generated by the function.
The preview function accepts two arguments:
options object, containing locale and token properties. The token is the currently logged-in user's JWT.Example global with preview function:
As with Collections, you can specify extremely granular access control (what users can do with this Global) on a
Global-by-Global basis. However, Globals only have update and read access control due to their nature of only having
one document. To learn more, go to the Access Control docs.
Globals also fully support a smaller subset of Hooks. To learn more, go to the Hooks documentation.
Globals support all field types that Payload has to offer—including simple fields like text and checkboxes all the way to more complicated layout-building field groups like Blocks. Click here to learn more about field types.
You can import global types as follows: