Variants

Holding several files in one file field — and what fylr does with them

A file field in fylr does not hold a single file. Its value is a list of files, and each file in that list is a variant. One field can therefore carry several files at once — the front and back of a postcard, several scans of one page, a video together with its subtitle track.

Exactly one variant is the preferred one. fylr uses the preferred variant wherever it needs a single file to stand for the record: the thumbnail in a result grid, the preview on the detail page, the poster of a video player. When a field holds only one file, that file is the preferred variant automatically.

Each variant is a full file in its own right: an uploaded original together with the renditions fylr derives from it (thumbnail, preview, poster frame, and so on). Variants are not smaller copies of one file — for that, see Custom Renditions & Crop Tool. Variants are different files kept together in the same field.

Contents

• When to use variants

• Managing variants in the editor

• Matching files by name during upload

• Displaying subtitles with videos

• Feature overview

When to use variants

Use variants when several files belong to one field of one record and you want fylr to treat one of them as the representative file:

• Multiple views of the same object — front and back of a postcard, recto and verso of a sheet, several angles of a sculpture.

• The same content in different formats — a print-ready TIFF next to a JPEG for the web, both attached to the same field.

• A media file with its sidecar — a video together with its .vtt subtitle track (see below).

When each file needs its own descriptive metadata (its own caption, photographer, usage right), variants are the wrong tool — use a nested table instead, with one file field per row. Variants share the field; they carry no per-file description beyond the file's own technical data.

Managing variants in the editor

To add, remove or reorder the variants of a file field:

1. Open the record and switch it to edit mode.

2. Open the variant editor for the file field, either by Alt + clicking the file field, or through the three-dot menu on the field and choosing the variants entry.

3. Add a file with the plus button at the bottom left; remove a variant from its own menu.

4. Order matters: the file at the top of the list is the preferred variant — the one the viewer shows in the various outputs (grid preview, detail preview, player). Drag the file you want as the representative to the top.

5. Choose Apply, then save the record in the editor to persist the change.

Saving a record does not re-upload files that were already there; only the variants you added or replaced are processed.

Matching files by name during upload

When you upload several files at once, fylr can decide on its own whether a new file is a fresh record or belongs to a record it is already building — by comparing filenames. This lets you drop a whole folder of files in one go and have related files land together as variants. Three relations are recognised:

Relation	What fylr does	Example
Same file	Same filename — treated as the same file.	photo.jpg uploaded twice
Version	Same name, different extension — added as another variant of the same field.	scan.tif and scan.jpg
Series	Same base name followed by a separator and a number — distributed as a numbered series.	page_01.jpg, page_02.jpg, …

For the series relation the trailing counter must be separated by a space, _ or - and end the filename before the extension (name_01.jpg, name 2.png, name-003.tif).

Version and series recognition are optional and controlled by the "recognize version" and "recognize series" options in the upload dialog. If both are off, every file becomes its own record.

Displaying subtitles with videos

fylr can show a subtitle track on a video. The subtitle file must be a WebVTT (.vtt) file, and it must sit as a variant of the video file.

Add the subtitle to an existing video

1. Open the record carrying the video and switch it to edit mode.

2. Open the variant editor for the file field — Alt + click the field, or use the three-dot menu and open the variants.

3. Add the .vtt file with the plus button at the bottom left. Leave the video at the top of the list — the topmost file is the one the viewer displays.

4. Choose Apply, then save the record.

Play the video: a CC button now appears in the player, and the subtitle track can be selected from it.

Let fylr match the subtitle on upload

If you upload the video and its subtitle together, fylr can attach the .vtt to the video's variants automatically, provided the subtitle filename identifies the video it belongs to. The recognised form is:

<video-basename>--<label>.vtt

that is, the video's base name, a double hyphen, and a short label, e.g. a video interview.mp4 with subtitles interview--en.vtt and interview--de.vtt. The part after the -- becomes the track label shown in the player's CC menu (here en and de).

The manual route in the section above works with any filename; only the automatic on-upload matching depends on the --<label>.vtt naming.

Feature overview

Feature	How to use it
Hold several files in one field	Open the variant editor (Alt + click the field, or its three-dot menu), add files with the plus button.
Choose the representative file	Drag the file to the top of the variant list — the top file is the preferred variant.
Attach a subtitle track	Add a .vtt file as a variant of the video, keep the video on top.
Auto-group files on upload	Name related files with a shared base (scan.tif/scan.jpg) or a numbered series (page_01.jpg); enable recognize version / recognize series.
Auto-attach subtitles on upload	Name the subtitle <video-basename>--<label>.vtt and upload it together with the video.

See also

• Files and assets — the concept behind records, files, variants, originals and renditions.

• Custom Renditions & Crop Tool — deriving additional sized/cropped versions of a single file.