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Object Properties

Object properties let you link a property to an object type using a dropdown. You select from a predefined object type and can customize the property to support single or multiple selections, two-way syncing, and fixed sets.

Object properties let you link a property to an object type using a dropdown. You select from a predefined object type and can customize the property to support single or multiple selections, two-way syncing, and fixed sets.

Set Up

To add an object property, click + New Property and choose the object type you want to link to.

Example: Add an “Author” property to a Book object that links to the Person object type. This creates a dropdown of all people in your space.

By default, the property allows selecting multiple objects from the linked type, with no restrictions.

To limit selection to a single object or a specific set of objects, see the Customizations section below.

Customizations

Two-Way Linked Properties

You will not be able to use two-way linking for files, weblinks, images, pages, tags, PDFs, audio, tweets, AI chats, tables or queries. Every other object type (either custom or created by a template) will work.

Enable two-way linking to sync properties between two custom object types. This is useful for automatically linking two objects together via properties. Here are some example use-cases:

• Linking books (Book) to authors (People)

• Linking Employees (People) to employers (Organizations)

• Meetings (Meetings) to attendees (People)

• Spouse to Spouse (People to People)

• Definitions to Synonyms

• Books to topics

To set it up:

• Open the property settings

• Go to the ‘Two-way linking’ section

• Choose (or create) the corresponding property in the linked object type

The connection is handled automatically.

Two-way linked properties will remove the link to the other object from the backlinks and add it to the property you are linking to. This keeps your backlinks cleaner and easier to review.If you like the views of the backlinks section, you can create a query using the two-way linked property and explore the views there.You can see all of this in action in the video:

Single vs. Multiple Selection

Go to the property settings and find the ‘Single or multi select’ section.Choose: • Single Object — only one object can be selected• Multiple Objects — switch back any time if needed

Fixed Set (Custom Dropdowns)

Use a Fixed Set to limit the dropdown to specific objects.For new properties:• Click Fixed Set during setup• Each object you link grows the dropdown list organically.For existing properties:• Go to Property settings > Enable fixed set > Fixed set > Calculate fixed set• You must click Calculate or all current selections will be cleared
After changing settings, always click Apply. Changing to a fixed set or altering selection limits may remove previously selected items from your content.

FAQs

Can I change the linked object type?Yes, but doing so removes all previously selected items.Can I link to multiple object types?No. Use a text property for that. Learn moreCan I switch between single and multi-select?Yes. Switch modes in the property settings. Be aware that switching to single-select may remove items if multiple were selected.Should I use an object select or a label?If you only want to use this label in this one property of one object, use the label. If you want this option to be available in several properties of different types, use tags.Some label examples: meeting types, project types, fiction/non-fiction. These narrow down an object type.Some tag examples: best for topics, but some users might want to unify statuses, ratings, priority across any type.

Object menu

All actions related to an object can be found in the object menu, marked by the three dots. You will find it in the top right in the main header for the currently opened object.

Organizational structures

There are several concepts in Capacities that you interact with every day. Here’s how they work together.