What is the References banner model in Hygraph and what does it do?
The References banner model in Hygraph is a content model that allows you to create banners containing a title, description, and references to entries from other models (such as Author, Book, and Shop). This enables you to build banners that can showcase and link to related content, supporting content reuse and modularity. Note: This model is specific to the banner recipe and may require adaptation for other use cases.
What fields and references are included in the References banner model?
The References banner model includes the following fields:
Banner title (Single line text)
Banner description (Rich text)
References to Author, Book, and Shop models (each as a one-way reference field, allowing multiple entries per banner)
These references enable you to link multiple authors, books, or shops to a single banner entry. Note: The model does not create reverse fields in the referenced models.
How do one-way and two-way references differ in Hygraph models?
One-way references allow a model (such as References banner) to link to entries in another model (e.g., Author, Book, Shop) without creating a reverse field in the referenced model. Two-way references, as used between Book and Author, create a relationship in both models, enabling navigation in both directions. Note: Use one-way references when you only need to link from the banner to other content, and two-way when both models should reference each other.
What are the prerequisites for using the References banner recipe?
To use the References banner recipe, you need:
A Hygraph account (sign up here if you don't have one)
An existing Hygraph project, or you can create a new one or clone a starter project
Establish one-way or two-way references between models
Reuse content entries across banners and other models
Note: For advanced use cases, Hygraph also supports components, remote sources, and sidebar widgets. Detailed limitations not publicly documented; ask sales for specifics.
Does Hygraph support other banner types and recipes?
Yes, Hygraph provides several banner recipes, including simple banners, banner sliders, and image banners. You can find these in the documentation:
Note: Each recipe may have different schema requirements and features.
Can I use the References banner model with my existing Hygraph project?
Yes, you can add the References banner model to an existing Hygraph project. You may need to adjust the schema and reference fields to match your project's structure. Note: Plan limits may affect the number of models and entries you can create. See plan limits for details.
Technical Requirements & Documentation
Where can I find technical documentation for working with Hygraph models and references?
Comprehensive technical documentation is available at Hygraph Documentation. Key sections include:
Does Hygraph provide starter projects or onboarding resources for new users?
Yes, Hygraph offers pre-configured starter projects and a structured onboarding process. You can find starter projects in the Hygraph Marketplace and onboarding resources in the Getting Started guide. Note: Implementation time varies by project complexity; standard use cases can be set up quickly.
Platform Features & Security
What security and compliance certifications does Hygraph have?
Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant (since August 2022), ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR compliant. These certifications ensure robust security and operational controls for enterprise customers. For more details, see the Secure Features page. Note: Penetration testing is available as an add-on for enterprise customers.
What integrations are available with Hygraph?
Hygraph offers integrations with Digital Asset Management (Cloudinary, Bynder, Filestack, Scaleflex Filerobot, AWS S3, Aprimo), hosting (Netlify, Vercel), marketing and analytics (Google Analytics, Klaviyo, Segment), localization (EasyTranslate, DeepL), video (Mux), automation (Zapier, n8n), search (Elastic, Algolia), eCommerce (Shopify, commercetools, BigCommerce), and more. For the full list, visit the Integrations Page. Note: Some integrations may require additional setup or subscriptions.
Use Cases & Success Stories
What are some real-world use cases for the References banner model?
The References banner model is useful for scenarios where you want to display banners that highlight related content, such as featured authors, books, or shops in an online bookstore. It supports content reuse and modularity, making it easier to manage and update banners across your site. Note: For more complex personalization or localization, consider using Hygraph's Variants feature.
What industries use Hygraph for content management?
Hygraph is used across industries such as SaaS, Marketplace, Education Technology, Media and Publication, Healthcare, Consumer Goods, Automotive, Technology, FinTech, Travel, Food and Beverage, eCommerce, Agency, Online Gaming, Events & Conferences, Government, Consumer Electronics, Engineering, and Construction. For examples, see Hygraph's case studies. Note: Industry-specific requirements may require custom schema adaptations.
Support & Implementation
How easy is it to implement the References banner recipe in Hygraph?
Implementation is straightforward for standard use cases, especially if you clone a starter project. Hygraph provides structured onboarding, quickstart guides, and extensive documentation. For more complex integrations, the timeline may vary. Users have reported that Hygraph is "super easy to set up and use" and praised its clear UI. Note: Complex enterprise requirements may require additional customization.
REQUIRED: You need to have a Hygraph account. If you don't have one, you can sign up here.
REQUIRED: You need to have a Hygraph project.
OPTION 1:Create a project. This is the way to go if you want to follow the entire tutorial for learning purposes.
OPTION 2:Clone the basic models project. If you're already familiar with model creation and only want to follow the parts of the tutorial related to the banners, you can start here.
OPTION 3:Clone the entire cookbook. This is the way to go if you're curious about how the banners are made but don't want to follow the step-by-step creation process. This project contains the entire Banners Cookbook so you can compare them, or look into what instances they contain.
OPTION 4:Use an existing project of yours. If you have a project already and want to add this banner to it, this is the way to go. In this case, you may need to adjust parts of the tutorial to your own project schema.
Take plan limits into consideration when adding a recipe to your own project.
In this guide, you'll work with components and basic component fields. Let's look into these concepts:
References: References are relations between two or more content entries in your project. With references, you can reuse content entries by connecting them. Once the relation is configured, you can also use it to create related content from the content creation screen.
Model: Your schema is the content structure of your project. You can define your schema by creating models and adding fields, reusable components, and sidebar widgets to them, as well as integrating remote sources and establishing relationships with other models.
Path 1: Use this guide to create a references banner model that you can use to create different banners as content entries.
Path 2: Clone one of the projects we created for you. You can clone a project that only contains the basic models so you can work on the banners right away, or you can clone the project that contains the entire Banners cookbook to compare the different banner configurations without having to clone multiple projects.
This cookbook contains all the recipes we have so far to create banners, so you can compare the different banner configurations without having to clone multiple projects.
To find this particular recipe in the cookbook project, navigate to the schema and look for "References banner".
This project also contains a demo model that includes all the banner components as basic components, as well as a modular component that you can use as a banner type selector.
In this guide, we will create a model as our banner. Before we can build our banner model, we need to create other models that we can then add as references to it.
We will divide this process in steps to make it more manageable:
Create the referenced models: We will create 3 sample models - Author, Book, and Shop - to use in our references.
Create the banner model: Finally, we will create our banner model and add reference fields to it.
If you're already familiar with the model building process, you can clone a project that we've prepared for you. It contains the basic models that you need for this recipe!
Let's start with the Author model. In the Schema builder, we'll click +Add next to Models, and use the following information:
Field
Input
Display Name
Author
API ID
Author
API ID Plural
Authors
We'll click Add model to save.
Our model has been created but it's empty. To create a simple model that will contain basic author information, we'll add the author name, bio, and image.
Let's start with the author name, as a Single line text field. We'll find it on the Add fields right sidebar, and click Add on the field card to add it.
We'll use the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Author name
Settings
API ID
authorName
Settings
Use as title field checkbox
Leave this checkbox selected
We'll click Add to save.
Next, we'll add a Rich text field, which will our author's bio. We'll select the Rich text field from the right sidebar and use the following information to create it:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Author bio
Settings
API ID
authorBio
We'll click Add to save.
Finally, we'll add an Asset picker field, which will be our author's image. We'll select the Asset picker field from the right sidebar and use the following information to create it:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Author image
Settings
API ID
authorImage
We'll click Add to save.
Now that we're done with our Author model, let's move on to the Book model.
Our second model will be the Book model. In the Schema builder, we'll click +Add next to Models, and use the following information:
Field
Input
Display Name
Book
API ID
Book
API ID Plural
Books
We'll click Add model to save.
Our model has been created but it's empty. To create a simple model that will contain basic book information, we'll add the book name, description, cover image, and a relation to the author.
Let's start with the book name, as a Single line text field. We'll find it on the Add fields right sidebar, and click Add on the field card to add it.
We'll use the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Book name
Settings
API ID
bookName
Settings
Use as title field checkbox
Leave this checkbox selected
We'll click Add to save.
Next, we'll add a Rich text field, which will our book description. We'll select the Rich text field from the right sidebar and use the following information to create it:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Book description
Settings
API ID
bookDescription
We'll click Add to save.
Now let's add an Asset picker field, which will be our book cover image. We'll select the Asset picker field from the right sidebar and use the following information to create it:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Book cover
Settings
API ID
bookCover
We'll click Add to save.
Finally, we want books and authors to be connected. A great way to do this is using a two-way reference in our Book model, that will create a relation with the Author model. This type of relation will also create a reverse field that we will later be able to see in our Author model, connecting back to our Book model.
We'll find the Reference field on the Add fields right sidebar, and click Add on the field card to add it.
We'll use the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Define
Reference type
Select Allow only one model to be referenced
Define
Models to reference
Use the dropdown menu to select Author
Define
Reference direction
Select Two-way reference
Define
Allow multiple... checkbox
Select Allow multiple Book per Author and Allow multiple Author per Book
Configure reference
Display Name
Author
Configure reference
API ID
Author
Configure reverse field
Display Name
Book
Configure reverse field
API ID
book
We'll click Add to save.
Now that we're done with our Book model, let's move on to the Shop model.
Our final model is the Shop model. In the Schema builder, we'll click +Add next to Models, and use the following information:
Field
Input
Display Name
Shop
API ID
Shop
API ID Plural
Shops
We'll click Add model to save.
Our model has been created but it's empty. To create a simple model that will contain basic shop information, we'll add the shop name, address, picture and location.
Let's start with the shop name, as a Single line text field. We'll find it on the Add fields right sidebar, and click Add on the field card to add it.
We'll use the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Shop name
Settings
API ID
shopName
Settings
Use as title field checkbox
Leave this checkbox selected
We'll click Add to save.
Next, we'll add another Single line text field for the shop address.
We'll use the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Shop address
Settings
API ID
shopAddress
We'll click Add to save.
Finally, we'll add an Asset picker field, which will be our shop's image. We'll select the Asset picker field from the right sidebar and use the following information to create it:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Shop picture
Settings
API ID
shopPicture
We'll click Add to save.
Finally, we'll add a location field so Editors can show the shop location on a map. We'll select the Location field from the right sidebar and use the following information to create it:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Location
Settings
API ID
location
We'll click Add to save.
Now that we're done with our three models, let's create our references banner model.
Our final model will be the References banner model. In the Schema builder, we'll click +Add next to Models, and use the following information:
Field
Input
Display Name
References banner
API ID
ReferencesBanner
API ID Plural
ReferencesBanners
We'll click Add model to save.
Our model has been created but it's empty. To create our banner model, we'll add the banner title, description, and reference fields.
Let's start with the banner title, as a Single line text field. We'll find it on the Add fields right sidebar, and click Add on the field card to add it.
We'll use the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Banner title
Settings
API ID
bannerTitle
Settings
Use as title field checkbox
Leave this checkbox selected
We'll click Add to save.
Next, we'll add a Rich text field, which will our banner description. We'll select the Rich text field from the right sidebar and use the following information to create it:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Banner description
Settings
API ID
bannerDescription
We'll click Add to save.
Finally, we'll add three reference fields, so our banners can reference content entries from the Author, Book and Shop models we created earlier.
We want to add them as one-way references, because we don't want to create reverse fields in these models. In this case, we just want to be able to link entries from them in the banner model.
Pro Tip
The reverse field is a field that the system creates in the referenced model, so both models can reference each other.
Earlier, when we created the Book model, we added a two-way reference to it, because we wanted books to reference authors, but we also wanted authors to reference books.
In that case, we also allowed multiple books per author and multiple authors per book, because an author can have more than one book, and a book can have more than one author.
We'll link the Author model first. We'll find the Reference field on the Add fields right sidebar, and click Add on the field card to add it.
We'll use the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Define
Reference type
Select Allow only one model to be referenced
Define
Models to reference
Use the dropdown menu to select Author
Define
Reference direction
Select One-way reference
Define
Allow multiple... checkbox
Select Allow multiple Author per References banner
Configure reference
Display Name
Author
Configure reference
API ID
author
Configure reference
Description
You can add one or more showcased authors here
We'll click Add to save.
Next, we'll reference the Book model. We'll repeat the process using the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Define
Reference type
Select Allow only one model to be referenced
Define
Models to reference
Use the dropdown menu to select Book
Define
Reference direction
Select One-way reference
Define
Allow multiple... checkbox
Select Allow multiple Book per References banner
Configure reference
Display Name
Book
Configure reference
API ID
book
Configure reference
Description
You can add one or more showcased books here
We'll click Add to save.
Finally, we'll reference the Shop model. We'll repeat the process using the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Define
Reference type
Select Allow only one model to be referenced
Define
Models to reference
Use the dropdown menu to select Shop
Define
Reference direction
Select One-way reference
Define
Allow multiple... checkbox
Select Allow multiple Shop per References banner
Configure reference
Display Name
Shop
Configure reference
API ID
shop
Configure reference
Description
You can add one or more showcased shops here
We'll click Add to save.
This is how you build banner component in Hygraph that allows you to relate entries from other models in your schema.
You can use this model to create banners with different referenced content as entries.
You can also relate this banner model to other models in your project. If you cloned the cookbook project, you'll find the banner model included as a reference field in the All banners model.
This is one way of creating a banner using Hygraph. If you want to try out more banner configurations, we have a simple banner, a banner slider and an image banner for you to look into!
REQUIRED: You need to have a Hygraph account. If you don't have one, you can sign up here.
REQUIRED: You need to have a Hygraph project.
OPTION 1:Create a project. This is the way to go if you want to follow the entire tutorial for learning purposes.
OPTION 2:Clone the basic models project. If you're already familiar with model creation and only want to follow the parts of the tutorial related to the banners, you can start here.
OPTION 3:Clone the entire cookbook. This is the way to go if you're curious about how the banners are made but don't want to follow the step-by-step creation process. This project contains the entire Banners Cookbook so you can compare them, or look into what instances they contain.
OPTION 4:Use an existing project of yours. If you have a project already and want to add this banner to it, this is the way to go. In this case, you may need to adjust parts of the tutorial to your own project schema.
Take plan limits into consideration when adding a recipe to your own project.
In this guide, you'll work with components and basic component fields. Let's look into these concepts:
References: References are relations between two or more content entries in your project. With references, you can reuse content entries by connecting them. Once the relation is configured, you can also use it to create related content from the content creation screen.
Model: Your schema is the content structure of your project. You can define your schema by creating models and adding fields, reusable components, and sidebar widgets to them, as well as integrating remote sources and establishing relationships with other models.
Path 1: Use this guide to create a references banner model that you can use to create different banners as content entries.
Path 2: Clone one of the projects we created for you. You can clone a project that only contains the basic models so you can work on the banners right away, or you can clone the project that contains the entire Banners cookbook to compare the different banner configurations without having to clone multiple projects.
This cookbook contains all the recipes we have so far to create banners, so you can compare the different banner configurations without having to clone multiple projects.
To find this particular recipe in the cookbook project, navigate to the schema and look for "References banner".
This project also contains a demo model that includes all the banner components as basic components, as well as a modular component that you can use as a banner type selector.
In this guide, we will create a model as our banner. Before we can build our banner model, we need to create other models that we can then add as references to it.
We will divide this process in steps to make it more manageable:
Create the referenced models: We will create 3 sample models - Author, Book, and Shop - to use in our references.
Create the banner model: Finally, we will create our banner model and add reference fields to it.
If you're already familiar with the model building process, you can clone a project that we've prepared for you. It contains the basic models that you need for this recipe!
Let's start with the Author model. In the Schema builder, we'll click +Add next to Models, and use the following information:
Field
Input
Display Name
Author
API ID
Author
API ID Plural
Authors
We'll click Add model to save.
Our model has been created but it's empty. To create a simple model that will contain basic author information, we'll add the author name, bio, and image.
Let's start with the author name, as a Single line text field. We'll find it on the Add fields right sidebar, and click Add on the field card to add it.
We'll use the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Author name
Settings
API ID
authorName
Settings
Use as title field checkbox
Leave this checkbox selected
We'll click Add to save.
Next, we'll add a Rich text field, which will our author's bio. We'll select the Rich text field from the right sidebar and use the following information to create it:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Author bio
Settings
API ID
authorBio
We'll click Add to save.
Finally, we'll add an Asset picker field, which will be our author's image. We'll select the Asset picker field from the right sidebar and use the following information to create it:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Author image
Settings
API ID
authorImage
We'll click Add to save.
Now that we're done with our Author model, let's move on to the Book model.
Our second model will be the Book model. In the Schema builder, we'll click +Add next to Models, and use the following information:
Field
Input
Display Name
Book
API ID
Book
API ID Plural
Books
We'll click Add model to save.
Our model has been created but it's empty. To create a simple model that will contain basic book information, we'll add the book name, description, cover image, and a relation to the author.
Let's start with the book name, as a Single line text field. We'll find it on the Add fields right sidebar, and click Add on the field card to add it.
We'll use the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Book name
Settings
API ID
bookName
Settings
Use as title field checkbox
Leave this checkbox selected
We'll click Add to save.
Next, we'll add a Rich text field, which will our book description. We'll select the Rich text field from the right sidebar and use the following information to create it:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Book description
Settings
API ID
bookDescription
We'll click Add to save.
Now let's add an Asset picker field, which will be our book cover image. We'll select the Asset picker field from the right sidebar and use the following information to create it:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Book cover
Settings
API ID
bookCover
We'll click Add to save.
Finally, we want books and authors to be connected. A great way to do this is using a two-way reference in our Book model, that will create a relation with the Author model. This type of relation will also create a reverse field that we will later be able to see in our Author model, connecting back to our Book model.
We'll find the Reference field on the Add fields right sidebar, and click Add on the field card to add it.
We'll use the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Define
Reference type
Select Allow only one model to be referenced
Define
Models to reference
Use the dropdown menu to select Author
Define
Reference direction
Select Two-way reference
Define
Allow multiple... checkbox
Select Allow multiple Book per Author and Allow multiple Author per Book
Configure reference
Display Name
Author
Configure reference
API ID
Author
Configure reverse field
Display Name
Book
Configure reverse field
API ID
book
We'll click Add to save.
Now that we're done with our Book model, let's move on to the Shop model.
Our final model is the Shop model. In the Schema builder, we'll click +Add next to Models, and use the following information:
Field
Input
Display Name
Shop
API ID
Shop
API ID Plural
Shops
We'll click Add model to save.
Our model has been created but it's empty. To create a simple model that will contain basic shop information, we'll add the shop name, address, picture and location.
Let's start with the shop name, as a Single line text field. We'll find it on the Add fields right sidebar, and click Add on the field card to add it.
We'll use the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Shop name
Settings
API ID
shopName
Settings
Use as title field checkbox
Leave this checkbox selected
We'll click Add to save.
Next, we'll add another Single line text field for the shop address.
We'll use the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Shop address
Settings
API ID
shopAddress
We'll click Add to save.
Finally, we'll add an Asset picker field, which will be our shop's image. We'll select the Asset picker field from the right sidebar and use the following information to create it:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Shop picture
Settings
API ID
shopPicture
We'll click Add to save.
Finally, we'll add a location field so Editors can show the shop location on a map. We'll select the Location field from the right sidebar and use the following information to create it:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Location
Settings
API ID
location
We'll click Add to save.
Now that we're done with our three models, let's create our references banner model.
Our final model will be the References banner model. In the Schema builder, we'll click +Add next to Models, and use the following information:
Field
Input
Display Name
References banner
API ID
ReferencesBanner
API ID Plural
ReferencesBanners
We'll click Add model to save.
Our model has been created but it's empty. To create our banner model, we'll add the banner title, description, and reference fields.
Let's start with the banner title, as a Single line text field. We'll find it on the Add fields right sidebar, and click Add on the field card to add it.
We'll use the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Banner title
Settings
API ID
bannerTitle
Settings
Use as title field checkbox
Leave this checkbox selected
We'll click Add to save.
Next, we'll add a Rich text field, which will our banner description. We'll select the Rich text field from the right sidebar and use the following information to create it:
Tab
Field
Input
Settings
Display Name
Banner description
Settings
API ID
bannerDescription
We'll click Add to save.
Finally, we'll add three reference fields, so our banners can reference content entries from the Author, Book and Shop models we created earlier.
We want to add them as one-way references, because we don't want to create reverse fields in these models. In this case, we just want to be able to link entries from them in the banner model.
Pro Tip
The reverse field is a field that the system creates in the referenced model, so both models can reference each other.
Earlier, when we created the Book model, we added a two-way reference to it, because we wanted books to reference authors, but we also wanted authors to reference books.
In that case, we also allowed multiple books per author and multiple authors per book, because an author can have more than one book, and a book can have more than one author.
We'll link the Author model first. We'll find the Reference field on the Add fields right sidebar, and click Add on the field card to add it.
We'll use the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Define
Reference type
Select Allow only one model to be referenced
Define
Models to reference
Use the dropdown menu to select Author
Define
Reference direction
Select One-way reference
Define
Allow multiple... checkbox
Select Allow multiple Author per References banner
Configure reference
Display Name
Author
Configure reference
API ID
author
Configure reference
Description
You can add one or more showcased authors here
We'll click Add to save.
Next, we'll reference the Book model. We'll repeat the process using the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Define
Reference type
Select Allow only one model to be referenced
Define
Models to reference
Use the dropdown menu to select Book
Define
Reference direction
Select One-way reference
Define
Allow multiple... checkbox
Select Allow multiple Book per References banner
Configure reference
Display Name
Book
Configure reference
API ID
book
Configure reference
Description
You can add one or more showcased books here
We'll click Add to save.
Finally, we'll reference the Shop model. We'll repeat the process using the following information:
Tab
Field
Input
Define
Reference type
Select Allow only one model to be referenced
Define
Models to reference
Use the dropdown menu to select Shop
Define
Reference direction
Select One-way reference
Define
Allow multiple... checkbox
Select Allow multiple Shop per References banner
Configure reference
Display Name
Shop
Configure reference
API ID
shop
Configure reference
Description
You can add one or more showcased shops here
We'll click Add to save.
This is how you build banner component in Hygraph that allows you to relate entries from other models in your schema.
You can use this model to create banners with different referenced content as entries.
You can also relate this banner model to other models in your project. If you cloned the cookbook project, you'll find the banner model included as a reference field in the All banners model.
This is one way of creating a banner using Hygraph. If you want to try out more banner configurations, we have a simple banner, a banner slider and an image banner for you to look into!