Understanding Quix Collections
A Quix Collection is a named group of related pages that functions as a single, navigable unit — like a book, a documentation site, or an online course. Instead of managing a loose set of standalone pages, collections give your content structure: a sidebar with a table of contents, sequential prev/next navigation, a shared URL for easy distribution, and unified sharing and export settings.
This guide explains what collections are, when to use them, the different organizational approaches, and how they compare to standalone pages. By the end, you'll know whether a collection is the right choice for your content and how to think about structuring one.
What Collections Solve
Without collections, related pages exist as independent documents that readers must navigate individually. If you've written a 12-page user guide, each page has its own URL, its own share settings, and no built-in way for readers to move from one page to the next. Collections solve this by:
- Providing structured navigation: A sidebar table of contents shows all pages in order, with collapsible sections and active-page highlighting. Readers always know where they are and what's next
- Enabling one-click sharing: Share a single collection URL that gives readers access to every page inside. No need to send 12 separate links
- Creating a professional reading experience: Collections render with prev/next buttons, breadcrumb navigation, and an automatically generated landing page with descriptions and page counts
- Sharing under one link: Send a whole collection as a single link with a generated table of contents, rather than sending each document separately
- Tracking engagement holistically: See analytics across the entire collection — which pages are read most, how many distinct people opened them, and how long readers spend on each one
When to Use a Collection
Not every piece of content belongs in a collection. The decision depends on whether your content has natural relationships and benefits from structured navigation. Here's a decision guide:
Scenario | Collection? | Why |
|---|---|---|
12-page product user guide | Yes | Sequential reading order, shared context, prev/next navigation |
Internal company wiki (30+ pages) | Yes | Sidebar navigation, team sharing, searchable structure |
Online training course (8 modules) | Yes | Sequential reading order, module navigation |
One-off meeting notes | No | Self-contained, no relationship to other pages |
Quick personal draft | No | Too early to organize — create the collection later when patterns emerge |
API reference (50+ endpoints) | Yes | Alphabetical navigation, search within collection, unified publishing |
Rule of thumb: If you have 3 or more pages on related topics and readers benefit from navigating between them, use a collection. If the content stands alone, keep it as a standalone page — you can always add it to a collection later.
Collection Architecture
Every collection consists of the same building blocks, but the way you organize them determines the reader experience:
Collection Properties
Each collection has metadata that controls how it appears in dashboards, search results, and when shared:
- Name: The title of your collection — displayed in the sidebar, dashboard, and share links. Keep it descriptive and concise (e.g., "Product Documentation" rather than "Docs")
- Description: A one-to-two sentence summary shown on the collection's landing page and in search results. Write it as if it's the subtitle of a book
- Icon: An emoji or uploaded image for visual identification in sidebars and dashboards
- Cover Image: An optional banner image that appears at the top of the collection's landing page for a polished look
- Visibility: Private (only you), shared (specific people), or public (anyone with the link)
- Page Order: Manual (drag to reorder), alphabetical, or by creation date
Organizational Approaches
Collections support three organizational patterns, and you can mix them within a single collection:
- Sequential: Pages follow a specific reading order — chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3. Readers navigate with prev/next buttons and see a progress indicator. Ideal for tutorials, courses, and user guides
- Reference: Pages can be accessed in any order — readers browse alphabetically, search by keyword, or jump directly from the sidebar. Ideal for API docs, FAQs, and knowledge bases
- Hierarchical: Pages nest under parent pages up to 3 levels deep, creating an expandable tree structure. Ideal for complex documentation with sections and subsections (e.g., a company wiki with departments → teams → processes)
The Reader Experience
When someone opens a shared or public collection, they see a documentation-style layout with three key navigation elements:
- Sidebar: A table of contents listing all pages in order, with collapsible sections for hierarchical collections. The current page is highlighted, and readers can jump to any page with one click
- Prev/Next buttons: Sequential navigation at the bottom of each page, allowing readers to move through the collection linearly without returning to the sidebar
- Breadcrumbs: A navigation trail at the top showing the collection name → section → current page, helping readers understand where they are in the hierarchy
Readers can also search within the collection (searching only pages in that collection, not the entire workspace) and bookmark individual pages for quick access later.
Collection Analytics
Collections include built-in analytics — available on every plan, with reader identities reserved for Pro — that help you understand how readers interact with your content:
Metric | What It Tells You | How to Act on It |
|---|---|---|
Page views | Which pages are most and least visited | Promote low-view pages in the sidebar or improve their titles |
Reading time | How long readers spend on each page | Pages with very long reading times may need to be split |
Unique readers | How many distinct people opened each page | Many views from few people means the page is being re-read; many people once means it is a first-visit page |
Views over time | Daily view counts across the range you select | Spot when a link was circulated, and when interest faded |
Collections vs. Standalone Pages
Both standalone pages and collections have their place. The key differences:
Feature | Standalone Page | Collection |
|---|---|---|
Navigation | Direct URL only | Sidebar, prev/next, breadcrumbs, search |
Sharing | Per-page share settings | One share link covers all pages |
Export | PDF or Markdown | Per document — there is no collection export |
Analytics | Individual page metrics | Holistic metrics across all pages |
Organization | Tags and folders | Ordered pages with hierarchy and sections |
Best for | One-off documents, notes, drafts | Multi-page docs, courses, knowledge bases |
The two aren't mutually exclusive — a standalone page can be added to a collection at any time without losing its content or history.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a page belong to multiple collections?
Currently, each page belongs to one collection at a time. If you need the same content in multiple places, you can either duplicate the page or create a page in one collection that links to pages in another.
Is there a limit to the number of pages in a collection?
There's no hard limit. However, for the best reader experience, we recommend keeping collections under 50 pages. For larger bodies of work, consider splitting into multiple collections organized by subtopic and linking between them.
Can I nest collections inside other collections?
Quixli doesn't support nested collections directly. Instead, create a "hub" page within a collection that links to other collections, effectively creating a multi-level navigation structure. This approach is more flexible and avoids deeply nested hierarchies that confuse readers.
What happens if I delete a collection?
Deleting a collection moves it to the trash (recoverable for 30 days). All pages inside the collection become standalone pages — they are not deleted. You can then add them to a different collection or leave them as standalone pages.