How do I add a plain text field in Webflow?

Use plain text for words without formatting

A plain text field stores unformatted text on each Collection item. Webflow says you can connect it to any text element except a rich text element. A role, a short label, a location, or a one-line summary fits. A blog post with headings and images does not.

Name and Slug are already on every Collection. They are required, and Webflow adds them for you. Add a plain text field when you need a second line of words, not when you are trying to replace the item name.

A number belongs in a number field, even if you could type digits into plain text. The number field guide is prices and quantities. A formatted article belongs in rich text. The rich text guide is how that element is styled after the field exists.

Add the field in Collection settings

Open the CMS panel, hover the Collection, and click the settings icon. In the custom fields, click Add Field, or click Add New Field, and choose Plain text. Label it for what it holds, such as Role or City.

Help text and Required are optional. Help text is the note an editor sees under the label, such as 'Job title, one line, no HTML.' Turn Required on when every item must have the line. Save the field.

Example: a Team Collection already has Name and Slug. Add Role as plain text. On the first item, Role is Studio lead. On the second, Role is Editor. The person's name stays in Name. The job title stays in Role.

A schema change needs a full site publish before the live site reflects it. Publish the whole site after the field exists, then fill the field on each item you want the live page to show.

Connect it inside the Collection list

Add a Collection list from Add panel, CMS, and set its source to the Collection. Elements you drop in the list stay the same on every item until you connect them. Select the text element, open Settings, click the purple dot, and choose the plain text field. The default words are replaced by the value on each item. The Navigator shows a purple icon on that dynamic element.

Example: under the name on each team card, add a paragraph and connect it to Role. The first card reads Studio lead. The second card reads Editor. You do not type those titles on the canvas. You type them on the item.

The same field can feed a text element on the Collection page, because plain text connects to any text element except rich text. Style the paragraph once. Webflow applies that style to every item in the list, whether or not the element is dynamic. Change the font size on the Role paragraph and every card's role uses that size.

To disconnect, select the element, open Settings, click the field name, and choose Disconnect property.

Publish, then read two items

Put the words on the items after the field exists. An empty field has nothing to show, so the connected paragraph can look blank on that card. Required marks that the line should be filled. It does not write a sentence for items that are already empty.

Publish the whole site so the new field is part of the live schema. Then open two items that should differ. If both cards show the same typed placeholder, the paragraph is still static. Click the purple dot and choose Role again.

You cannot delete a field that is still connected. Webflow points you at View field connections, then Disconnect, until nothing is left. Also check the Collection page settings. The field may be used in SEO, Open Graph, RSS, site search, or custom code. Removing the design connection is not enough while one of those still uses it. The structure guide is how the rest of the Collection is planned before you add more fields.

Leave formatting in rich text

If the line needs a bold phrase, a list, or an image in the middle of the copy, plain text will not store that formatting. Add a rich text field for the long copy, and keep plain text for the label beside it. A role should stay plain text even when the biography is rich text. Two jobs, two fields.

Do not paste HTML into the plain text field and expect a heading on the page. The field is words. The class on the text element is the styling.

Adding the field and connecting the card is ordinary CMS work on an existing site. The membership is one plan for every existing Webflow site: $999 per month, including 10 hours of Webflow work. Your Webflow subscription and hosting stay in your own account.