How do I filter a Webflow Collection list?

Start from a dynamic list

A Collection list that is connected to a Collection shows the first 100 items unless you narrow it. Filters choose which of those items match a rule you set. Sort order, pagination, and a display limit exist too, and they are only on dynamic Collection lists. If the list is curated, those controls are not there. Connect the list to the Collection first, then filter.

Select the list on the canvas. Open Element settings, then Collection list settings, then Filter. Click the plus icon. Choose the field, choose the rule under When, add a value if that rule needs one, and click Save. You can add more rules. An item has to satisfy the combination. Delete a rule with the trash icon.

You can also connect filter settings to component properties when the same layout should use different rules in different places. That is optional. A single saved filter is enough for a homepage row.

Show only featured items

A homepage should not dump the whole blog. Add a Switch field in the Collection settings, such as Featured. Turn that switch on only for the posts that belong in the row.

Select the list, add a filter, choose the Featured switch, and set When to is on. Save. Turning the switch off on an item removes it from that list the next time the item and the page are published. Turning it on adds it. You do not redesign the list for each campaign.

For example: three case studies have Featured on, and the other twelve do not. The homepage list shows those three. The main case study index can use a different list with no featured filter, so the archive stays complete.

Hide the post the visitor is already reading

On a blog template, a "more posts" list that includes the current article looks like a mistake. Filter it out.

Select the list on the Collection template. Add a filter. In Field, choose the Collection name, such as Blog posts. Set When to is not. Set the next field to Current Collection item. Save.

The template still designs one list. Each published item page omits itself and shows the others. If you also want a short row, set a display limit on that same dynamic list rather than building a second Collection.

Show items that share a reference

Related posts need a field that ties them together. Add a Reference field on the blog Collection that points at an Authors Collection, or at a Categories Collection. On each blog item, set that reference.

Then filter the list on the author template: choose the Reference field, set When to Equals, and choose Current author. Save. The list shows posts that point at the author page the visitor opened. The same pattern works for a category if the reference points at the category item.

This filter does not invent the relationship. If the reference is empty on a post, that post will not appear in the author list. Fill the field before you judge the design.

A list can still stop at 100 matching items. If a category is larger than that, pagination is the control Webflow documents for showing more. The filter only decides membership.

Publish, then read the list in context

Filters in the Designer update the canvas. Visitors see them after you publish. Open the homepage and one item page. Check a featured item, an item with the switch off, and an item page where the current article must not repeat.

If the live list is wrong, check the item values before you rebuild the layout. A scheduled or draft item is not a live list entry yet. A filter cannot show content that is not published.

Changing which posts are featured is ordinary CMS work: update the switch, publish the item, and confirm the list. If those rules need a standing owner, write them down next to the Collection. For example: 'Homepage shows items with Featured on. Article pages exclude the current item. Author pages show posts whose Author reference equals that author.'

If you would rather hand that list work off in writing, Webflower's membership is one plan for every existing Webflow site: $999 per month, including 10 hours. Additional work is $75 per hour, and a written estimate is approved before that extra work starts. Communication is written only, with no calls or meetings. Your Webflow subscription and hosting stay in your own account.