> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.scaleflex.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.scaleflex.com/portals/building-a-portal/sections/gallery/gallery-settings/metadata.md).

# Metadata

Choose which metadata fields are shown with each asset.

**Metadata** decides which of an asset's fields visitors can read when they open it. Everything you select here appears in the asset details view; everything you leave out stays internal.

<figure><img src="https://2536208400-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fqsq2dR7Fjagf5eTifWZx%2Fuploads%2FZxdLRk2oNlbBAKyYdtZU%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=919437db-1a86-4be0-862d-73c8c37ca9d4" alt=""><figcaption><p>The <strong>Metadata</strong> panel, with the fields grouped as your DAM organises them.</p></figcaption></figure>

## Display metadata

The switch at the top turns the whole thing on or off. Off, no metadata is shown with any asset in this gallery, whatever is ticked below. It is **on** by default.

## Choosing fields

Fields arrive grouped, exactly as your DAM organises them, with one group the Portal adds itself:

| Group              | Holds                                                                              |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Product fields** | The standard facts about the file — the ones every asset has.                      |
| Your own groups    | The metadata groups defined in your DAM project, each with the fields it contains. |

Tick a field to show it. Tick a group's checkbox to take all of its fields at once; the group box shows a partial mark when only some of its fields are selected.

**Search metadata** narrows the list to fields whose name matches, which is the quickest way through a project with a lot of them. **Select all** and **Deselect all** act on every field in every group, not just the ones currently matching the search.

{% hint style="info" %}
The groups and fields come from the DAM project the gallery draws from, so a gallery pointed at an external project offers that project's fields, not your own.
{% endhint %}

## What visitors see

Selected fields appear in the asset details view, in the order the groups define. A field with no value on a given asset is simply absent for that asset — selecting it costs nothing on assets that don't use it.

To put metadata on the thumbnails themselves rather than inside the details view, use [Thumbnail metadata](/portals/building-a-portal/sections/gallery/gallery-settings/thumbnail-metadata.md).