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Templates & Pages

This guide explains how DMS turns your inventory into pages shoppers can browse - the difference between the two page types, what a "template" is, and how to build and assign them.

Info

Templates are built with Elementor. You design them visually, the same way you build any other page. DMS just decides where each template gets used.

The two pages shoppers see

Almost every inventory site has two kinds of page:

  • Search Results Page (SRP) - the browse/listing page. A grid of results with filters, sorting, and pagination. This is where a shopper lands when they click "View Inventory".
  • Vehicle Details Page (VDP) - the single-listing page. All the detail for one item: photos, price, specs, description, and a contact form. This is where a shopper lands when they click one result.

DMS lets you design both, per inventory type, so your Boats can look different from your Trailers.

What a template is

A template is a saved, reusable layout for one of those pages, built in Elementor and stored under its inventory type. Each type has its own set of templates, found at [Your Type] > Templates.

There are three kinds:

Template kind What it lays out
Vehicle Details Page (VDP) A single listing's detail page - photo gallery, specs, price, lead form.
Search Results Page (SRP) The results page frame - the area around the grid: headings, filters, layout.
Search Result Item (SRI) One card in the results grid - the small tile repeated for each result. Your Search Results Page template displays a grid of these.

Think of it this way: the Search Results Page is the shelf, each Search Result Item is a product box on the shelf, and the Vehicle Details Page is the full page you get when you pick one box up.

Creating a template

  1. Go to [Your Type] > Templates > Add New.
  2. Choose which kind it is (VDP, SRP, or SRI).
  3. Edit it with Elementor and design your layout. Use the DMS elements (search "DMS" in the Elementor panel) to pull in live listing data - see Using Shortcodes for what each one does.
  4. Publish.

Elementor tip

DMS templates use containers, not the older sections/columns.

Assigning the Vehicle Details Page (VDP)

The Vehicle Details Page is assigned through settings, with a global default and per-type overrides:

  1. Global default - Dealer.ms > Settings > Display & Templates > Global VDP Template. This Vehicle Details Page is used for every inventory type unless overridden.
  2. Per-type override - [Your Type] > Settings. Set a Vehicle Details Page here to use a different detail layout for just that type.

If no Vehicle Details Page template is assigned, listings fall back to your theme's default single-post layout, and the editor shows a notice prompting you to create one. Assign one to take control of the detail page.

Lead forms

A lead form is how shoppers contact you - the "request info" form on a listing. You build it from Elementor form fields inside a template (usually the Vehicle Details Page), so it appears on every listing of that type.

The important part: each field must be mapped to a lead field so DMS knows what it holds. For every form field, open its Lead Data tab in the Elementor settings and set the Lead Data option to what that field represents:

  • A name field → Customer Name
  • An email field → Customer Email
  • A phone field → Customer Phone
  • A message box → Customer Message

The full list also includes Customer Address, City, State, ZIP, Country, and Preferred Contact Method. For anything that doesn't fit, choose Custom Attribute and give it a Custom Data Name.

Map every field

A form field with no Lead Data mapping is not saved onto the lead. If a submitted name arrives blank, that field almost certainly wasn't set to Customer Name.

Submitted forms land under Leads & Contacts and can trigger notification emails.

Building the Search Results Page (SRP)

The Search Results Page is not assigned in settings - you place it on a normal WordPress page so it gets its own URL you can link to in menus:

  1. Create a new WordPress page (e.g. "Inventory") and edit it with Elementor.
  2. Add the "[Your Type] SRP" element (search "SRP" in the Elementor panel), or use the matching shortcode.
  3. In that element's settings, choose which Search Results Page template to display. That template renders the grid, and each result uses the Search Result Item (SRI) template set as the Default SRI in the template's Listings element.
  4. Publish the page and add it to your site menu.

SRP Display Error

If the results area is empty and shows an "SRP Display Error", the page's Search Results Page element has no template selected. Edit the page, open the element, and pick a Search Results Page template.

Pre-filter a page

The Search Results Page element has preload settings - pick a category term (and/or a status) to filter by the moment the page loads. For example, preload Make = Honda so that page only ever shows Hondas. Build one page per preset (all inventory, Hondas, one per body style...) and link each in your menu.

You can build several Search Results Page variations (for example, a general one and a pre-filtered one per category) - each just needs the element pointed at a template.

Putting it together

A typical setup for one inventory type:

  1. Build a Search Result Item (SRI) template - the card design.
  2. Build a Search Results Page (SRP) template - the results-page frame that shows a grid of those cards. In its Listings element, set the Default SRI to the template from step 1 - that's how the page knows which card to repeat for each result.
  3. Build a Vehicle Details Page (VDP) template - the full detail page.
  4. Assign the Vehicle Details Page in the type's Settings (or globally).
  5. Create a WordPress page, add the Search Results Page element, point it at your template, and link that page in your menu.

Shoppers now browse your Search Results Page, see Search Result Items, and click through to a Vehicle Details Page for full detail.

Where do I find...?

I want to... Go to
Design the results-page layout [Type] > Templates > Add New (kind: SRP)
Design the card shown for each result [Type] > Templates > Add New (kind: SRI)
Design the single detail page [Type] > Templates > Add New (kind: VDP)
Set the detail page for all types Dealer.ms > Settings > Display & Templates > Global VDP Template
Use a different detail page for one type [Type] > Settings
Publish a browsable inventory page A WordPress page + the [Type] SRP element

Next: see what live-data elements you can drop into these templates in Using Shortcodes, or find your way around the admin in Getting Around.