🚀 Getting Started
Create your account and set up your museum
Welcome to Vitrine
Vitrine gives every museum (large or small) a professional collection catalogue and a public-facing website. You don't need any technical knowledge to use it. This guide covers everything available on the Community (free) and Hobbyist (£5/month) plans.
There are four main areas to get to know:
Your collection catalogue. Add records for every object: title, date, medium, dimensions, description, status, and photos.
Your public collection website. Customise the look and feel, write your homepage text, and choose which objects appear prominently.
Upload your logo, pick your colours, and choose a site template. Your public site looks like yours; Vitrine stays invisible to visitors.
Manage your account details, see your current plan and usage, and update billing.
Creating your account
Your URL slug is permanent and can't be changed after you create your account, so take a moment to choose something that will still make sense as your museum grows. Keep it short and recognisable: mattscoins, theoldbrickworks, localheritagecentre.
Understanding the dashboard
When you first sign in, you'll see a summary of your collection at the top: total objects, how many are on display, in storage, on loan, and in restoration. Below that is the full objects list.
The sidebar on the left gives you access to every section of the app:
- Objects: your collection catalogue
- Site Builder: your public website settings
- Settings: your account, plan, and billing
On a desktop, the sidebar is always visible. On mobile, tap the menu icon (three lines) in the top-left corner to open it.
Community vs. Hobbyist
Both plans give you the same core features. The difference is in scale.
Community is free and is a great way to start. You can catalogue up to 100 objects, attach 1 image per object, and publish a public collection website right away.
Hobbyist costs £5/month and increases the limits to 1,000 objects and 5 images per object. If you're actively cataloguing a growing collection, you'll probably want to upgrade once you approach the 100-object limit.
🏛️ Your Collection
Add, edit, and organise collection objects
Your collection
The Objects section is the heart of Vitrine. Every physical item in your museum gets its own digital record here: everything from a Roman brooch to a Victorian portrait. The more detail you add to each record, the richer your public-facing website becomes.
On the Community plan, you can hold up to 100 objects, with 1 image per object. On Hobbyist, this increases to 1,000 objects and 5 images per object.
Each object record can hold:
- Title, date, and a free-text description
- Medium (oil on canvas, ceramic, bronze, etc.)
- Dimensions
- Provenance: a note on where the object came from
- A display status (On Display, In Storage, On Loan, Restoration, or Deaccessioned)
- One or more photographs
Adding your first object
Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. It's far better to create a record with just a title and a photo now, then fill in the details later, than to wait until you have complete information. You can return to any object and edit it at any time.
Editing an existing object
Searching and filtering your catalogue
As your collection grows, the search tools become essential.
Managing object statuses
Every object has a status that controls both its visibility on your public website and how it's organised in your catalogue:
- On Display: currently shown in your museum and visible on your public website
- In Storage: in your collection but not shown publicly
- On Loan: lent to another institution; hidden from the public
- Restoration: undergoing conservation work; hidden from the public
- Deaccessioned: permanently left the collection; hidden publicly and moved to the archive view
Only objects set to On Display appear to visitors on your website.
Removing or archiving an object
Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. The record and all its images are removed completely. If there's any chance you might need the record again, use Deaccessioned instead, which hides the object publicly while keeping the record in your archive.
🌐 Your Public Site
Publish your collection online
Your public collection website
Every Vitrine account comes with a live public website at yourslug.vitrine.app the moment you create your account. There's nothing to switch on; it's always running. The site is where members of the public, visitors, researchers, and funders can browse your collection, search for objects, and read individual object detail pages.
What visitors see:
- A homepage showing your featured objects and your museum name
- A searchable, filterable collection browser listing every object set to On Display
- Individual detail pages for each object, showing all the information you've entered: title, description, date, medium, dimensions, provenance, and photos
The site is fully mobile-optimised and accessible out of the box. It also loads quickly, which matters for visitors on slower connections.
What controls what appears on your site
The only thing that controls whether an object appears on your public site is its Status field. The rule is simple:
- On Display → visible to the public
- Any other status → hidden from the public
There is no separate "publish" button for individual objects. The moment you save an object with the On Display status, it's live on your website.
Changes to object status take effect instantly. You don't need to wait for a cache to clear or trigger a republish. The moment you save, your public site is updated.
Viewing your live site
Your public site URL is yourslug.vitrine.app, the slug you chose when you signed up. Share it in emails, on printed materials, or on social media. Anyone can visit it without an account.
🎨 Customisation
Personalise your site's look and feel
Customising your public site
The Site Builder is where you make your collection website look and feel like yours. You can upload your logo, choose a colour scheme, pick a site template, write your homepage tagline, choose which objects to feature prominently, and add social media links. None of this requires any design knowledge or code.
Everything you change here is applied to your live public site when you click Publish. You can preview changes in the right-hand panel before publishing, so there's no risk of accidentally breaking your live site while experimenting.
Choosing a template
Vitrine offers three site templates, each with a different layout and typographic character. All three are available on Community and Hobbyist at no extra cost.
- Minimal: clean, spacious, and uncluttered. Great for intimate or personal collections.
- Dramatic: bold typography and strong contrast. Suited to collections where impact matters.
- Archival: a structured, document-like feel. Well-suited to heritage and historical collections.
Uploading your logo
Setting your accent colour
The accent colour appears throughout your public site: on buttons, links, and highlight elements. By default it's amber, but you can change it to match your museum's brand identity.
Writing your homepage tagline
The tagline is the headline that greets visitors at the top of your homepage, above the featured objects. It's the first thing people read, so make it count.
Featuring objects on your homepage
Your homepage prominently displays a small selection of objects from your collection. You choose which ones appear here; they act as a shop window for the rest of your catalogue.
Feature objects that are visually striking or that have a compelling story: these are the pieces that will draw visitors deeper into your collection.
Adding social media links
⚙️ Settings
Manage your account, plan, and preferences
Settings & account
The Settings section is where you manage everything about your Vitrine account: your profile details, your museum's name, your current plan, usage, and billing. You can reach it by clicking Settings at the bottom of the left sidebar.
Updating your profile
Your plan and usage
The Plan tab in Settings shows you your current subscription, when it next renews, and how much of your plan's capacity you've used.
Cancelling your subscription
If you're on Hobbyist and have more than 100 objects when you revert to Community, you won't lose any existing records, but you won't be able to add new ones until your count is back below 100.
Updating your museum details
Your museum URL slug (e.g. mattscoins.vitrine.app) is set during onboarding and cannot be changed after the fact. If you need to change it, contact support at hello@vitrine.app.
Deleting your account
Account deletion is irreversible. Everything (all object records, all images, your site settings, your public website) is permanently erased. There is no way to recover any of it. If you just want a break, consider cancelling your paid subscription instead and keeping the free Community account open.