Advanced View Types Tutorial: How Netflix Rows Are Controlled

Understand how row layouts are generated inside the Netflix view — and how to customize them using category-level settings.

1. What Makes the Netflix View Unique
2. How Bamboo Decides Which Row Type to Display
3. Previewing View Types (New)
4. Full-Page View Types
5. Row-Level View Types
6. Special Rules Inside Netflix Pages
7. How to Change a Row’s Layout
8. Best Practices
9. Common Mistakes & Fixes

1. What Makes the Netflix View Unique

Unlike other view types, the Netflix view can display multiple layouts inside the same page.

Each row is generated from a category under the category you selected for that page.

Key idea:

👉 Each row uses the view type set inside that category’s Edit Category menu.

This is why the layout of each row can be different.

2. How Bamboo Decides Which Row Type to Display

Inside Media → Categories (Green arrow)→ Edit Category, every category has its own View Type.

There are two kinds of view types:

A. Full-page View Types

(Used when a category is its own page)

B. Row View Types

(Used when a category appears as a row inside a Netflix page)

3. Previewing View Types (Recommended)

(New section added)

Before customizing your Netflix rows, you can see how each view type looks on your Bamboo site and apps by visiting:

https://yourdomain.com/color-reference  

Example: https://demo.bamboo-cloud.com/color-reference  

This page shows:

• Slider
• Gallery (horizontal row)
• Vertical posters
• Horizontal cards
• Buttons, spacing, titles, labels
• And additional UI elements

This is the easiest way to understand how each row type will appear across different devices.

4. Full-Page View Types

(Not used inside Netflix rows)

These apply only when the category is used as the main page content:

• 2 Columns
• Series Look
• Gallery (The only look that is both full page and row)

If these categories appear inside a Netflix page, Bamboo ignores the full-page layout and uses a default row layout instead.

5. Row-Level View Types

(Used inside Netflix pages)

These determine how a row appears inside the Netflix-style page.

1. Slider

• Large hero-style carousel
• Best for featured content
• Only allowed as the first row

If placed lower in the category tree, it will not appear as a slider.

2. Gallery (Horizontal Row)

• Classic Netflix-style thumbnail row
• Clean, familiar look
• Great for categories containing only videos
• This is the default look, unsupported full page view types will revert to this look in a Netflix page

3. Vertical Looks (Poster Carousel / Vertical Cards)

• Tall, vertical poster rows
• Excellent for movie artwork or high-end branding
• Ideal on TV and large screens

4. Horizontal Cards

• Medium-large thumbnails
• More premium and visual than standard gallery rows
• Perfect for featured or branded collections

6. Special Rules Inside Netflix Pages

Rule 1: Full-page layouts are not displayed within Netflix pages

They are disregarded in row mode.

Full-page layouts include vertical looks, series, and two columns.

Gallery is the only layout that incorporates both full-page and row looks.

All layouts without full-page modes will default to the gallery look for the full page.

Additionally, all full-page layouts will default to the gallery when these categories are part of the Netflix page.

Rule 2 — Empty categories = empty or missing rows

If your category has no videos or subcategories, nothing can be shown.

Rule 3 — Row order = Category tree order

To rearrange your rows, rearrange your subcategories under the category you selected in Navigation.

7. How to Change a Row’s Layout

To change how a row appears:

1. Go to Media → Categories

2. Click Edit on the category

   Scroll to View Type

   Select:

   • Slider
   • Gallery
   • Vertical Cards / Poster Carousel
   • Horizontal Cards
3. Save
4. Refresh your Netflix page

The row will update after up to 10 mins.

(If you want to see the change quick, open the URL in incognito mode).

8. Best Practices

✔ Use Slider only for the first row

Keeps the page clean and avoids fallback behavior.

✔ Use Gallery for simple video lists

Straightforward and reliable.

✔ Use Horizontal Cards for curated sections

Great balance between “featured” and “browsable”.

✔ Keep your category tree organized

Your Netflix page is only as clean as your content tree.

9. Common Mistakes & Fixes

❌ Row looks different than expected

Fix: Edit the category view type, not the Navigation page view type.

❌ Row is empty

Fix: Category has no videos or subcategories.

❌ Rows appear in the wrong order

Fix: Reorder subcategories in the category tree.

❌ My full-page layout isn’t appearing

Fix: Full-page layouts don’t apply inside Netflix rows.