Choosing an Approach

Decision guides for the forks you hit while modeling: which field, which structure, which setup to choose.

• ArticleReference vs multi-referenceUse a reference when an entry links to exactly one entry in another collection, and a multi-reference when it links to several at once. Rule of thumb: match the field to the real cardinality — one target, one reference; many targets, one multi-reference.
• ArticleRollup vs lookupUse a rollup to summarize many related entries into one number — how many orders a customer has, what they are worth in total. Use a lookup to pull one value across a single reference — showing the customer's city on the order. Rollup counts the many; lookup copies from the one. Both are computed and read-only.
• ArticleStages vs option field vs statusUse stages when something moves through a process and you care how it progresses — they give you a board, a history of every move, and funnel numbers. Use an option field to classify something that is not a journey, like priority or type. Status is neither: it controls public visibility, not workflow.