One of the many unique features of ILSA is the section data. It enables you to create a rich vehicle detail page in no time. Normally you would need to decide which fields to include in your vehicle detail page. With hundreds of vehicle fields available, it can be a bit overwhelming and easy to miss important information. Especially when dealing with multiple vehicle categories. Also, when new vehicle fields become available in the future, you would need to continuously update your fieldset.
The section data solves this problem by providing vehicle information neatly organized into sections and subsections. These section data is very dynamic. It adapts to each specific vehicle to provide the most clear and concise information for your visitors.

Your details fieldset is by default configured to include sections[] fields. These come as a list of sections, each section having a title (sections[].title), key (sections[].key), and one or more subsections (sections[].subsections[]). The title is to be displayed as a header (“General information” or “Technical information” in the screenshot above) and the key can be used to identify the section (see the tips below).

Each section is further divided into one or more subsections. A subsection can contain section fields (sections[].subsections[].fields[]), features (sections[].subsections[].features[]) and text (sections[].subsections[].text). Not all subsections will use all three. Some will only contain only fields, others text and features, et cetera.
A subsection can also have a title (sections[].subsections[].title) and a key (sections[].subsections[].key), again to be used for a (sub) header and for identification.
In many cases a section will have just a single subsection. The title and key of the subsection will then remain empty, since a sub header has no meaning here.

Section fields consist of key-value pairs (like “Bodystyle: Saloon”) and contain these fields:
sections[].subsections[].fields[].label: The label to be displayed. For example “Mileage” in the screenshot above.
sections[].subsections[].fields[].display_value: The value of the field, formatted and translated for the given locale. For example “397,138 km”.
sections[].subsections[].fields[].key: A unique identifier for this field, which you can use to style specific fields.
sections[].subsections[].fields[].raw: The raw, unformatted value of the field. This can be used if you want to format the field differently.
sections[].subsections[].fields[].url: The URL of an external web page or document linked to this field (if applicable).
sections[].subsections[].fields[].field_tooltip: Optional text with an explanation to clarify this field to your visitors.
sections[].subsections[].fields[].value_tooltip: Same as for the field_tooltip, but this time with more information about the value.

Features on the other hand are used for information with just labels. For example “12 months warranty” or the options of a vehicle.
sections[].subsections[].features[].label: The label to be displayed. For example “Cruise control”.
sections[].subsections[].features[].key: A unique identifier for this field, which you can use to style specific features.
sections[].subsections[].features[].url: The URL of an external web page or document linked to this feature, if applicable. For example, it might link to a warranty certificate.
sections[].subsections[].features[].field_tooltip: Optional text with an explanation to clarify this feature to your visitors.

Last, text within a subsection is used for things like the vehicle description as entered by the dealer.
sections[].subsections[].text.html: The text to be displayed. This might contain (simple) HTML tags so should not be escaped (see richtext).
sections[].subsections[].text.plaintext: The same text, stripped of any formatting. \n is used for newlines.

WARNING

Per our stability guarantees, we might reorganise the section data at any time. Fields might be moved to another section. Sections might be split (into separate sections or subsections). Fields might be combined together.

The first section is usually the overview section. It is a special section that contains a brief summary of the vehicle’s key information. It intelligently adapts to your website, the vehicle and even to what the visitor searched for.
Here are some examples:

  • For fully electric vehicles, it adds the battery capacity and range
  • For motorcycles, it includes the engine size
  • If the visitor searched for vehicles with a tow bar, ILSA will show the maximum towing weight
  • It won’t show the vehicle is new if your website deals solely with new vehicles
    The overview section serves as a summary, so the information is also included further down in de section data below, where it’s presented in more detail and context.

  • Your details fieldset comes preconfigured with the fields listed above. As with all fields, only select the fields you will actually use when configuring your fieldset. This will not only improve performance, but also helps ILSA in making decisions about what data to put where. For example, if you would for some reason not include sections[].subsections[].features[].url in your fieldset, ILSA might decide to not include vehicle documents since the visitor has no way of actually inspecting these documents.
  • Use section keys if you want to style some sections differently. For example, when using tabs to display more information using less window real estate use the section keys to move certain information to specific tabs.
  • Same goes for field keys. For example, if you want to style the license plate of the vehicle.
  • Test with vehicle id 12345-1. It contains a bit of everything with regards to section data.
  • field_tooltip and value_tooltips can contain very helpful information for visitors not too familiar with cars. Consider rendering these with an information icon and a tooltip.
  • Depending on the vehicle category, information available and other factors, some vehicles might have different (sub)sections than other vehicles.
  • When using sections[].subsections[].text.html be aware it might contain elements like <h1>, <h2> et cetera. You probably want to style these so they fit nicely into your website or application.
  • Media (images, videos, 360º panoramas) are not part of the section data.
  • With new ILSA updates and improvements rolling out regularly, be advised that new (sub)sections can be added without notice.
  • If there is any reason not to display a specific field, please contact us to have it removed/emptied. Do not rely on the key to hide the information.
  • To make the overview section adapt to search criteria, include the filters with your /details API call (same format as /searchresults).