Can you provide assistance with creating a modal view for glossary terms on my Webflow site using CMS collection content?

You want to create a modal view for glossary terms in Webflow, pulling each term’s content dynamically from a CMS Collection. Here's how to do this effectively.

1. Set Up the CMS Collection

• Create a CMS Collection named something like Glossary.
• Include at least two fields: Term (plain text) and Definition (rich text or plain text).
• Add your glossary terms and definitions as individual items.

2. Insert a Collection List

• Go to the desired page (or create a new one) where you want to display glossary terms.
• Add a Collection List and bind it to the Glossary CMS Collection.
• Inside the Collection List, add a Text Link or Button that will open the modal for each term.

3. Design the Modal Structure

• Outside of the Collection List, create a div block to act as your modal container.
• Set it to display: none initially, give it a fixed position, and center it on the screen with a semi-transparent background (for example, black @ 50% opacity).
• Inside this modal container, add:
• A heading element for the Term.
• A text block or rich text element for the Definition.
• A Close button.

4. Use Webflow’s Custom Attributes and Interactions

• For each link/button in the Collection List:

• Add a custom attribute like data-glossary-id and bind it to the CMS Item ID, slug, or use data-term / data-definition with the actual text.

• In the modal:

• Add unique element IDs or use class names strategically for targeting with JavaScript.

• Set a click interaction on the link/button to:

• Run custom code (more below) or open the modal.

• Add an interaction to the modal close button that hides the modal again.

5. Add Custom JavaScript for Dynamic Content

• Go to Page Settings > Before tag and add a small script:

• Use JavaScript to:

  • Listen for clicks on glossary term buttons.
  • Get term/definition from data attributes.
  • Populate the modal content fields.
  • Show the modal.

• Example inline logic (not full code per Webflow guidelines): When a button with data-term="API" and data-definition="A set of functions…" is clicked, the script sets modal heading and text using those values, then shows the modal.

6. Optional Enhancements

• Add keyboard accessibility (e.g., closing modal on Escape).
• Add scroll locking when the modal is open.
• Optionally use loading="lazy" for modal images if present.

Summary

To create a glossary term modal using CMS content, bind a Collection List to your Glossary CMS, add modal UI elements to the page (not inside the list), and use custom JavaScript to dynamically fill and open the modal based on click events. This allows each term to trigger a common modal using its CMS-provided content.