The _meta
tag contains all the metadata of your homebrew file, in other words the data about the data. This means that it holds all the information required to properly identify and link the Homebrew you are creating, and prevent it from conflicting with other files.
It describes data about the different sources like the title, author, converters (for bug reporting) and source URL of the brew. It also includes some optional custom properties such as new items types and so on.
It is 100% required for any homebrew file, otherwise your homebrew content will be added to the default Brew
source and will make filtering a pain. It also prevents conflicts with other files from the Homebrew Repository.
To start, copy the following code block and fill the empty ""
values.
"_meta": {
"sources": [
{
"json": "",
"abbreviation": "",
"full": "",
"authors": [
""
],
"convertedBy": [
""
],
"version": "1.0",
"url": "",
"targetSchema": "1.0"
}
],
"dateAdded": 0,
"dateLastModified": 0
}
"sources"
- an array of objects {}
, each object referencing a different homebrew source. This means a single file can contain several different sources. While it is possible to hold hundreds of different sources in a single file, it is smart to avoid this. Keep your brews organized in different files, and only join those that are related.
"json"
- used to identify the source universally, should be unique. It will not be seen once it is loaded on the site, so it can be as long or weird as you please; be aware you will have to repeat it every time you tag something."abbreviation"
- the short name, like PHB for the Player’s Handbook. Shown in lists and the top-right corner of statblocks and data entries."full"
- name or title of the homebrew you are creating. This could be the name of a book or PDF, like “Monster Manual”."authors"
- an array of the authors of the brew source. If there is more than one, you can add more strings ""
separated by commas."convertedBy"
- list of people who converted the brew to 5eTools’ format, useful to recognise who to contact if typos or erros are found."version"
- version number of the brew source, for those that get constant updates with changelogs."url"
- a link to the original homebrew, for example a GM Binder, Reddit or DMs Guild page"targetSchema"
- the version of the 5eTools schema the homebrew follows. If you don’t know what this is, leave as 1.0
."dateAdded"
- the Unix epoch time at which the brew file was first created and added to the Repository."dateLastModified"
- the Unix epoch time when the brew was last modified. Useful to know if your local or loaded copy of a homebrew file is outdated.What is Unix epoch time?
It is the number of seconds that have passed since January 1st 1970, a simple way in programing to keep track of dates. To know the current Unix time or convert dates, you can use sites like www.epochconverter.com