Components showing as Items in the content tree

Question

Quite new to Sitecore and I have come across something I have not seen before which I hope someone can explain.

I have noticed in a site that I have inherited that any components added to a page through the experience editor show up in the content tree under the page in a "local content" folder. Can someone explain why this happens. Is it a setting in Sitecore or the way the components are coded

Answer 1

This is called "Local Datasources"

Essentially it is a way to help prevent massively bloated shared folders for content that really only appears on the page in question.

It is (mostly) supported out of the box in Sitecore, with only a few minor UI adjustments required for a good experience.

One example here: Local Datasources module for Sitecore Experience Editor and here: SITECORE LOCAL DATASOURCES