--- /dev/null
+---
+title: data
+name: options-data
+---
+
+Define the contents of the tree. The data is a nested array of objects. This option is required.
+
+It looks like this:
+
+{% highlight js %}
+var data = [
+ {
+ name: 'node1',
+ children: [
+ { name: 'child1' },
+ { name: 'child2' }
+ ]
+ },
+ {
+ name: 'node2',
+ children: [
+ { name: 'child3' }
+ ]
+ }
+];
+$('#tree1').tree({data: data});
+{% endhighlight %}
+
+* **name**: name of a node (required)
+ * Note that you can also use `label` instead of `name`
+* **children**: array of child nodes (optional)
+* **id**: int or string (optional)
+ * Must be an int or a string
+ * Must be unique in the tree
+ * The `id` property is required if you use the multiple selection feature
+
+You can also include other data in the objects. You can later access this data.
+
+For example, to add an id:
+
+{% highlight js %}
+{
+ name: 'node1',
+ id: 1
+}
+{% endhighlight %}