Channel Form¶

Title¶

Set the title of the entry. This is a required parameter.

<label for="title">Title</label>
<input type="text" name="title" id="title" value="{title}" size="50" maxlength="100" onkeyup="liveUrlTitle();">

URL Title¶

Set the URL title of the entry.

<label for="url_title">URL Title</label>
<input type="text" name="url_title" id="url_title" value="{url_title}" maxlength="75" size="50">

Entry Date¶

Set the date of the entry:

<p>Date <br> <input type="text" name="entry_date" value="{entry_date}" maxlength="23" size="25"></p>

Expiration Date¶

Set the expiration date of the entry:

<p>Expiration Date <br>
  <input type="text" name="expiration_date" value="{expiration_date}" maxlength="23" size="25">
</p>

Comment Expiration Date¶

Set the comment expiration date if desired:

<p>Comment Expiration Date <br>
<input type="text" name="comment_expiration_date" value="{comment_expiration_date}" maxlength="23" size="25" />
</p>

Make Entry Sticky¶

Set the entry as “sticky” or not.

<p><input type="checkbox" name="sticky" value="y"  {sticky} /> Make Entry Sticky</p>

Categories¶

Set the entry’s categories.

{category_menu}
  <label for="categories">Categories</label>
  <select name="category[]" id="categories" size="4" multiple="multiple">
    {select_options}
  </select>
{/category_menu}

Or use the alternative syntax.

<label for="categories">Categories</label>
<select name="category[]" id="categories" size="4" multiple="multiple">
  {categories}
    <option value="{category_id}"{selected}>{category_name}</option>
  {/categories}
</select>

The following variables are available inside the Category Menu and Categories tag pairs:

Status¶

Set the entry’s status.

{status_menu}
  <p>Status<br>
    <select name="status">
      {select_options}
    </select>
  </p>
{/status_menu}

Or use the alternative syntax.

<label for="status">Status</label>
<select name="status" id="status">
  {statuses}
    <option value="{status}"{selected}>{status}</option>
  {/statuses}
</select>

Other Channel Fields¶

For all of the other channel fields, you have a few options. The easiest is just using the {field:...} tag:

{field:my_field_name}

However, sometimes you’ll need to customize your <input> for one reason or another. In those cases you have a few options depending on what you want to do. If it’s a simple field, just make sure the name is the same as the input’s name and provide the variable as the value:

<input type="text" name="my_field_name" id="my_field_name" value="{my_field_name}">

If you’re creating a select list, you’ll need to pull in the options, using {options:my_field_name} but otherwise things look pretty similar:

<select name="my_field_name" id="my_field_name">
  {options:my_field_name}
    <option value="{option_value}"{selected}>{option_name}</option>
  {/options:my_field_name}
</select>

Last, if you’re using a file field, you’ll need to provide two additional hidden inputs to determine what upload directory the file is uploaded to and the existing file for when the entry is edited:

<input type="file" name="my_field_name" />
<input type="hidden" name="my_field_name_directory" value="1" />
<input type="hidden" name="my_field_name_hidden_file" value="{my_field_name}{file_name}{/my_field_name}" />

allow_comments=¶

allow_comments="yes"

Whether to allow comments on the submitted entry. If this parameter is not specified, the Channel’s Allow comments in this channel? preference will be used.

author_only=¶

author_only="yes"

Only allow the author of the entry to edit the entry. Defaults to “no”.

category=¶

category="7|13"

If you don’t wish to include the form option on the page then you can set any categories that you wish to assign the entry to via this parameter. Specify the category by Category ID. You may specify multiple categories by separating the Category ID with the pipe character:

category="3|7|13|42"

This parameter only applies to new entries and will be ignored for edits.

channel=¶

channel="news"

The short name of the channel. This is a required parameter.

class=¶

class="channel_form"

Specify the CSS class.

datepicker=¶

datepicker="no"

Adds the datepicker to your date fields. Defaults to “yes”.

dynamic_title=¶

dynamic_title="[your_custom_field] Submission"

Dynamically set the title of your entry based on your entry’s data. Use brackets [ ] instead of the standard curly braces.

entry_id=¶

entry_id="{segment_3}"

The entry_id of the channel entry you wish to edit. If both this and url_title are empty, the entry form will add a new entry.

error_handling=¶

error_handling="inline"

Choose to display error messages inline (see Error Messages). By default, errors are displayed with the user message template.

id=¶

id="channel_form"

Specify the CSS id.

include_assets=¶

include_assets="no"

Adds necessary Javascript to your form. If you don’t require the Javascript functionality, set to “no”. Defaults to “yes”.

include_jquery=¶

include_jquery="no"

Includes jQuery automatically. Defaults to “yes”.

json=¶

json="yes"

Output your results in JSON format, instead of performing a redirect.

logged_out_member_id=¶

logged_out_member_id="3"

In order to allow logged out users to use the entry form, you must specify a member_id which will be used as the author of the entry.

require_entry=¶

require_entry="yes"

Require an entry to edit via the entry_id or url_title parameters. Disables new entries. Defaults to “no”.

return=¶

return="site/ENTRY_ID"

Specify a path to redirect the user to after an entry submission. You may use the constants ENTRY_ID and URL_TITLE, which will be replaced with the entry’s entry_id or url_title, respectively. This is a required parameter.

return_X=¶

return_X="site/thanks"

Specify a path to redirect the user to after an entry submission, based on the user’s member group. Replace X with the group_id of the member group.

rules:my_field_name=¶

rules:my_field_name="required|min_length[5]"

Add additional validation rules to your fields. Separate multiple rules with the pipe | character. You may use the native CodeIgniter rules (required, matches, min_length, max_length, exact_length, alpha, alpha_numeric, alpha_dash, numeric, integer, is_natural, is_natural_no_zero, valid_email, valid_emails, valid_ip, valid_base64), and these additional ExpressionEngine-specific rules: valid_ee_date.

rte_selector=¶

rte_selector=".my-custom-class"

This parameter will automatically load ExpressionEngine’s Rich Text Editor and apply it to the element(s) matching the jQuery selector you specify. Any valid jQuery selector is acceptable.

The RTE will use the Toolset preference of the currently logged-in user as chosen in Rich Text Editor Preferences. If the user has not chosen a Toolset or is not logged in, the site’s Default Toolset will be used.

You can optionally force a particular toolset ID to use (see below).

rte_toolset_id=¶

rte_toolset_id="1"

The ID of the Rich Text Editor toolset to use. Toolset IDs are listed on the Rich Text Editor Module Control Panel page.

secure_action=¶

secure_action="yes"

Forces the form to use https as its action.. Defaults to “no”.

secure_return=¶

secure_return="yes"

Force the form to return to https. Defaults to “no”.

site=¶

site="your_site_name"

Specify the site short name of another site on your MSM installation to add/edit entries for that site.

show_fields=¶

show_fields="body|extended"

Specify which entry fields to display in the custom field loop, by specifying a pipe separated list of field short names.:

show_fields="body|extended|full_image"

You may exclude fields by placing the word “not” in front of the list:

show_fields="not image_thumbnail|source|rating"

status=¶

status="pending"

Set the status to use for the entry. This parameter only applies to new entries and will be ignored for edits.

sticky_entry=¶

sticky_entry="yes"

Force the entry to be “sticky” or not. This parameter only applies to new entries and will be ignored for edits.

url_title=¶

url_title="{segment_3}"

The url_title of the channel entry you wish to edit. If both this and entry_id are empty, the entry form will add a new entry.

use_live_url=¶

use_live_url="no"

This will disable the url_title from being created automatically based on the title. Use this when you’ve opted to disable channel_form_assets. Defaults to yes.

Custom Field Single Tag¶

{my_field_name}

Display a custom field’s data

Custom Field Tag Pair¶

{my_field_name}{/my_field_name}

Display a custom field’s data using the Fieldtype API’s replace_tag method. Useful for fieldtypes with complex data, such as a grid field.

field:my_field_name¶

{field:my_field_name}

Display a custom field using the Fieldtype API’s display_field method. Useful for fieldtypes that use complex markup, for instance a relationship fieldtype.

error:my_field_name¶

{error:my_field_name}

If you have chosen inline error handling, you can display the error for the specified field. You may also use this syntax for non-custom fields, like title and url_title.

label:my_field_name¶

{label:my_field_name}

Display a custom field’s label.

instructions:my_field_name¶

{instructions:my_field_name}

Display a custom field’s instructions.

selected_option:my_field_name¶

{selected_option:my_field_name}

In an edit form, display the selected option for the specified custom field.

selected_option:my_field_name:label¶

{selected_option:my_field_name:label}

In an edit form, display the label of the selected option for the specified custom field.

options:my_field_name¶

<select name="my_field_name">
  {options:my_field_name}
    <option value="{option_value}"{selected}>{option_name}</option>
  {/options:my_field_name}
</select>

If using a field with options, such as Checkboxes or Dropdown, you can display the options in a loop, to give you more control over the markup. You have the four following sub-variables: {option_value}, {option_name}, {selected} and {checked}.

custom_fields¶

{custom_fields}
  <label for="{field_name}">{if required}* {/if}{field_label}</label>
  {field_instructions}
  {formatting_buttons}

  {if error}
    <p class="error">{error}</p>
  {/if}

  {if textarea}
    <textarea id="{field_name}" name="{field_name}" dir="{text_direction}" rows="{rows}">{field_data}</textarea>
  {/if}

  {if rte}
    <textarea id="{field_name}" name="{field_name}" dir="{text_direction}" rows="{rows}" class="WysiHat-field">{field_data}</textarea>
  {/if}

  {if text}
    <input type="text" dir="{text_direction}" id="{field_name}" name="{field_name}" value="{field_data}" maxlength="{maxlength}" size="50">
  {/if}

  {if select}
    <select id="{field_name}" name="{field_name}">
      {options}<option value="{option_value}"{selected}>{option_name}</option>{/options}
    </select>
  {/if}

  {if date}
    <input type="text" id="{field_name}" name="{field_name}" value="{field_data}" size="50">
  {/if}

  {if checkbox}
    {options}
      <label class="checkbox">{option_value}
        <input type="checkbox" id="{field_name}" name="{field_name}[]" value="{option_value}"{checked}>
      </label>
    {/options}
  {/if}

  {if radio}
    {options}
      <label class="checkbox">{option_value}
        <input type="radio" id="{field_name}" name="{field_name}" value="{option_value}"{checked}>
      </label>
    {/options}
  {/if}

  {if file}
    {display_field}
  {/if}

  {if relationships}
    {if allow_multiple}
      <ul style="list-style: none">
        {options}
        <li>
          <input type="text" name="{field_name}[sort][]" value="{option_order}" style="width: 25px">
          <label class="checkbox">
          <input type="checkbox" name="{field_name}[data][]" value="{option_value}"{checked}> {option_name}
          </label>
        </li>
        {/options}
      </ul>
    {if:else}
        <select id="{field_name}" name="{field_name}[data][]">
        {options}
          <option value="{option_value}"{selected}>{option_name}</option>
        {/options}
        </select>
    {/if}
  {/if}

  {if grid}
    {display_field}
  {/if}

  {if multiselect}
    <select id="{field_name}" name="{field_name}[]" multiple="multiple">
      {options}
        <option value="{option_value}"{selected}>{option_name}</option>
      {/options}
    </select>
  {/if}
{/custom_fields}

The template parsing for the custom_fields loop is weak, and we know it. To get it to work we recommend removing fieldtype conditionals for fieldtypes that are not installed or are not applicable to the selected channel.

Loop through the custom fields for the selected channel. Use conditionals based on the field type to control the display of your custom fields. To simply print out the field, you can use {display_field} within your field type conditional. The extension settings page contains a list of your fieldtypes and their short names for reference.

Within this loop, you have the following single variables:

{field_name}
{field_label}
{field_id}
{error}
{field_instructions}
{formatting_buttons} - Shows the EE formatting buttons if have that option selected for that field
{display_field} - Displays the field as it appears in the CP (using the fieldtype API display_field method)
{text_direction}
{rows} - For textareas
{field_data} - If used in an edit form, the custom field data for that entry.
{maxlength} - For text inputs

You also have the options tag pair for fields with options:

{options}
  <option value="{option_value}"{selected}>{option_name}</option>
{/options}

And the following conditionals:

{if required} {/if}
{if your_field_type} {/if}
{if error} {/if}

captcha¶

{if captcha}
  <label for="captcha">Please enter the word you see in the image below:</label>
  {captcha}
  <input type="text" name="captcha" value="{captcha_word}" maxlength="20">
{/if}

channel_form_assets¶

{channel_form_assets}

Many custom fields require additional css and/or javascript. This additional markup is automatically added to the end of your form, unless you use this variable to display it elsewhere.

global_errors¶

{global_errors}{error}{/global_errors}

If you have chosen inline error handling, you can display global entry submission errors.

global_errors:count¶

{if global_errors:count}{/if}

If you have chosen inline error handling, you can display the number global entry submission errors.

field_errors¶

{field_errors}{error}{/field_errors}

If you have chosen inline error handling, you can display field-related entry submission errors.

field_errors:count¶

{if field_errors:count}{/if}

If you have chosen inline error handling, you can display the number field-related entry submission errors.