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(event);">

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>

Categories Tag Pair Parameters¶

All of the category tag pair parameters available in the channel entries tag are available in the form:

{categories backspace="5"}

{categories limit="1"}

{categories show="4|7"}

{categories show="not 3|6|8"}

{categories show_group="1|3"}

{categories show_group="not 2|4"}

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 several options for outputting the form field.

The Custom fields tag pair loops through all of the custom fields, outputting custom fields with the minimum number of tags but also a limited amount of design flexibility.

To output a single field, the {field:...} tag is available:

{field:my_field_name}

The field tag should output all of the required html needed for either a new entry or an edit.

If you need to further customize input fields, most can be manually constructed using the field shortname.

allow_comments=¶

allow_comments="yes"

Force the allow comments value for the submitted entry, for both new entries and edits. If set, form fields will not affect the entry’s allow comments setting. In addition to the channel entry allow comments setting, the Channel’s Allow comments? preference must also be set to yes in order to allow comments on any entries in that channel.

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 and CSS to your form. If you do not require the Javascript functionality or reset CSS, 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 RTE tool set. If the user has not chosen a Toolset or is not logged in, the site’s Default Tool Sets 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"

unique_url_title=¶

unique_url_title="yes"

When set to “yes”, will ensure the URL title of the entry will be unique so there is no risk of creating an entry with a duplicate URL title.

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.

Checkbox field¶

{options:my_field_name}
  <input type="checkbox" name="my_field_name[]" value="{option_value}"
    {checked}>  {option_name}</br>
{/options:my_field_name}

See the {options:my_field_name} tag pair.

Date field¶

<input type="text" id="my_field_name" name="my_field_name"
  value="{my_field_name}" size="50">

File field¶

There are several additional inputs that may be specified when manually constructing a file field:

• my_field_name_directory - the file directory the image is assigned to.

  This field is required if submitting a file.

• my_field_name_hidden_directory - if specified, this will take precedence over my_field_name_directory and can be used to allow editing.
• my_field_name_hidden_file - the name of an existing, uploaded file. If specified, this will take precedence over my_field_name and can be used to allow editing.

If editing entries, you will need to specify the existing directory and file name or the file content will be lost

<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}" />

Grid field¶

Manual construction of grid type fields is not supported. Most customization of grid fields can be done by overriding the CSS.

Multi Select field¶

<select name="my_field_name[]" id="my_field_name" multiple size="2">
  {options:my_field_name}
    <option value="{option_value}"{selected}>{option_name}</option>
  {/options:my_field_name}
</select>

See {options:my_field_name} tag pair.

Radio field¶

{options:my_field_name}
  <input type="radio" name="my_field_name" value="{option_value}" {checked}>
    {option_name}</br>
{/options:my_field_name}

See {options:my_field_name} tag pair.

Relationship field¶

Simple relationship fields with only 1 relationship allowed are very similar in format to Multi Select fields, though note the slight variation in name:

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

For relationship fields that allow multiple selections, you may also set the sort order:

{options:my_field_name}
            Order: <input type="text" name="my_field_name[sort][]" value="{option_order}" />        <input type="checkbox" name="my_field_name[data][]" value="{option_value}" {checked}/> {option_name}<br />
{/options:my_field_name}

Select field¶

<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>

See {options:my_field_name} tag pair.

Text Input field¶

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

Textarea field¶

<textarea name="my_field_name" id="my_field_name" cols="90" rows="10">{my_field_name}</textarea>