Conditional custom fields with showon #39051

obuisard · 2022-10-23T17:00:41Z

This is a follow up on discussions with users who needed the functionality and with Guido @degobbis who provided a widely used plugin which adds the functionality to the content and user contexts.

Summary of Changes

The showon attribute is used in forms to allow 'conditional fields' functionality.
A field can be shown or hidden depending on another field's values.
Although available, this functionality does not exist out of the box for custom fields.
This PR adds a new parameter to the form section of the options tab in custom field forms.
It works for any context, subforms and third-party custom fields.

Testing Instructions

Create a custom field of type 'list'. Call it 'List of items'. The field name should read 'list-of-items' once saved.
Add list values (text/value): None/none, Value 1/value1, Value 2/value2, Value 3/value3.

Create a second custom field of type 'Text'. Call it 'Conditional text'.
In the 'options' tab, in the 'form options' section, go to the 'Showon Attribute' parameter.
Enter: list-of-items:value1[OR]list-of-items:value2

Now go edit an article and look for the 'List of items' field in the 'Fields' tab.
The text field 'Conditional text' should only show when the list values of 'List of items' are Value 1 or Value 2.

This also works in subforms. However, fields found in subforms are 'renamed'.
When adding the previously created field 'List of items' to a subform, it shows as field[ID] (where ID is the id of the field), not as 'list-of-items'.
Therefore, when using 'List of items' and 'Conditional text' in a subform, the showon attribute for 'Conditional text' will be:
field36:value1[OR]field36:value2 where 36 is whatever ID the field 'List of items' has in the administrator console.

Actual result BEFORE applying this Pull Request

All fields show on a form (by default, unless some other parameter have been set).

Expected result AFTER applying this Pull Request

Fields are shown conditionally, depending on the values set in other fields.

Unexpected results:
This solution works well for custom fields in forms, when conditional fields are needed.
However, in this solution, nothing prevents field values to show when displayed, even though they could have been hidden in the forms. In some cases, hidden fields should also be hidden in outputs. If anyone has any idea how this could be dealt with, please discuss your solution here. Thank you!

Link to documentations

The syntax is already fully documented at https://docs.joomla.org/Form_field#Common_attributes.
It could also be appropriate to have a specific section where custom field creation is documented.
It needs some additions for the subform cases.

Please select:

Documentation link for docs.joomla.org: [<link>]
No documentation changes for docs.joomla.org needed
Pull Request link for manual.joomla.org:
No documentation changes for manual.joomla.org needed

Added the showon attribute entry to the form options

Added label and description keys for the showon attribute parameter

Added the showon attribute to the node creation in onCustomFieldsPrepareDom

laoneo · 2022-10-23T17:23:12Z

A developer would understand that option, but a user not. I'm not sure if we should expose such a technical attribute to the UI.

obuisard · 2022-10-23T17:32:49Z

A developer would understand that option, but a user not. I'm not sure if we should expose such a technical attribute to the UI.

I do agree, I thought about it as well. How can we offer such functionality then? @degobbis plugin works but is limited to a few contexts. What if offered as a functionality that can be turned on/off?

degobbis · 2022-10-23T18:48:35Z

@obuisard For the "Unexpected results" I think about the implementation in the component the problem in the frontend can not be solved.

As you must have noticed in my plugin, I also edit the content before output to remove the hidden fields by using the events.

For the user fields, even a different workaround is needed.

In my opinion, the best way to solve them is to use a plugin as I do.

obuisard · 2022-10-23T19:22:21Z

@obuisard For the "Unexpected results" I think about the implementation in the component the problem in the frontend can not be solved.

As you must have noticed in my plugin, I also edit the content before output to remove the hidden fields by using the events.

For the user fields, even a different workaround is needed.

In my opinion, the best way to solve them is to use a plugin as I do.

Thank you, Guido.
It may be the way to go indeed. However, I am going to look further to see if the existing plugins we already have could be enough to avoid adding another one.

HLeithner · 2022-10-23T19:38:07Z

Not everything have to be a beginner feature, we have so many settings a user can't understand but a integrator can use. This field would be really help full and basically the functionality is in joomla already only the field is missing.

administrator/language/en-GB/com_fields.ini

Better wording for key Co-authored-by: Brian Teeman <brian@teeman.net>

administrator/language/en-GB/com_fields.ini

Co-authored-by: Quy <quy@nomonkeybiz.com>

brianteeman · 2022-12-23T11:35:35Z

Thjis works great and is a much needed feature. It is a bit technical for most users but as long as its documented its fine. Agree 100% with @HLeithner

brianteeman · 2022-12-23T11:35:55Z

I have tested this item ✅ successfully on c154e73

_{This comment was created with the J!Tracker Application at issues.joomla.org/tracker/joomla-cms/39051.}

alikon · 2022-12-23T15:23:15Z

I have tested this item ✅ successfully on c154e73

_{This comment was created with the J!Tracker Application at issues.joomla.org/tracker/joomla-cms/39051.}

crystalenka · 2022-12-23T15:29:38Z

Is there a way to get the showon to work in subforms without altering the field name?

Use case: fields can be both standalone and in subforms.

richard67 · 2022-12-23T17:19:54Z

RTC

_{This comment was created with the J!Tracker Application at issues.joomla.org/tracker/joomla-cms/39051.}

obuisard · 2022-12-23T17:38:17Z

Is there a way to get the showon to work in subforms without altering the field name?

Use case: fields can be both standalone and in subforms.

Unfortunately, that is the way subforms are saved: using field ids and not field names. A change would be B/C for all subforms created to date.

obuisard · 2022-12-23T17:39:01Z

Thank you Brian @brianteeman and Nicola @alikon for testing this PR!

degobbis · 2022-12-23T17:52:37Z

Is there now a solution for the output in the frontend?

carlitorweb · 2023-01-10T19:18:41Z

Documentation created at https://docs.joomla.org/Help4.x:Fields:_Edit

obuisard · 2023-01-10T20:41:34Z

This also works in subforms. However, fields found in subforms are 'renamed'.
When adding the previously created field 'List of items' to a subform, it shows as field[ID] (where ID is the id of the field), not as 'list-of-items'.
Therefore, when using 'List of items' and 'Conditional text' in a subform, the showon attribute for 'Conditional text' will be:
field36:value1[OR]field36:value2 where 36 is whatever ID the field 'List of items' has in the administrator console.

Super Carlos @carlitorweb ! However, we probably should mention the specific case when dealing with showon in subforms, where the field id is used, not the field name.

carlitorweb · 2023-01-10T23:10:03Z

@obuisard thank you for the correction, I added it.

obuisard · 2023-01-10T23:20:18Z

@obuisard thank you for the correction, I added it.

Thank you so much!

obuisard · 2023-01-10T23:22:23Z

Is there now a solution for the output in the frontend?

Nobody came forward with a solution at this time.

olivdee · 2023-04-25T16:13:16Z

My suspicion is getting stronger and stronger. It must be a Javascript issue.
Since the dom is already loaded when you click on the plus button and the new line is not considered by the observer, the showon function is not implemented.

How to check? I gladly do that if guided

if this is relevant or helpful:

in devtools network tab there is no blocked request or 404 status, but there is also no showon.js or showon.min.js loaded (if those are the related/needed files in order for this to work), nor is there a console error of any kind
also if I remove the min="1" showon attribute, then there is no more error in console

olivdee · 2023-04-25T18:52:47Z

Just for the record: I just installed from scratch another clean J!4.3, this time on a different server, used the exact above mentioned steps and it is still not working. Afterwards I installed @nikosdion plg_content_fieldsshowon-main.zip and enabled it, still no luck...

olivdee · 2023-04-26T17:51:30Z

FYI: showon.min.js gets loaded when editing the fields, but not when editing an article with those custom fields assigned to it

one question:
Where is the difference between the "Show On" field inside the fields "General" tab vs. the "Showon Attribute" field inside the fields "Options" tab??? BTW, I tried adding "field1:value1" inside both, none worked...

carlitorweb · 2023-04-26T18:30:56Z

"Show On" field inside the fields "General"

There is not a Show on field under General tab for the Subform custom field. Only the one under Options tab exist

I tried adding "field1:value1" inside both, none worked

field[ID] is only needed when you have the field inside an subform field. Check here

olivdee · 2023-04-26T19:12:01Z

I see, thank you, then "Show On" inside "General" is part of @nikosdion plugin plg_content_fieldsshowon-main.zip - in fact I just disabled the plugin and that field is gone.

Yes, I have that field inside a subform field as explained, that is why I am using it.

In fact I just build that exact thingy without a subform, changed "field1:value1" to "field-list:value1" etc. and it works as expected (without subform and without the aforementioned plugin. Rebuilding it with a subform, using "field1:value1" again, with or without the plugin it does not work... There must be an issue/bug or something very stupid I am missing out here.

olivdee · 2023-04-26T19:43:51Z

I am giving up on this... Tried every combination, with and without the plugin, with the plugins own "Show on" field under General tab and with the native one under Options tab, also with both filled out, made tests with either "field1" (ID) or "field-list" (name), created a fields group as well, added only the list-field to be shown in "Subform Only" and added the two conditional fields to be shown in "Category: All" (here funny thing is, when the plugin is enabled, they do not show up separately with the list-field, when the plugin is disabled they show up) - nothing works...

Maybe somebody can please either confirm that there is actually a bug/error or provide a step-by-step guide on how he did succeed in using this:

Field List with 2 different list values
Conditional Field 1 shown only on Field List with value1 and the respective "Showon Attribute" inside "Options" tab
Conditional Field 2 shown only on Field List with value2 and the respective "Showon Attribute" inside "Options" tab
Subform Field (Content Repeater) with the repeatable Field List inside
Test Article with the Subform Field, when either of the 2 Field List values are selected, the respective Conditional Field should appear:

I would be very very thankful for this!
Thanks in advance!

degobbis · 2023-04-26T19:44:09Z

@olivdee just to make sure we are using this correctly:
the 1 in field1 is not the field number 1 in the sequence, but there should be the fieldID.

So the same number as if you were adding the field in the article to the content.

olivdee · 2023-04-26T19:51:13Z

yes:

this is what you mean and what I understood, is that correct?

degobbis · 2023-04-26T19:52:03Z

yes, so we can give up now :-(

olivdee · 2023-04-26T19:55:04Z

does that mean:

nobody fully tested this till the end?
somebody did once upon a time, it was working, but it is broken now?
it is not broken, it actually works, but there is some spectacular miss on my side, or I am too stupid to get it done?

richard67 · 2023-04-26T20:03:57Z

Shouldn't it be the name which is used in showon? I.e. "field-list:1"?

olivdee · 2023-04-26T20:08:26Z

as far as I understood, only if not used inside a subform, within a subform it is "field[ID]:1"

richard67 · 2023-04-26T20:15:05Z

as far as I understood, only if not used inside a subform, within a subform it is "field[ID]:1"

@olivdee Yes, sorry, now as having read more in detail I see. According to the docs you are right and it should be "field1:1" (if ID is 1 as shown in your last screenshot. In one of the previous screenshots it was 7).

olivdee · 2023-04-26T20:18:09Z

yes, sorry, it was another server on another older testinstallation - did a new clean one yesterday

carlitorweb · 2023-04-26T20:30:17Z

@olivdee I in fact right now working in a site and using a conditional custom field inside a subform, and is workig as expected

carlitorweb · 2023-04-26T20:37:18Z

@olivdee can you set the "Conditional Text" as Only Use In Subform and check again. You need have both fields with Only Use In Subform as Yes

olivdee · 2023-04-26T20:54:52Z

thank you for confirming that it is working! I was using both fields only use in subform, actually like this:

olivdee · 2023-04-26T20:57:16Z

and "Content Repeater" contains only "Field List"... so stupid... it HAS to contain all 3, isn't it?

richard67 · 2023-04-26T21:04:08Z

and "Content Repeater" contains only "Field List"... so stupid... it HAS to contain all 3, isn't it?

Yes.

olivdee · 2023-04-26T21:22:55Z

sorry, it was a long day...
I guess I need to look into overriding the admin template in order to hide the not shown/hidden fields, and make the rest full width or shown vertically instead of horizontally or something like that - any hints?

FilMar61 · 2023-05-05T10:42:12Z

I don't know if I can ask it here but I have a problem with a required field.
When I set a field required but I use also Show on, I can't save the article when the required field is not visible.
It probably sounds logic as the field is required but I had hoped that if the 'show on' hides the field, it also 'hide' it for the validation.

_{This comment was created with the J!Tracker Application at issues.joomla.org/tracker/joomla-cms/39051.}

obuisard · 2023-05-05T14:01:07Z

@FilMar61 do you mind opening an issue in the issue tracker? That way we can have people look at it, confirm this is the case, and have it processed. Thank you!

FilMar61 · 2023-05-05T16:40:24Z

Oeps, sorry that I posted this on the wrong place.
I opened a new issue (I hope the right way, this time ;-)

obuisard · 2023-05-05T16:54:55Z

Oops, sorry that I posted this on the wrong place. I opened a new issue (I hope the right way, this time ;-)

No problem @FilMar61! It will have more visibility than the merged PR :-)

HDInfautre · 2023-06-02T10:23:23Z

Hello
@obuisard
Could this lead to the 4.3 series using Showon on the front-end :-) ?
I'm putting it here, as I haven't seen any specific discussion or request on this subject, but I'm not very familiar with github. What's for sure is that several of us have mentioned the importance of not restricting it to the backoffice.

obuisard · 2023-06-12T22:02:52Z

Hello @obuisard Could this lead to the 4.3 series using Showon on the front-end :-) ? I'm putting it here, as I haven't seen any specific discussion or request on this subject, but I'm not very familiar with github. What's for sure is that several of us have mentioned the importance of not restricting it to the backoffice.

Hello @HDInfautre, I apologize for the late answer.
The best would be to open an issue in the issue tracker at https://issues.joomla.org (login with your GitHub account), like that people can comment on it and developers will be aware of the necessity to improve support for showon in the public side of a site.

HDInfautre · 2023-06-13T16:39:02Z

Hello

Hello @obuisard Could this lead to the 4.3 series using Showon on the front-end :-) ? I'm putting it here, as I haven't seen any specific discussion or request on this subject, but I'm not very familiar with github. What's for sure is that several of us have mentioned the importance of not restricting it to the backoffice.

Hello @HDInfautre, I apologize for the late answer. The best would be to open an issue in the issue tracker at https://issues.joomla.org (login with your GitHub account), like that people can comment on it and developers will be aware of the necessity to improve support for showon in the public side of a site.

Ok, for those interested on this thread, you can vote!? ;-)
https://issues.joomla.org/tracker/joomla-cms/40762

obuisard added 3 commits October 23, 2022 12:00

Update field.xml

c2dfda2

Added the showon attribute entry to the form options

Update com_fields.ini

ae0a936

Added label and description keys for the showon attribute parameter

Update FieldsPlugin.php

1af8661

Added the showon attribute to the node creation in onCustomFieldsPrepareDom

joomla-cms-bot added Language Change This is for Translators PR-4.3-dev labels Oct 23, 2022

obuisard added the Documentation Required label Oct 23, 2022

brianteeman reviewed Oct 23, 2022

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Update administrator/language/en-GB/com_fields.ini

f346a2e

Better wording for key Co-authored-by: Brian Teeman <brian@teeman.net>

Quy reviewed Oct 27, 2022

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Update administrator/language/en-GB/com_fields.ini

c154e73

Co-authored-by: Quy <quy@nomonkeybiz.com>

joomla-cms-bot added the RTC This Pull Request is Ready To Commit label Dec 23, 2022

HLeithner merged commit 6554f62 into joomla:4.3-dev Jan 12, 2023

HDInfautre mentioned this pull request Jun 13, 2023

Conditional custom fields with showon (front-end) #40762

Closed

obuisard mentioned this pull request Jul 3, 2023

[5.0] Fix custom field attribute 'showon' having no effect in the frontend #41104

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obuisard mentioned this pull request Sep 9, 2023

[5.2] Fix custom field attribute 'showon' having no effect in the frontend (Take 2) #41693

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4 tasks

Conditional custom fields with showon #39051

Conditional custom fields with showon #39051

Conversation

obuisard commented Oct 23, 2022

Summary of Changes

Testing Instructions

Actual result BEFORE applying this Pull Request

Expected result AFTER applying this Pull Request

Link to documentations

laoneo commented Oct 23, 2022

obuisard commented Oct 23, 2022

degobbis commented Oct 23, 2022

obuisard commented Oct 23, 2022

HLeithner commented Oct 23, 2022

brianteeman commented Dec 23, 2022

brianteeman commented Dec 23, 2022

alikon commented Dec 23, 2022

crystalenka commented Dec 23, 2022

richard67 commented Dec 23, 2022

obuisard commented Dec 23, 2022

obuisard commented Dec 23, 2022 • edited Loading

degobbis commented Dec 23, 2022

carlitorweb commented Jan 10, 2023 • edited Loading

obuisard commented Jan 10, 2023

carlitorweb commented Jan 10, 2023

obuisard commented Jan 10, 2023

obuisard commented Jan 10, 2023

olivdee commented Apr 25, 2023

olivdee commented Apr 25, 2023

olivdee commented Apr 26, 2023

carlitorweb commented Apr 26, 2023

olivdee commented Apr 26, 2023

olivdee commented Apr 26, 2023

degobbis commented Apr 26, 2023

olivdee commented Apr 26, 2023

degobbis commented Apr 26, 2023

olivdee commented Apr 26, 2023

richard67 commented Apr 26, 2023

olivdee commented Apr 26, 2023

richard67 commented Apr 26, 2023

olivdee commented Apr 26, 2023 via email • edited Loading

carlitorweb commented Apr 26, 2023

carlitorweb commented Apr 26, 2023 • edited Loading

olivdee commented Apr 26, 2023

olivdee commented Apr 26, 2023

richard67 commented Apr 26, 2023

olivdee commented Apr 26, 2023

FilMar61 commented May 5, 2023

obuisard commented May 5, 2023

FilMar61 commented May 5, 2023

obuisard commented May 5, 2023

HDInfautre commented Jun 2, 2023

obuisard commented Jun 12, 2023

HDInfautre commented Jun 13, 2023

obuisard commented Dec 23, 2022 •

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carlitorweb commented Jan 10, 2023 •

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olivdee commented Apr 26, 2023 via email •

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