Field Types

Every content template tag has a type attribute. This specifies which type of field is used to collect and process the data. From text to textarea, checkbox to file, these all have different form controls and ways of handling the data.

Depending on the value of the type attribute, and therefore the Field Type used for your template tag, you will also use additional attributes to further define the behaviour of the input and output of data collected by this tag. For example, if you use the template tag type of text, then in the Control Panel the content editor will see a single line text field.

<perch:content id="heading" type="text" label="Heading">

The only required attributes for text are id and label. However you can also add:

• maxlength: The number of characters that can be input to the form field.
• required: Whether the field must be completed or not.
• title: Whether to use the contents of this field as a title in the Control Panel

If you use a type of checkbox then you are also required to use id and label plus an attribute of value which will be the value of the checkbox once it is checked.

<perch:content id="sale_item" type="checkbox" label="Sale item" value="sale">

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Adding additional Field Types

To add a new Field Type, such as one you have downloaded from our site, just extract the archive and drop the folder into perch/addons/fieldtypes/

You can then use the field type with the type="" attribute in your template tags.

Creating your own Field Types

Field Types are essentially a PHP class. To find out how to write your own see the Field Type documentation and also a solution explaining how to write your own Field Type.