nswdpc/silverstripe-field-hint

Allows developers to add usage hints for templates to consider when rendering the field

v2.0.0-rc2 2025-07-29 06:56 UTC

Requires

• silverstripe/framework: ^6

Requires (Dev)

• cambis/silverstan: ^2
• cambis/silverstripe-rector: ^2
• friendsofphp/php-cs-fixer: ^3
• nswdpc/ci-files: dev-v-4
• phpstan/phpstan: ^2
• phpstan/phpstan-phpunit: ^2
• phpunit/phpunit: ^11.5
• rector/rector: ^2
• vlucas/phpdotenv: ^5

BSD-3-Clause

• James Ellis

• silverstripe
• fields
• form fields
• hints
• nsw

README

This module allows developers to add usage hints to form fields. Hints are just arbitrary string values.

The hints can be used by themes and templates in a project to render the field in a specific way, to be interpreted by whatever frontend UI-kit is in use for your site.

This avoids polluting module PHP code with theme-specific CSS classes.

Instead of this: $field->addExtraClass('btn btn-danger')

...do this $field->setHint('danger').

Default fields

Out-of-the-box the following fields are configured to support the Hintable extension:

• FormAction - for action priorities
• CompositeField - to assist in rendering child fields in a certain way
• HTMLReadonlyField - to display the value and title in a specific way

No changes are made to the field itself, the extension just exposes some methods on the field to use in module code.

Usage

Important: In your theme or project, you need to provide a template that is used by the class using the Hintable extension. Read: template inheritance.

Forms

Set field hints on your forms:

<?php
/**
 * Add a hint that the action is a 'secondary' button/input
 */
\SilverStripe\Forms\FormAction::create(
    'doSecondary',
    _t('some.i18n_key', 'Complete secondary action')
)->setHint('secondary');

/**
 * Add a hint, and also add any class mapped to the 'secondary' hint in config
 * (See Sample project configuration, below)
 */
\SilverStripe\Forms\FormAction::create(
    'doSecondary',
    _t('some.i18n_key', 'Complete secondary action')
)->setHint('secondary', true);

The first parameter to setHint is a string, it can be any value that a template can interpret.

The second parameter to setHint is a boolean, when true a class mapped to the hint value is added, if available in configuration. See below for an example.

Templates

Use the value of $FormFieldHint to modify how your theme/project templates render the field.

Here's an example using the HTMLReadonlyField holder template and the hints 'callout' and 'alert':

<%-- path: themes/my-theme/templates/SilverStripe/Forms/HTMLReadonlyField_holder.ss --%>
<% if $FormFieldHint == 'callout' %>
    <%-- render as callout --%>
    <div class="my-callout">
        <% if $FormFieldHintIcon %>
            <span class="icon">{$FormFieldHintIcon}</span>
        <% end_if %>
        <div class="content">
            <% if $Title %>
            <h4>{$Title.XML}</h4>
            <% end_if %>
            {$Value}
        </div>
    </div>
<% else_if $FormFieldHint == 'alert' %>
    <%-- render an alert message --%>
<% else %>
    <%-- Important: allow for default rendering if no hint supplied --%>
    {$Field}
<% end_if %>

Icons

Set a field hint icon of 'delete' on a supporting field:

<?php
\SilverStripe\Forms\FormAction::create(
    'doSecondary',
    _t('some.i18n_key', 'Complete secondary action')
)->setHint('secondary', true)
->setFieldHintIcon('delete');

<%-- theme template: SilverStripe/Forms/FormAction.ss --%>
<% if $UseButtonTag %>
    <button $AttributesHTML>
        <% if $FormFieldHintIcon %>
        <span class="material-icons-outlined">{$FormFieldHintIcon}</span>
        <% end_if %>
        <% if $ButtonContent %>$ButtonContent<% else %><span>$Title.XML</span><% end_if %>
    </button>
<% else %>
	<input $AttributesHTML />
<% end_if %>

Configuration

There is none, unless:

• you want to add the Hintable extension to another field.
• you need to add hint -> CSS class mapping

Sample project configuration

---
Name: 'app-field-hint'
After:
  - '#nswdpc-field-hint'
---
# your project requires TextField to be hintable
SilverStripe\Forms\TextField:
  extensions:
    - 'NSWPDC\Forms\Hintable'
# add hint/class mapping
SilverStripe\Forms\FormField:
  hint_class_mapping:
    # setHint('secondary') will add the CSS class 'nsw-button--secondary' to the FormField
    danger: 'nsw-button nsw-button--danger'

Code:

<?php
\SilverStripe\Forms\FormAction::create(
    'doDangerousAction',
    _t('some.i18n_key', 'Complete dangerous action')
)->setHint('danger', true);

HTML

<input type="submit" name="action_doDangerousAction" value="Dangerous Action" class="action nsw-button nsw-button--danger" id="some_form_id">

CSS classes are added as extra classes, which by default in Silverstripe are added to both the field holder and the field input element. Your templates should take that into account.

Installation

The only supported way of installing this module is via composer

composer require nswdpc/silverstripe-field-hint

You may need to add a repositories entry to you composer.json, depending on packagist status.

License

BSD-3-Clause

Configuration

See _config/config.yml

Maintainers

• PD Web Team

Bugtracker

We welcome bug reports, pull requests and feature requests on the Github Issue tracker for this project.

Please review the code of conduct prior to opening a new issue.

Security

If you have found a security issue with this module, please email digital[@]dpc.nsw.gov.au in the first instance, detailing your findings.

Development and contribution

If you would like to make contributions to the module please ensure you raise a pull request and discuss with the module maintainers.

Please review the code of conduct prior to completing a pull request.