Composr Tutorial: Custom fields

When building catalogues, custom fields for inbuilt content types, and Custom Profile Fields, you have a unified set of fields to choose from.
This tutorial describes all the different fields and their options.

"Special default values" are taken from a special field option named default. E.g. default=! for the email fields's defaulting to the current member's e-mail address.
The special defaults apply only to add/edit forms, they don't populate automatically for hidden fields or update into existing records if a field is added after records already exist.

A note about personal information and privacy:
Instead of using generic text or numeric fields, you should ideally use the respective field types when gathering member IDs, usernames, e-mail addresses, IP addresses, or passwords. And avoid attachment support where possible as well (use a file/picture/video upload field). That way, the privacy system can efficiently search for and handle personal data when purging or downloading it.

Additionally, it is your responsibility to enable the 'May contain personal information' on all fields where submitters may be including personal information. The privacy system will not handle fields which do not have this setting enabled unless explicitly mentioned for that field type in the list.

Text

A note about sorting:
Note that text fields will sort using a text sort algorithm. For example, "10" comes before "3", because 1 is less than 3 and it compares characters left-to-right rather than as actual numbers. To get numeric sort you would need a number field type.

short_trans

Type label	A brief line of translatable/Comcode text
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text (linked through translate table)
Special default values	None
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	None
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

short_trans_multi

Type label	Multiple brief lines of translatable/Comcode text
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Text separated by linebreaks (no character limit) (linked through translate table)
Special default values	None
Supported field options	auto_sort=on|off (whether to sort the entered options; default is off) num_required (the number of required values; default is 0 or 1 depending on if required is set) cms_type=line|codename|integer|float|email (which Composr styling and validation code to use; default is line)
Special field validation behaviour	None
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

short_text

Type label	A brief line of text (no Comcode support)
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text
Special default values	NAME: Current member's display name
Supported field options	maxlength (the number of characters to have as a maximum; default is 255)
Special field validation behaviour	None
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

short_text_multi

Type label	Multiple brief lines of text (no Comcode support)
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Text separated by linebreaks (no character limit)
Special default values	None
Supported field options	auto_sort=on|off (whether to sort the entered options; default is off) num_required (the number of required values; default is 0 or 1 depending on if required is set) cms_type=line|codename|integer|float|email (which Composr styling and validation code to use; default is line)
Special field validation behaviour	None
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

long_trans

Type label	A paragraph(s) of translatable/Comcode text
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Text (linked through translate table)
Special default values	None
Supported field options	wysiwyg=on|off (whether to enable the WYSIWYG editor; default is on) wordwrap=on|off (whether to word-wrap lines in the editor, as opposed to horizontal scrolling; default is on) input_size (the number of lines in the text area; default is 9) maxlength (the number of characters to have as a maximum; default is to have no limit)
Special field validation behaviour	None
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

long_text

Type label	A paragraph(s) of text (no Comcode support)
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Text
Special default values	None
Supported field options	widget=text|huge (widget type, huge is a full-width input and does not support the input_size option; default is text) wordwrap=on|off (whether to word-wrap lines in the editor, as opposed to horizontal scrolling; default is on) input_size (the number of lines in the text area; default is 9) maxlength (the number of characters to have as a maximum; default is to have no limit)
Special field validation behaviour	None
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI	Text widget Huge widget
Front-end UI	Text widget Huge widget

posting_field

Note that you are only allowed one posting_field field per catalogue. Also, any fields which appear below the posting field will be collapsed in an 'Additional information' section.

Type label	A paragraph(s) of Comcode, with attachment support
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Text (linked through translate table)
Special default values	None
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	None
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

codename

Type label	A codename (short sequence of numbers and letters, no spaces)
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text
Special default values	RANDOM: 10 random numbers and letters (for catalogues it will be enforced as unique also) [catalogues only]
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	An entry will be rejected if this field contains characters other than letters, numbers, and underscores.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI	When adding there is no UI if 'RANDOM' was used.
Front-end UI

password

Type label	A password (i.e. masked input)
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text
Special default values	RANDOM: A cryptographically-secure random password will be generated as the placeholder which matches the security requirements configured for the site
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	None. Be cautious because this does not validate against password strength.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will be anonymised if entry owner requests. Ignores the 'May contain personal information' setting as passwords are always sensitive.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

email

Type label	An e-mail address
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text (e-mail address, or blank)
Special default values	!: Current member's configured e-mail address
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected of the value is not formatted as a valid e-mail address.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against E-mail address criteria for anonymising if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked. Highly recommended for all e-mail address fields where personal e-mail addresses may be stored.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

ip_address

Type label	An IP address
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text (IP address, or blank)
Special default values	!: Current member's IP address
Supported field options	allow_wildcards=yes|no: whether wildcards are allowed in provided IP addresses (default is no)
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if the value is not a valid IPv4 or IPv6 address.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against IP address criteria for anonymising if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked. Highly recommended for all IP address fields which could contain IP addresses belonging to visitors.
Back-end UI	TODO
Front-end UI	TODO

ip_address_multi

Type label	Multiple IP addresses
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Text separated by linebreaks (no character limit) (linked through translate table)
Special default values	None
Supported field options	allow_wildcards=yes|no: whether wildcards are allowed in provided IP addresses (default is no)
Special field validation behaviour	Values which are invalid IPv4 or IPv6 addresses will be automatically removed.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against IP address criteria for anonymising if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked. Highly recommended for all IP address fields which could contain IP addresses belonging to visitors.
Back-end UI	TODO
Front-end UI	TODO

Numbers

integer

Type label	An integer (whole number, e.g. 5)
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Integer, or null
Special default values	AUTO_INCREMENT: An automatically assigned sequential number [catalogues only]
Supported field options	range_search=on|off: search forms will allow a range-based search
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if this is not a valid integer.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will be anonymised if entry owner requests if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI	NB: When adding there is no UI if 'AUTO_INCREMENT' was used.
Front-end UI

float

Type label	A float (decimal number, e.g. 3.2)
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Floating point number, or null
Special default values	None
Supported field options	range_search=on|off: search forms will allow a range-based search decimal_points=on|off: search forms will allow a range-based search decimal_points_behaviour=dp|trim|price: show exact number of decimal places, trim any zero decimal places off, show exact number of decimal places unless there are none
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if this is not a valid number.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will be anonymised if entry owner requests if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

Choices

list

Type label	A value chosen from a list
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Selected/input text (programmer note: no character limit, so we can support very long list items)
Special default values	Options to include in the list, delimited by "|" (e.g. "This|That|Other"). You can also do like "a=This|b=That|c=Other" if you need the saved values to be different from the values displayed for selection, and optionally also displayed on the site. This is called "key-val format". Or: CURRENCY – input a currency (input uses the ISO code, display uses the ISO code) Or: REGION – input a region (input uses the region name, display uses the ISO code; also see the region field type) Or: COUNTRY – input a country (input uses the country name, display uses the ISO code; also see the country field type) Or: USA_STATE – input a USA state (input uses the state name, display uses the ISO code; also see the state field type) Or: A pathname to a .csv spreadsheet file (relative to base directory), if the non-bundled Nested CPF Spreadsheet Lists addon is installed.
Supported field options	custom_values=on|off (whether to allow a custom typed value; if enabled then inline list widgets will not be available; default is off) dynamic_choices (whether to feed custom values back in as possible selections for others; default is off) display_val=on|off (when key-val format is used this sets whether it also influences display not just input) value_remap=none|country (if set to country then the full country names are shown for ISO country codes in the list options; default is none) auto_sort=on|off (whether to sort the list options; default is off) input_size (the number of options shown in the list before scrolling is required, applies only to the 'inline' widget type; default is 9) widget=radio|inline|dropdown|inline_huge|dropdown_huge (whether to use a radio buttons, an inline list, or a dropdown list; default is dropdown) spreadsheet_heading (the column from the spreadsheet file to use, if the default was set as a spreadsheet file; default is to use the first column)
Special field validation behaviour	None
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

list_multi

Type label	Multiple values chosen from a list
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Selected/input text separated by linebreaks
Special default values	(See list)
Supported field options	auto_sort=off|frontend|backend|both (choose front-end to sort the selected choices, choose back-end to sort the list options, choose both to sort both; default is off) show_unset_values=on|off (whether to show non-set list options on the front-end with a cross next to them; default is off) custom_values=off|single|multiple (whether to allow a custom typed value; default is off) dynamic_choices (whether to feed custom values back in as possible selections for others; default is off) widget=vertical_checkboxes|horizontal_checkboxes|multilist (what input style to use; default is multilist) input_size (the number of options shown in the list before scrolling is required, applies only to the 'inline' widget type; default is 5)
Special field validation behaviour	None
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

state

Title	A state within a country
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text
Special default values	None
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	None
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

country

Title	A country
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text
Special default values	None
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	None
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

region

Title	A region
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text
Special default values	None
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	None
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

By default a 'region' is the same as a 'country', but it may be overridden by addons to represent something more appropriate for a particular kind of website.

tick

Type label	Checkbox ('Yes' or 'No')
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Integer (0 or 1)
Special default values	None
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	None
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will be unticked/unchecked if entry owner requests if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI	If set as required it will not actually show as required as it is not possible for it to not have a value If set as non-required it will actually be a drop-down input with 3 possible values (N/A, No, Yes)
Front-end UI

Uploads/URLs

The fields that take "uploaded" files allow you to select files direct from your computer.

The first image-like field will be injected into screen metadata (i.e. will come up on Facebook shares due to being the Open Graph image for the entry).

upload

Type label	An uploaded file
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text (<url>[::<original_filename>], or blank)
Special default values	None
Supported field options	filetype_filter (comma-separated list of file extensions; default is not to have a filter)
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if a disallowed file was selected or uploaded.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	File will be deleted if entry owner purges their data if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

upload_multi

Type label	Multiple uploaded files
Storage format (for programmer reference)	<url>[::<original_filename>] separated by linebreaks
Special default values	None
Supported field options	auto_sort=on|off (whether to sort the entered options; default is off) filetype_filter (comma-separated list of file extensions; default is not to have a filter)
Special field validation behaviour	Disallowed files will be removed.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Files will be deleted if entry owner purges their data if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

picture

Type label	An uploaded picture
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text (URL, or blank)
Special default values	None
Supported field options	width (the width all the media will be shown at; default is to auto-detect for each individual file) height (the height all the media will be shown at; default is to auto-detect for each individual file) is_metadata (set to '1' if the field should take precedence for metadata over earlier picture fields [and innate images], and '0' if it should never be the metadata field) keep_gps=on|off (whether to keep GPS metadata in images, which is stripped by default for privacy reasons; default is off)
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if the file is not a valid picture.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	File will be deleted if entry owner purges their data if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

picture_multi

Type label	Multiple uploaded pictures
Storage format (for programmer reference)	URLs separated by linebreaks
Special default values	None
Supported field options	width (the width all the media will be shown at; default is to auto-detect for each individual file) height (the height all the media will be shown at; default is to auto-detect for each individual file) is_metadata (set to '1' if the field should take precedence for metadata over earlier picture fields [and innate images], and '0' if it should never be the metadata field) keep_gps=on|off (whether to keep GPS metadata in images, which is stripped by default for privacy reasons; default is off)
Special field validation behaviour	Invalid pictures will be removed.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Files will be deleted if entry owner purges their data if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

video

Type label	An uploaded video
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text (<url>[ <width> <height> <length>], or blank)
Special default values	None
Supported field options	width (the width all the media will be shown at; default is to auto-detect for each individual file) height (the height all the media will be shown at; default is to auto-detect for each individual file)
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if the file is not a valid video.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	File will be deleted if entry owner purges their data if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

video_multi

Type label	Multiple uploaded videos
Storage format (for programmer reference)	<url>[ <width> <height> <length>] separated by linebreaks
Special default values	None
Supported field options	width (the width all the media will be shown at; default is to auto-detect for each individual file) height (the height all the media will be shown at; default is to auto-detect for each individual file)
Special field validation behaviour	Invalid videos will be removed.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Files will be deleted if entry owner purges their data if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI	NB: You can see I uploaded a non-web-safe video as the first video. We do support these, but they'll only play on browsers with an appropriate plugin installed (unlike mine).

url

Type label	A URL
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text (URL, or blank); common URL errors will be fixed
Special default values	None
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if the value is not a valid URL. If the URL is broken, the entry will be allowed but a warning will be displayed.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

url_multi

Type label	Multiple URLs
Storage format (for programmer reference)	URLs separated by linebreaks; common URL errors will be fixed
Special default values	None
Supported field options	auto_sort=on|off (whether to sort the entered options; default is off)
Special field validation behaviour	Invalid URLs will be removed from the list. Broken URLs will be allowed but a warning will be displayed.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

page_link

Type label	A page-link (i.e. in-site link)
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text (<page-link>[ <link-title>])
Special default values	None
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if the provided page-link does not exist.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

theme_image

Type label	An image from the xxx directory of theme images
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text (theme image ID, or blank)
Special default values	None
Supported field options	width (the width all the media will be shown at; default is to auto-detect for each individual file) height (the height all the media will be shown at; default is to auto-detect for each individual file) is_metadata (set to '1' if the field should take precedence for metadata over earlier picture fields [and innate images], and '0' if it should never be the metadata field)
Special field validation behaviour	None
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will be anonymised if entry owner requests if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

'xxx' may be any theme image directory. There is a version of this field type for each of them.
If you have manually added new theme images and are not seeing field types for them, empty the block cache. The field type list is cached using the block cache for performance reasons.

Magic fields

guid

Type label	A GUID (Globally-Unique Identifier)
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text (though less stored)
Special default values	N/A: Default is auto-assigned
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if the value is not alphanumeric.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI	When adding there is no UI. When editing it looks like codename
Front-end UI

References

isbn

Type label	ISBN code
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text
Special default values	None
Supported field options	strict_isbn_validation=on|off (whether submitted values should strictly adhere to ISBN-10 or ISBN-13 checksums; default is 'off')
Special field validation behaviour	If strict_isbn_validation=on|off is defined as on, then the entry will be rejected if the value is not a valid ISBN.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

reference

Type label	A reference to a catalogue entry in xxx catalogue
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Content ID (to whatever catalogue the reference is for), or blank
Special default values	None
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if the given reference does not exist.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will be anonymised if entry owner requests if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

'xxx' may be any catalogue. There is a version of this field type for each of them.

reference_multi

Type label	Multiple references to a catalogue entry in xxx catalogue
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Content IDs (to whatever catalogue the reference is for) separated by linebreaks
Special default values	None
Supported field options	auto_sort=on|off (whether to sort the entered options; default is off)
Special field validation behaviour	References which do not exist will be removed from the list.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will be anonymised if entry owner requests if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

'xxx' may be any catalogue. There is a version of this field type for each of them.

content_link

Type label	A link to an item of 'xxx' content
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Content ID, or blank
Special default values	None
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if the content does not exist.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will be anonymised if entry owner requests if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI	NB: Where we support Composr tree-list inputters (like shown for 'reference') for the content types that use them. This screenshot shows input for a 'poll', which is a flat structure and hence just works via a normal drop-down list.
Front-end UI

'xxx' may be any content type. There is a version of this field type for each of them.

content_link_multi

Type label	Multiple links to an item of 'xxx' content
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Content IDs separated by linebreaks
Special default values	None
Supported field options	auto_sort=on|off (whether to sort the entered options; default is off)
Special field validation behaviour	Links to content which do not exist will be removed from the list.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will be anonymised if entry owner requests if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI	NB: Where we support Composr tree-list inputters (like shown for 'reference') for the content types that use them. This screenshot shows input for a 'poll', which is a flat structure and hence just works via a normal drop-down list.
Front-end UI

'xxx' may be any content type. There is a version of this field type for each of them.

member

Type label	A member ID
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Member ID, or null
Special default values	!: Current user's username
Supported field options	None
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Member ID (additional member ID fields) criteria. Ignores the 'May contain personal information' setting as member IDs are always sensitive.
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if the given member ID does not exist.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

member_multi

Type label	Multiple member IDs
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Member IDs separated by linebreaks
Special default values	!: Current user's username
Supported field options	auto_sort=on|off (whether to sort the entered options; default is off)
Special field validation behaviour	Member IDs which do not exist will be removed from the list.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Member ID (additional member ID fields) criteria. Ignores the 'May contain personal information' setting as member IDs are always sensitive.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

username

Type label	A username
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Username, or null
Special default values	!: Current user's username
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	None (to allow specifying old usernames)
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Username criteria. Ignores the 'May contain personal information' setting as usernames are always sensitive.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

username_multi

Type label	Multiple usernames
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Usernames separated by linebreaks
Special default values	!: Current user's username
Supported field options	auto_sort=on|off (whether to sort the entered options; default is off)
Special field validation behaviour	None (to allow specifying old usernames)
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Username criteria. Ignores the 'May contain personal information' setting as usernames are always sensitive.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

author

Type label	An author configured on the system
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text (author)
Special default values	None
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if the given author does not exist.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

Other

color

Type label	A colour
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Colour hex code with no "#" (e.g. AAAAAA), or blank
Special default values	None
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if the value is not a valid color.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will be anonymised if entry owner requests if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI	NB: There is no special styling by default: this field exists so as to provide a colour-picker field input for those who will then take the data and use it in a useful way.

date_time

Type label	A date and time (converts to a member's timezone automatically)
Storage format (for programmer reference)	yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm, or blank (input is assumed in member's time zone and converted to UTC before storage)
Special default values	Y-X, where X is a number (whatever year the current year would be if X was subtracted) Y+X, where X is a number (whatever year the current year would be if X was added)
Supported field options	min_year=YYYY (defaults to 0ad) max_year=YYYY (defaults to 3000ad) range_search=on|off: search forms will allow a range-based search
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if the given date and time is invalid.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will be anonymised if entry owner requests if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

date

Type label	A date
Storage format (for programmer reference)	yyyy-mm-dd, or blank (due to fixed alignment, string inequality comparisons work effectively)
Special default values	Y-X, where X is a number (whatever year the current year would be if X was subtracted) Y+X, where X is a number (whatever year the current year would be if X was added)
Supported field options	min_year=YYYY (defaults to 0ad) max_year=YYYY (defaults to 3000ad) range_search=on|off: search forms will allow a range-based search
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if the given date is invalid.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will be anonymised if entry owner requests if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

time

Type label	A time
Storage format (for programmer reference)	hh:mm, or blank (due to fixed alignment, string inequality comparisons work effectively)
Special default values	None
Supported field options	range_search=on|off: search forms will allow a range-based search
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if the given time is invalid.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will be anonymised if entry owner requests if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

tel

Type label	A telephone number
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text
Special default values	None
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	None (there are too many variations to telephone numbers that it is unreasonable to check for them)
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will match against Other (additional anonymise fields) criteria if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked. Highly recommended for all telephone fields which could contain personal numbers.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

tax_code

Title	A tax code
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text
Special default values	None
Supported field options	in_money=on|off: Show the tax in money, rather than as a tax code (will use the user's address for tax calculation if known, otherwise the site address)
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if an invalid tax code was given.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will be anonymised if entry owner requests if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

year_month

Title	A year month
Storage format (for programmer reference)	Up to 255 characters of text
Special default values	None
Supported field options	None
Special field validation behaviour	The entry will be rejected if an invalid year or month was given.
Privacy (managing personal data) behaviour	Will be anonymised if entry owner requests if 'May contain personal information' is ticked/checked.
Back-end UI
Front-end UI

Blank fields

In almost all cases a field left as blank will not show in the default templates at all.
'color' is the only exception to this (at the time of writing), as there is no way to actually leave that input field blank.

Styling multiple-selection fields

The fields that support multiple-selection will typically output the different selections sequentially without much styling. It is up to the theme designer to write CSS rules to lay these out in an appropriate way.

Programming (advanced)

Generally the fields system is built on top of the lower level fields API within Composr, which is itself built on standard Composr templates.

Extending the set of fields

Programmers may add new field types by writing new systems/fields hook code files. Programming is beyond the scope of this tutorial, but it is relatively easy for a programmer to see how the existing hooks were coded (all existing fields are hook-based too).

See also

• Custom structured content (via catalogues)

Feedback

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