mform-widgets

MForm Widgets

MForm provides advanced picker widgets beyond standard HTML inputs. All work inside modules and inside the Flex Repeater.

All examples assume use FriendsOfRedaxo\MForm; at the top of the file and $mform = MForm::factory(); already called.

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Custom-Link (addCustomLinkField)

A unified link picker supporting internal articles, external URLs, media files, mailto and tel links.

$mform->addCustomLinkField(1, [
    'label'               => 'Link',
    'data-intern'         => 'enable',   // show "internal article" tab
    'data-extern'         => 'enable',   // show "external URL" tab
    'data-media'          => 'enable',   // show "media" tab
    'data-mailto'         => 'enable',   // show "e-mail" tab
    'data-tel'            => 'enable',   // show "telephone" tab
    'data-extern-link-prefix' => 'https://',
    'data-link-category'  => 14,         // open link chooser at this category
    'data-media-category' => 1,          // open media pool at this category
    'data-media-type'     => 'jpg,png,gif', // restrict media types
]);

YForm table link

Link to a row in any YForm-managed table:

$ylink = [['name' => 'Länder', 'table' => 'rex_ycountries', 'column' => 'de_de']];
$mform->addCustomLinkField(1, ['label' => 'Land', 'ylink' => $ylink, 'data-intern' => 'disable']);

Stored value format

The widget stores a single string:

• Internal article: redaxo://12
• Media file: filename.jpg
• External URL: https://example.com
• E-mail: mailto:user@example.com
• Telephone: tel:+4912345
• YForm row: rex-tablename://42

Reading in OUTPUT PHP:

use FriendsOfRedaxo\MForm\Utils\MFormOutputHelper;

$link = 'REX_VALUE[1]';
$url  = MFormOutputHelper::getCustomUrl($link);
$data = MFormOutputHelper::prepareCustomLink(['link' => $link], true);
// $data['customlink_url']    → resolved URL (same as $url)
// $data['customlink_text']   → display text (article name / media title / URL)
// $data['customlink_target'] → ' target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"' for external, else ''

if ($url) {
    echo '<a href="' . rex_escape($url) . '"' . $data['customlink_target'] . '>'
        . rex_escape($data['customlink_text']) . '</a>';
}

See the mform-output skill for the full MFormOutputHelper API including createLinkData(), normalizeLinkData(), and normalizeRepeaterItems().

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Custom-Link Multiple (addCustomLinkMultipleField)

Multiple links as a JSON array in one value slot.

$mform->addCustomLinkMultipleField(1, [
    'label'       => 'Links',
    'btn_add'     => 'Link hinzufügen',
    'data-intern' => 'enable',
    'data-extern' => 'enable',
    'data-media'  => 'enable',
]);

Reading in OUTPUT PHP:

Der Wert aus REX_VALUE enthält HTML-Entities – deshalb html_entity_decode() vor json_decode():

use FriendsOfRedaxo\MForm\Utils\MFormOutputHelper;

$raw   = html_entity_decode('REX_VALUE[1]', ENT_QUOTES | ENT_HTML5, 'UTF-8');
$links = json_decode($raw, true) ?? [];

foreach ($links as $linkStr) {
    $url  = MFormOutputHelper::getCustomUrl($linkStr);
    $data = MFormOutputHelper::prepareCustomLink(['link' => $linkStr], true);
    echo '<a href="' . rex_escape($url) . '"' . $data['customlink_target'] . '>'
        . rex_escape($data['customlink_text']) . '</a>';
}

When reading from a YForm dataset ($dataset->getValue('links')), skip html_entity_decode() – the value is stored without entities. See the mform-yform skill.

---

MForm Link Field (addMFormLinkField)

Internal-article-only wrapper around Custom-Link. data-* link-type flags go in $parameter (2nd); label goes in $attributes (4th).

$mform->addMFormLinkField(1, ['data-extern' => 'disable', 'data-media' => 'disable'], 5, ['label' => 'Artikel']);

---

Media (addMediaField / addMFormMediaField)

Single file from the media pool.

// All widget options (label, types, preview, category) go in the 2nd param ($parameter)
$mform->addMediaField(1, ['label' => 'Bild', 'preview' => 1]);
// With type restriction and category
$mform->addMediaField(2, ['label' => 'Grafik', 'preview' => 1, 'types' => 'jpg,png,gif,svg,webp', 'category' => 3]);

// MForm variant (mform-media, stores filename in REX_VALUE; label in $attributes, data-* in $parameter)
$mform->addMFormMediaField(1, ['types' => 'jpg,png,webp', 'preview' => '1'], null, ['label' => 'Datei']);

Reading in OUTPUT PHP:

$filename = 'REX_VALUE[1]';
$media = rex_media::get($filename);
if ($media) {
    echo '<img src="' . rex_url::media($filename) . '" alt="' . rex_escape($media->getTitle()) . '">';
}

---

Medialist (addMedialistField)

Multiple media files; stores a comma-separated filename string.

$mform->addMedialistField(1, ['label' => 'Dateien', 'types' => 'pdf,doc,docx']);
// With view options:
$mform->addMedialistField(2, [
    'label'       => 'Galerie',
    'types'       => 'jpg,png,webp',
    'view'        => 'gallery',   // start view: list | grid | gallery
    'views'       => 'gallery,grid,list',
    'view_switch' => 1,           // show view-toggle button (default: 1)
]);

Reading in OUTPUT PHP:

$filenames = array_filter(explode(',', 'REX_VALUE[1]'));
foreach ($filenames as $filename) {
    $media = rex_media::get($filename);
    if ($media) {
        echo '<a href="' . rex_url::media($filename) . '">' . rex_escape($media->getTitle()) . '</a>';
    }
}

---

Imagelist (addImagelistField)

Image gallery with view-toggle (grid / list / gallery). Stores a comma-separated filename string.

$mform->addImagelistField(1, ['label' => 'Bildergalerie', 'types' => 'jpg,jpeg,png,webp,gif']);

Reading in OUTPUT PHP:

$filenames = array_filter(explode(',', 'REX_VALUE[1]'));
foreach ($filenames as $filename) {
    echo '<img src="' . rex_url::media($filename) . '" alt="">';
}

---

Linklist (addLinklistField)

Multiple internal article links; stores a comma-separated list of article IDs.

$mform->addLinklistField(1, ['label' => 'Verwandte Artikel'], 5);

Reading in OUTPUT PHP:

$ids = array_filter(explode(',', 'REX_VALUE[1]'));
foreach ($ids as $id) {
    $art = rex_article::get((int) $id);
    if ($art) {
        echo '<a href="' . rex_getUrl($art->getId()) . '">' . rex_escape($art->getName()) . '</a>';
    }
}

---

Native REDAXO link (addLinkField)

Stores a single article ID as REX_LINK. Output uses the classic REX_LINK[id=n] placeholder.

// label and widget config go in 2nd param ($parameter); catId as 3rd param
$mform->addLinkField(1, ['label' => 'Artikel'], 5); // 3rd param = start category ID

Reading in OUTPUT PHP:

$id  = (int) 'REX_LINK[id=1]';
$art = rex_article::get($id);
if ($art) {
    echo '<a href="' . rex_getUrl($id) . '">' . rex_escape($art->getName()) . '</a>';
}

Use addCustomLinkField when you need external, media or mailto support. Use addLinkField when you only need internal articles and want the native REX_LINK placeholder.

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Switching classic widgets to custom_link rendering (v9+)

By default addMediaField() and addLinkField() use the classic REDAXO core widget (backward-compatible). You can globally switch them to the modern custom_link UI:

// In project/boot.php (affects the whole project):
MForm::useCustomLinkForClassicWidgets(true);

When enabled, both fields store their value in REX_VALUE (same format as addCustomLinkField/addMFormMediaField) instead of REX_MEDIA/REX_LINK. Read the output with MFormOutputHelper::getCustomUrl().

Check the current state:

MForm::isUsingCustomLinkForClassicWidgets(); // bool

---

ColorSwatch (addColorSwatchField)

Text input + visual color/class picker. Stores either a hex color (#2f77bc) or a CSS class name (.bg-primary).

$mform->addColorSwatchField(1, [
    '#ffffff' => 'Weiß',
    '#000000' => 'Schwarz',
    '#2f77bc' => 'Primär',
    '.bg-warning' => ['label' => 'Warnung', 'preview' => '#f0ad4e'],  // CSS class with preview color
], ['label' => 'Hintergrundfarbe'], '#ffffff');

Reading in OUTPUT PHP:

$color = 'REX_VALUE[1]';
if (str_starts_with($color, '.')) {
    // CSS class
    echo '<div class="' . rex_escape(ltrim($color, '.')) . '">';
} else {
    // Hex value
    echo '<div style="background-color:' . rex_escape($color) . '">';
}

---

Using widgets outside modules

In own addon backend pages (direct ::getWidget())

// Medialist widget – standalone, no MForm::factory() needed
echo rex_var_custom_medialist::getWidget(
    'settings_media',   // unique widget ID
    'settings[media]',  // form field name (for POST)
    $savedValue,        // current value (comma-separated filenames)
    ['view' => 'gallery', 'views' => 'gallery,grid,list']
);

// Custom-Link-Multi widget
echo rex_var_custom_link_multi::getWidget(
    'settings_links',
    'settings[links]',
    $savedValue,
    ['intern' => 1, 'external' => 1, 'media' => 1]
);

In rex_form

Dedicated rex_form_widget_*_element classes are available:

// Medialist
$field = $form->addField('', 'media_list', null,
    ['internal::fieldClass' => 'rex_form_widget_mform_medialist_element'], true);
$field->setTypes('jpg,png,pdf');
$field->setView('gallery');

// Linklist
$links = $form->addField('', 'links', null,
    ['internal::fieldClass' => 'rex_form_widget_mform_linklist_element'], true);
$links->setCategoryId(0);

// Custom-Link-Multi
$custom = $form->addField('', 'custom_links', null,
    ['internal::fieldClass' => 'rex_form_widget_mform_custom_link_multi_element'], true);
$custom->setIntern(1);
$custom->setExternal(1);
$custom->setMedia(1);

Available rex_form field classes: rex_form_widget_mform_imglist_element, rex_form_widget_mform_medialist_element, rex_form_widget_mform_linklist_element, rex_form_widget_mform_customlink_element, rex_form_widget_mform_custom_link_multi_element.

Widget assets are auto-loaded in the backend via boot.php – no manual asset include needed.

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Common pitfalls

• data-intern / data-extern / data-media default to enable unless explicitly set to disable. All tabs are shown unless you restrict them.
• Medialist and Imagelist store comma-separated filenames, not JSON. Use explode(',', $val), not json_decode().
• Linklist stores comma-separated article IDs as plain integers, not redaxo:// format.
• addMediaField() (REDAXO native) vs addMFormMediaField() (MForm custom): both store a filename string. addMFormMediaField uses the Custom-Link widget internally and has slightly different UI.
• ColorSwatch CSS-class values start with . – remember to strip the leading dot when using as an HTML class attribute: ltrim($val, '.').
• ylink on Custom-Link requires YForm – ensure YForm is available before adding such a field.