Page / $page

Many types of content in ProcessWire are represented by the Page class and descending classes

Pages live in a tree hierarchy and carry typed field values defined by their template. The $page API variable refers to the current requested page. And the $pages API variable provides methods for retrieving pages from the tree.

Custom user-defined page classes that extend the Page class live in /site/classes/.

Native properties

These properties are available on every page regardless of template:

PropertyTypeDescription
idintDatabase ID (0 for unsaved pages, 0 for NullPage)
namestringURL segment name — unique among siblings
titlestringHuman-readable title (custom field but almost always present)
statusintBitmask of status flags (see status constants below)
statusStrstringSpace-separated string of status names active on page.
templateTemplateThe page's template object
parentPageImmediate parent page
parentsPageArrayAll ancestor pages, root first
rootParentPageTop-level parent (child of homepage)
childrenPageArrayImmediate children (published, visible, with access)
pathstringURL path from root, e.g. /about/team/
urlstringFull URL (same as path if no subdirectory install)
httpUrlstringAbsolute URL including scheme and hostname
editUrlstringAdmin edit URL for this page
createdintUnix timestamp of creation
createdStrstringCreated date/time as ISO-8601 string
modifiedintUnix timestamp of last modification
modifiedStrstringLast modified date/time as ISO-8601 string
publishedintUnix timestamp of publication
publishedStrstringPublication date/time as ISO-8601 string
createdUserUserUser who created the page
modifiedUserUserUser who last modified the page
numChildrenintNumber of direct children (no exclusions)
hasChildrenintNumber of direct visible children. Excludes unpublished, no-access, hidden, etc.
sortintSort order relative to siblings when sortfield is 'sort'
sortfieldstringProperty or field that children sorted by (or 'sort' for manual)
filesManagerPagefilesManagerManages files and file directories for a page independent of a particular field.

For a full list of page properties, see the phpdoc header of the Page class or the Page API reference.

Getting and setting values
// Get a field value (output formatting ON by default in template context)
echo $page->title;
echo $page->body;
echo $page->get('title'); // same as $page->title

// Set a field value (turn off output formatting first)
$page->of(false);
$page->title = 'New Title';
$page->save('title'); // save just one field
$page->save();        // save all changed fields
$page->setAndSave('title', 'New Title'); // combined set + save

// Get raw unformatted value regardless of output formatting state
$raw = $page->getUnformatted('body');

// Get formatted value regardless of output formatting state
$formatted = $page->getFormatted('body');

// Get multiple values at once (returns array keyed by field name)
$values = $page->getMultiple(['title', 'body', 'images']);

Output formatting: of()

Output formatting determines whether field values pass through runtime text formatters (e.g. Markdown, HTML entities, etc.)

$page->of(false); // turn OFF — use when modifying values
$page->of(true);  // turn ON  — use for front-end output (default in template context)
$current = $page->of(); // returns current state (bool) without changing it

Always call $page->of(false) before setting and saving values. And if you will be making modifications to an existing value, make sure to $page->of(false) before getting the value you will modify. You do not want to have a formatted value get saved in the database.

Flexible get() syntax

get() accepts several formats beyond a plain field name:

// OR-pipe: return first non-empty value among listed fields
$page->get('summary|body|title');

// Dot notation: traverse into sub-objects
$page->get('category.title');       // title of related page
$page->get('images.first.url');     // url of first image

// Bracket notation: access items within a multi-value field
$page->get('images[]');             // all items as array
$page->get('images[0]');            // first item
$page->get('images[tag=hero]');     // item matching selector

// Format string: fill a pattern with property values
$page->get('{title} ({id})');
Saving and deleting
// Save all changed fields
$page->save();

// Save a specific field only
$page->save('title');
$page->saveFields(['title', 'body']); // save several fields

// Save without updating modified user and timestamp
$page->save(['quiet' => true]);

// Set value and save in one call, works even if output formatting on
$page->setAndSave('headline', 'Hello World');

// Set and save multiple fields
$page->setAndSave([
    'title' => 'It is Friday again',
    'subtitle' => 'The best day of the week is Friday',
    'body' => '<p>This is my short blog post...</p>'
]);

// Trash a page (moves to trash, recoverable)
$page->trash();

// Delete a page permanently
$page->delete();

// Delete a page and all its children
$page->delete(true);
Traversal

Children and descendants

When we refer to "accessible" pages below, it means pages that are published, not hidden, and that the curent user has access to.

// Direct accessible children (published + visible + current user has access)
foreach($page->children() as $child) { ... }
$page->children('sort=title, limit=10'); // with selector

// First accessible child
$first = $page->child();

// First created and accessible child
$first = $page->child('sort=created');

// First created child with no exclusions (skips access and status checks)
$first = $page->child('sort=created, include=all');

// Last created child with no exclusions
$last = $page->child('sort=-created, include=all');

// Find among all accessible descendants, like $pages->find() but scoped to this page
$results = $page->find('template=product, featured=1');
$result  = $page->findOne('sku=ABC123');

// Number of children and descendants
$n = $page->numChildren();             // number of children with no exclusions
$n = $page->numChildren;               // same as above but as property
$n = $page->numChildren(true);         // number of accessible children
$n = $page->numChildren("foo=bar");    // count of children matching selector
$n = $page->numDescendants();          // number of descendants, no exclusions
$n = $page->numDescendants(true);      // number of accessible descendants
$n = $page->numDescendants("foo=bar"); // number of descendants matching selector

Parents and ancestors

All of the following method calls without arguments can also be accessed as properties, i.e. $page->parent() can also be accessed as $page->parent.

$parent = $page->parent();                     // immediate parent 
$parents = $page->parents();                   // all ancestors, root first
$parents = $page->parents('template=section'); // filtered ancestors
$root = $page->rootParent();                   // top-level ancestor
$n = $page->numParents();                      // depth in tree

Siblings

$siblings = $page->siblings();                 // all siblings including self
$siblings = $page->siblings(false);            // all siblings excluding self
$siblings = $page->siblings('sort=title');     // sorted siblings (or any selector)
$siblings = $page->siblings('foo=bar', false); // filtered siblings (excluding self)

$next = $page->next();                         // next sibling
$prev = $page->prev();                         // previous sibling
$next = $page->next('template=product');       // next matching sibling

$after  = $page->nextAll();                    // all following siblings
$after  = $page->nextAll('foo=bar');           // all following siblings, filtered
$before = $page->prevAll();                    // all preceding siblings

// All siblings up to (not including) first one matching the selector
$until = $page->nextUntil('template=divider');
$until = $page->prevUntil('template=divider');

Position

$n = $page->index();        // 0-based position among accessible siblings
$n = $page->index(true);    // same as above but with no exclusions
Status

Status constants

ConstantValueMeaning
statusLocked4Protected from editing in the admin
statusHidden1024Hidden from front-end listings
statusUnpublished2048Unpublished — not publicly accessible
statusTrash8192Page is in the trash
statusDeleted16384Deleted (runtime only, not saved)
statusSystemID32768System page that cannot be renamed
statusSystem65536System page that cannot be deleted or renamed
statusCorrupted536870912Page data is corrupt — do not save

Checking status

// Preferred: named methods
if($page->isHidden()) { ... }
if($page->isUnpublished()) { ... }
if($page->isLocked()) { ... }
if($page->isTrash()) { ... }
if($page->isPublic()) { ... } // published and guest-viewable

// Generic check
if($page->hasStatus(Page::statusHidden)) { ... }
if($page->hasStatus('hidden')) { ... }            // string form

// is() — checks status name, template name, or selector
if($page->is('hidden')) { ... }
if($page->is('template=product')) { ... }

// Numeric and bitwise status comparisons
if($page->status < Page::statusUnpublished) { ... } // page is published
if($page->status < Page::statusHidden) { ... }      // page published and not hidden
if($page->status & Page::statusHidden) { ... }      // page is hidden

Modifying status

$page->addStatus('hidden');                     // add by name
$page->addStatus(Page::statusHidden);           // add by constant
$page->removeStatus('hidden');                  // remove by name
$page->removeStatus(Page::statusHidden);        // remove by constant

// Set status directly (replaces current status)
$page->status = Page::statusHidden | Page::statusUnpublished; // bitwise
$page->status('hidden, unpublished');                         // string form
$page->status(['hidden', 'unpublished']);                     // array form

// Get array of current status names
$names = $page->status(true); // e.g. ['hidden', 'unpublished']
Matching and comparison
// Test page against a selector in memory (no DB query)
if($page->matches('created>=today')) { ... }
if($page->matches('template=product, featured=1')) { ... }

// Test page against a selector via database query
if($page->matchesDatabase('title=Hello')) { ... }

// Conditional output shorthand
echo $page->if('featured', '<b>Featured</b>');
echo $page->if('featured=1', '<b>Yes</b>', '<b>No</b>');
URL and path methods

The following may be accessed as methods or properties.

$page->url();     // URL path (e.g. /about/team/)
$page->path();    // like url() but without installation subdir (if applicable)
$page->httpUrl(); // with scheme+host (e.g. https://example.com/about/team/)
$page->editUrl(); // admin edit URL

// Get all URL variants (useful for language or multi-domain setups)
$urls = $page->urls();  // returns object with url, httpUrl, edit, etc.

// urlOptions used internally by traversal methods
Field introspection
// Does the page's template include this field?
if($page->hasField('body')) { ... }

// Get the Field object for a field
$field = $page->getField('body');

// Get all Field objects for this page's template
foreach($page->getFields() as $field) { echo $field->name; }
Access and permissions

The following methods are added at runtime by the PagePermissions module (installed by default). They respect the current $user and the page's access template.

if($page->viewable()) { ... }         // is page viewable by current user?
if($page->editable()) { ... }         // is page editable by current user?
if($page->publishable()) { ... }      // can current user publish this page?
if($page->listable()) { ... }         // is page listable by current user?
if($page->deleteable()) { ... }       // can current user delete this page?
if($page->trashable()) { ... }        // can current user trash this page?
if($page->addable()) { ... }          // can current user add children?
if($page->addable('product')) { ... } // can current user add a child of given template?
if($page->moveable()) { ... }         // can current user move this page?
if($page->sortable()) { ... }         // can current user change sort of this page?
if($page->cloneable()) { ... }        // can current user clone this page?

Lower-level access methods (always available):

If a page's template does not define access control then the page will inherit its access control from one of its parents. The following methods return the page that the current one inherits its access control from, whether the page itself, or a parent.

$accessTemplate = $page->getAccessTemplate();    // Template that controls access
$accessParent   = $page->getAccessParent();      // Page that provides access settings
$roles          = $page->getAccessRoles();       // WireArray of Roles with view access
if($page->hasAccessRole($role)) { ... }
Output and rendering
// Render page using its template file (returns string)
echo $page->render();

// Render a field using a site/templates/fields/ file
echo $page->renderField('body');
echo $page->renderField('images', 'gallery'); // with custom file
echo $page->render('images');                 // alias of renderField

// Render field via property syntax
echo $page->render->images;
echo $page->_images_;               // double-underscore shorthand

// Get markup for a field (uses Fieldtype::markupValue)
echo $page->getMarkup('body');

// Get plain text (applies entity decoding when output formatting on)
$text = $page->getText('body');
$text = $page->getText('body', true); // require 1-line value
$text = $page->getText('body', true, false); // 1-line value, entities off

// Front-end editable field (requires PageFrontEdit module)
echo $page->edit('body');

// getMarkup() with format string — fills {tag} placeholders from page fields
echo $page->getMarkup('{title} — {summary}');
Page references and links
// Pages that reference this page via a Page-type field
$refs = $page->references();
$refs = $page->references('template=news');     // filtered

// Pages that this page references via Page-type fields
$linking = $page->referencing();
$linking = $page->referencing('template=category');

// Pages linked from this page's text/HTML content (where possible to detect)
$linked = $page->links();
$linked = $page->links('template=product');
Preloading
// Preload one or more field values into this page (avoids repeated lazy-load queries)
$page->preload('body');
$page->preload(['body', 'images', 'sidebar']);
NullPage

When $pages->get() or traversal methods find no result, they return a NullPage rather than null. A NullPage has id === 0.

$page = $pages->get('template=product, sku=MISSING');
if($page->id) {
    // found
} else {
    // not found — $page is a NullPage
}

if($page instanceof NullPage) {
    // not found — $page is a NullPage
}

// Case where $page can be `null` or `NullPage`
if("$page") { ... } // page is not null and has id=0 (NullPage)

// Do NOT do:
if($page) { ... }      // Page object is always truthy — even NullPage
Custom page classes

To implement your own Page type, create a class file in /site/classes/ using the following format: [TemplateName]Page.php . For example:

TemplateClassFile
productProductPagesite/classes/ProductPage.php
basic-pageBasicPagePagesite/classes/BasicPagePage.php
homeHomePagesite/classes/HomePage.php
blog-postBlogPostPagesite/classes/BlogPostPage.php

The custom class should be in the ProcessWire namespace and extend Page or another class that extends Page. For example:

<?php namespace ProcessWire;

/**
 * Product Page
 *
 * @property string $title
 * @property int $qty_available
 * @property PageArray $categories
 * @property Pageimages $photos
 * @property string $body
 *
 */
class ProductPage extends Page {
    // example of custom function
    public function inStock() {
        return $this->qty_available > 0;
    }
}

When the above is implemented, all pages using the template named product will be instantiated as ProductPage instances rather than Page instances.

We recommend documenting the fields used by the template in the custom page class phpdoc header, as shown in the example above.

Note that to use custom page classes you must have the following in your /site/config.php file (enabled by default on new installations):

$config->usePageClasses = true;
Identifying page type

A page's type is typically identified by its template…

if($page->template->name === 'product') {
    // Page is a 'product' page
}

…but when using custom page classes, you can also identify a page by its class type:

if($page instanceof ProductPage) {
    // Page is a 'product' page
}
Other core page types

In addition to the Page class, the core uses Page objects for the following classes, which descend from the Page class:

ClassDescription
UserRepresents users in the system, with $user being the current user.
RoleRepresents user roles, assigned to users and templates for access control.
PermissionIndividual named permission that are assigned to Role pages.
LanguageWhen multi-language support is installed, represents a language.
Hookable page methods

Hook before or after any of these methods using $wire->addHookBefore('Page::methodName', …) or $wire->addHookAfter('Page::methodName', …). Hook the class to intercept all pages, or hook a specific instance to intercept just one page. You can also hook a custom page class to capture only instances of that page type, i.e. $wire->addHookAfter('ProductPage::added', …).

MethodDescription
getUnknown($key)Called when getting an unrecognized property; hook after and set $event->return to inject custom property values
path()Returns the page's URL path; hook after to rewrite or modify the path and url (since url uses path).
loaded()Called after the page is fully loaded from the database
editReady(InputfieldWrapper $form)Called when page is loaded into the admin page editor; hook to modify the editing form
saveReady(array $changes, $name)Called right before the page is saved; $name is a field name string when saving a single field, or false when saving the whole page
saved(array $changes, $name)Called right after the page is saved; same $name convention as saveReady
addReady()Called when a new page is about to be saved to the database for the first time
added()Called after a new page has been saved to the database for the first time
moveReady(Page $oldParent, Page $newParent)Called when the page is about to be moved to a different parent
moved(Page $oldParent, Page $newParent)Called after the page has been moved to a different parent
deleteReady()Called right before the page is permanently deleted
deleted()Called after the page has been permanently deleted
cloneReady(Page $copy)Called right before the page is cloned; $copy is the new page being created
cloned(Page $copy)Called right after the page has been cloned; $copy is the new page
renameReady(string $oldName, string $newName)Called right before the page's name is changed
renamed(string $oldName, string $newName)Called right after the page's name has been changed
addStatusReady(string $name, int $value)Called when a status flag is about to be added but not yet saved; hook before to cancel or modify
addedStatus(string $name, int $value)Called after a status flag has been added and saved
removeStatusReady(string $name, int $value)Called when a status flag is about to be removed but not yet saved; hook before to cancel or modify
removedStatus(string $name, int $value)Called after a status flag has been removed and saved

For a full list of hookable Page methods, see the phpdoc header of the Page class, or the Page hooks reference.

// Hook example
$wire->addHookAfter('Page::saved', function(HookEvent $e) {
    $page = $e->object; // Page
    $changes = $e->arguments(0); // array
    $e->wire->message(
        // i.e. "Saved product /products/my-product/ - title, categories"
        "Saved $page->template $page->url - " .
        implode(', ', $changes)
    );
}); 
Notes
  • $page->of(false) must be called before setting or saving field values; skipping it can corrupt formatted values (e.g. saving HTML-encoded entities back to the DB).
  • $page->children(), $page->find() and similar methods exclude hidden, unpublished, and inaccessible pages by default. Add include=hidden, include=unpublished, or include=all to the selector to override.
  • Status is a bitmask integer. Multiple statuses are combined with |: Page::statusHidden | Page::statusUnpublished.
  • statusCorrupted is a runtime-only flag. If present, ProcessWire refuses to save the page to protect against writing corrupt data.
  • The Page class delegates most of its method implementations to helper classes in wire/core/Page/. The main class file is wire/core/Page/Page.php.
API reference: methods, properties

The simplest way to detect a NullPage is typically by checking the value of the $page->id property. If it happens to be 0 then for most practical purposes, you have a NullPage. A NullPage object has all of the same methods and properties as a regular Page but there's not much point in calling upon them since they will always be empty.

$item = $pages->get("featured=1"); 

if(!$item->id) {
  // this is a NullPage
}

if($item instanceof NullPage) {
  // this is a NullPage
}

Click any linked item for full usage details and examples. Hookable methods are indicated with the icon. In addition to those shown below, the NullPage class also inherits all the methods and properties of: Page, WireData and Wire.

Show class?     Show args?       Only hookable?    

Properties

NameReturnSummary 
NullPage::id int The id property will always be 0 for a NullPage.  

Additional methods and properties

In addition to the methods and properties above, NullPage also inherits the methods and properties of these classes:

API reference based on ProcessWire core version 3.0.259