Edit Template Dropdown on Settings Tab

[suntrop]

On the Settings-Tab you can select the template of a page. Two questions:

1. How do I change the order of them?  Currently it looks very messy and I would like to sort it alphabetically 
2. How do I exclude certain templates from this list?

I couldn't find a system field for it and have looked at other field configs, but noting helped. I've got some pages I don't want my client to be selectable. I have set "Can this template be used for new pages?" to no, but that doesn't work. 

[bernhard]

what is the exact usecase? are you talking about changing the template after the page was saved? or are you talking about the process of adding new pages, where you want to limit + sort the selectable templates?

[suntrop]

Yes, I am talking about the settings tab, so after the page is saved or for existing pages.

The dropdown list is about 20 entries long and it is pretty hard to find the exact template you're looking for, because there is naturally no order. That is bad usability and I want it to sort in an alphabetically order to make it easier finding a template.

The exact same use case goes for excluding templates that make no sense for the editor (like templates just for settings or "admin" pages, etc.).

[bernhard]

two options come into my mind:

1. hook into the buildform method, get the field and modify the available options
2. modify the dropdown via javascript (at least sorting should be very easy like this - maybe also hiding different options, depends on your usecase and setup)

[abdus]

Based on @bernhard's suggestion, you can combine template tags with ProcessPageEdit::buildSettingsForm hook and remove any template that doesnt have a specific tag.

Start by adding a specific tag to each template you need to show, say `my-template-compatible`. Then add this hook to ready.php

wire()->addHookAfter('ProcessPageEdit::buildFormSettings', function (HookEvent $e) {
    $page = $e->object->getPage();
    if ($page->template != "my-template") return;

    $templatesField = $e->return->children->get('id=template');
    $templates = $templatesField->options;
    foreach ($templates as $tid => $tname) {
        $template = $e->templates->get($tid);
        if (strpos($template->tags, 'my-template-compatible') === false) $templatesField->removeOption($tid);
    }
});

When you edit a page with `my-template` template, you'll see that non compatible templates wont show up.

[adrian]

7 hours ago, suntrop said:

How do I change the order of them?  Currently it looks very messy and I would like to sort it alphabetically 

Mine are sorted alphabetically. I would like to know why your's aren't!

[suntrop]

I thought there is some hidden config and an easy step. Seems there is no option at all

https://github.com/processwire/processwire/blob/master/wire/modules/Process/ProcessPageEdit/ProcessPageEdit.module#L978

@adrian I am using labels, because template files are in Englisch, but my clients prefer a more eligible, German name.

Will have a look tomorrow

[abdus]

@suntrop, I've updated my hook to include sorting by labels

wire()->addHookAfter('ProcessPageEdit::buildFormSettings', function (HookEvent $e) {
    $page = $e->object->getPage();
    if ($page->template != "my-template") return;

    $templatesField = $e->return->children->get('id=template');
    $templates = $templatesField->getOptions();
    
    // sort first
    asort($templates);
    foreach ($templates as $tid => $tname) {
        // remove incompatible fields
        $template = $e->templates->get($tid);
        if (!$template) continue;
        if (strpos($template->tags, 'my-template-compatible') === false) unset($templates[$tid]);
    }
    $templatesField->set('options', $templates);
});