Drupal Custom Content Types Development

Developing Custom Content Types in Drupal

Content types in Drupal are entities with a set of fields. Standard Article and Page are replaced or supplemented with types for specific tasks: News, Case Study, Vacancy, Product. Configured in UI, configuration exported to YAML and committed to git.

Creating via UI

Path: /admin/structure/types/add. Set name (Label) and machine name (slug). Drupal creates type with basic fields: Title, Body, Published.

After creation — add custom fields: /admin/structure/types/manage/{type}/fields/add-field.

Export Configuration to YAML

After UI setup:

drush config:export

Files appear in config/sync/:

node.type.news.yml                        # type itself
field.storage.node.field_subtitle.yml     # field storage
field.field.node.news.field_subtitle.yml  # field for specific type
core.entity_form_display.node.news.default.yml   # edit form
core.entity_view_display.node.news.default.yml   # display view
core.entity_view_display.node.news.teaser.yml    # teaser view

Example node.type.news.yml:

langcode: en
status: true
dependencies: {}
name: News
type: news
description: 'Company news'
help: ''
new_revision: true
preview_mode: 1
display_submitted: false

Field Configuration

# field.field.node.news.field_subtitle.yml
langcode: en
status: true
dependencies:
  config:
    - field.storage.node.field_subtitle
    - node.type.news
id: node.news.field_subtitle
field_name: field_subtitle
entity_type: node
bundle: news
label: 'Subtitle'
description: 'Brief description for lists and cards'
required: false
translatable: true
default_value: []
settings: {}
field_type: string

Programmatic Type Creation (via install hook)

If type is created by module, not manually:

// my_module.install

function my_module_install(): void {
  // Create content type
  $node_type = \Drupal\node\Entity\NodeType::create([
    'type' => 'vacancy',
    'name' => 'Vacancy',
    'description' => 'Open company vacancies',
    'display_submitted' => FALSE,
    'new_revision' => TRUE,
  ]);
  $node_type->save();

  // Field "City"
  $field_storage = \Drupal\field\Entity\FieldStorageConfig::create([
    'field_name' => 'field_city',
    'entity_type' => 'node',
    'type' => 'string',
    'cardinality' => 1,
  ]);
  $field_storage->save();

  \Drupal\field\Entity\FieldConfig::create([
    'field_storage' => $field_storage,
    'bundle' => 'vacancy',
    'label' => 'City',
    'required' => TRUE,
    'settings' => ['max_length' => 100],
  ])->save();

  // Field "Salary range" — decimal
  $salary_storage = \Drupal\field\Entity\FieldStorageConfig::create([
    'field_name' => 'field_salary_min',
    'entity_type' => 'node',
    'type' => 'decimal',
    'settings' => ['precision' => 10, 'scale' => 0],
  ]);
  $salary_storage->save();

  \Drupal\field\Entity\FieldConfig::create([
    'field_storage' => $salary_storage,
    'bundle' => 'vacancy',
    'label' => 'Salary from',
  ])->save();

  // Entity reference to "Direction" taxonomy
  $ref_storage = \Drupal\field\Entity\FieldStorageConfig::create([
    'field_name' => 'field_direction',
    'entity_type' => 'node',
    'type' => 'entity_reference',
    'settings' => ['target_type' => 'taxonomy_term'],
    'cardinality' => \Drupal\Core\Field\FieldStorageDefinitionInterface::CARDINALITY_UNLIMITED,
  ]);
  $ref_storage->save();

  \Drupal\field\Entity\FieldConfig::create([
    'field_storage' => $ref_storage,
    'bundle' => 'vacancy',
    'label' => 'Direction',
    'settings' => [
      'handler' => 'default:taxonomy_term',
      'handler_settings' => [
        'target_bundles' => ['directions' => 'directions'],
        'auto_create' => FALSE,
      ],
    ],
  ])->save();

  // Configure display forms
  \Drupal\Core\Entity\Entity\EntityFormDisplay::load('node.vacancy.default')
    ->setComponent('field_city', [
      'type' => 'string_textfield',
      'weight' => 10,
      'settings' => ['size' => 60],
    ])
    ->setComponent('field_direction', [
      'type' => 'options_buttons',
      'weight' => 20,
    ])
    ->save();
}

Typical Field Types

Related Types and Reference Fields

Typical structure: Case → Client (entity reference), Case → Services (multiple entity reference).

# field.storage.node.field_client.yml
field_name: field_client
entity_type: node
type: entity_reference
cardinality: 1
settings:
  target_type: node

# field.field.node.case.field_client.yml
field_name: field_client
bundle: case
label: 'Client'
settings:
  handler: 'default:node'
  handler_settings:
    target_bundles:
      client: client
    sort:
      field: title
      direction: ASC
    auto_create: false

Revisions

For types where change history is needed, enable new_revision: true. Working with revisions:

// Load all revisions of node
$storage = \Drupal::entityTypeManager()->getStorage('node');
$revision_ids = $storage->revisionIds($node);
$revisions = array_map(fn($rid) => $storage->loadRevision($rid), $revision_ids);

// Revert to revision
$node->setNewRevision(FALSE);
$node = $storage->loadRevision($target_revision_id);
$node->isDefaultRevision(TRUE);
$node->save();

Timelines

One content type with fields via UI + config export: half day. Multiple types with relationships, display form setup, Views: 1–2 days.