ProcessWire Fields and Templates Setup

ProcessWire Fields and Templates Setup

Fields and templates are the foundation of any ProcessWire project. A field defines data type and storage method; a template is a set of fields plus an associated PHP rendering file. Properly designed field structure saves tens of hours in further development.

Creating Fields

Fields are created in Setup → Fields → Add New. Must specify:

• Name — machine name (Latin, _), used in code as $page->field_name
• Type — data type
• Label — displayed in editor

Frequently used field types:

Configuring FieldtypePage (Relations)

When creating Page-type field, configure:

• Derefence as — Page (one page) or PageArray (multiple)
• Parent — limit selection to child pages of specific parent
• Template filter — show only pages with specified template

// In code: single relation
echo $page->category->title;

// Multiple relation
foreach ($page->tags as $tag) {
    echo "<span class='tag'>{$tag->title}</span>";
}

Creating Templates

Template is created in Setup → Templates → Add New. Process:

1. Create PHP file in /site/templates/my-template.php
2. Go to Templates → Add New — ProcessWire finds file automatically
3. Add needed fields on Fields tab
4. Configure Access (permissions)
5. Configure URLs (allow/forbid child pages, URL suffix)

Advanced Tab

Important Advanced tab parameters:

• Page class — custom PHP class for pages of this template
• Prepend/Append file — include _init.php and _main.php
• Cache time — cache template output N seconds
• Allow page numbers — allow /page2, /page3 in URL (needed for pagination)

Fieldset and Field Grouping

Fieldset (FieldtypeFieldsetOpen / FieldtypeFieldsetClose) groups fields visually in editor without affecting storage:

Adding fields to template order:

1. fieldset_seo_open — FieldtypeFieldsetOpen, label="SEO"
2. meta_title — FieldtypeText
3. meta_description — FieldtypeTextarea
4. fieldset_seo_close — FieldtypeFieldsetClose

In page editor these fields collapse into "SEO" block.

Repeater: Repeating Groups

Repeater field type contains several child fields that editor can add/remove:

// Field features (Repeater with fields: icon, headline, text)
foreach ($page->features as $feature) {
    echo "<div class='feature-card'>";
    echo "  <img src='{$feature->icon->url}' alt=''>";
    echo "  <h3>{$feature->headline}</h3>";
    echo "  <p>{$feature->text}</p>";
    echo "</div>";
}

RepeaterMatrix (paid ProFields module) allows multiple block types in one field — like Flexible Content in ACF.

Export and Import Configuration

Field and template configuration can be exported via Setup → Export/Import or DatabaseBackups module. To move between environments use JSON export of templates:

# Backup structure (not data)
# Via RockMigrations module or manually via API:
php -r "
  require '/var/www/site/index.php';
  echo \$templates->get('product')->exportJSON();
" > product-template.json

RockMigrations module allows describing field and template structure in PHP code and apply changes reproducibly — like migrations in Laravel.