Custom fields are what you use to make a database that is specific to your needs. IPS4 supports a wide range of field types so that you can collect data in the appropriate formats, from text and numbers, to upload fields and YouTube embeds.
We're going to create a few different fields to gather information about each recipe that we can then display in our database. They are:
- List of ingredients
- Prep time
- Cook time
- Cuisine
- A link to a YouTube video recipe
We don't need fields for the recipe title, or the instructions. Databases already provide a title field, and we'll also use the built-in content field for the recipe instructions.
We'll see how to set up the custom fields, as well as how to customize their appearance.
1. To create a new field, hover on the Pages tab in the AdminCP, and then click the Fields link under the Recipes database in the menu. The screen will show you the default built-in fields for your database, including Title and Content.
2. Click the Create New button; you'll see a form where you configure your field.
3. For Title, enter "Ingredients". This is the field title users will see when adding/viewing recipes on your site.
4. For Description, enter "One per line". The description is only shown on the add/edit record form, so it's a good place to enter special instructions for filling it in.
5. For the type, we'll choose Editor in this case, because it will allow the user to format the list if they wish. The other fields on the form will change depending on which field type you choose, since each has specific options.
6. We don't require a maximum length, but we do want to require this field to be completed, so leave these settings at their default values.
7. On the Display tab, we'll configure how the field content is shown to users. First, enter ingredients as the field key. This key is how IPS4 identifies this field in templates. We won't actually be using it in this tutorial, but it's good practice to set it anyway so you can use it later if needed.
8. We don't want our list of ingredients to show on the listing screen, so disable that option.
9. We do, however, want it to show on the record display screen, since this is the main screen for viewing a recipe. A badge isn't ideal for showing content from an Editor, so change the Display View Format to the simple Label: Value option as shown:
Display View Format
10. We'll show the list of ingredients above the main record content, so make sure Above the item content is selected for the Display option.
11. Finally, there's no need to allow this field to be updated when viewing a record; instead, users will go to the full edit form. You can leave the Editable when viewing a record option disabled.
12. Save the form to create the field.
Other fields
Other fields are created in the same way, so instead of going through the whole process again, here's the configuration options you need for each field. Where a configuration option isn't listed, leave it at its default value.
Note: Some field types, including the Select Box type that Cuisine uses (see below), support a fixed set of options from which the user can choose. You'll set these up as key/value pairs in the AdminCP, but the user will only see the values when they select them. The key is just used internally by IPS4 and in custom templates to identify the value, and is best kept as a single lowercase word.
Prep time
Name: Prep Time
Type: Text
Required: No
Template key: prep-time
Listing view format: Label: Value
Display view format: Label: Value
Cook time
Name: Cook Time
Type: Text
Required: No
Template key: cook-time
Listing view format: Label: Value
Display view format: Label: Value
Cuisine
Name: Cuisine
Type: Select Box
Content: (key/value)
- indian / Indian
- italian / Italian
- american / American
- mexican / Mexican
Allow filtering: Yes
Required: Yes
Template key: cuisine
Listing view format: Label: Value
Show to right of listing area: Yes
Display view format: Label: Value
Display: Above the item content
Video recipe
Name: Video tutorial
Type: YouTube Embed
Required: No
Template key: video-tutorial
Show in listing template: No
Show in display template: Yes
In a record, display as: Embedded Player
That's it! If you now head over to the front-end page for your database, click into a category, and click the Add New Recipe button, you'll see your fields on the form, ready to collect information! Feel free to add some sample records to try it out.
You'll also see the Record Image field that the database provides automatically (discussed earlier). When you upload an image here, you'll see it is automatically included in the record view for you.
Here's an example recipe in our database:
Listing View
Record View
Report Guide