Adding Configuration to a Property Editor

Adding configuration options to the editor.

Overview

This is step two in the guide to building a Property Editor. This step builds on part one and covers adding configuration options to the editor.

This article covers the following:

• Adding settings object to umbraco-package.json
• Using the configuration

Configuration

An important part of building good Property Editors is making them flexible so they can be reused in many contexts. The Rich Text Editor, for example, lets you choose which buttons and stylesheets to use per instance.

The same editor can be reused with different configurations.

Adding settings object to umbraco-package.json

To add a Data Type configuration field to the Suggestion Property Editor:

1. Open the umbraco-package.json file.
2. Add the settings object inside the meta object.
3. Add some properties:

umbraco-package.json

    ...
    "meta": {
        ...
        "settings": {
            "properties": [
                {
                    "alias": "disabled",
                    "label": "Disabled",
                    "description": "Disables the suggestion button",
                    "propertyEditorUiAlias": "Umb.PropertyEditorUi.Toggle"
                },
                {
                    "alias": "placeholder",
                    "label": "Placeholder text",
                    "description": "A nice placeholder description to help out our editor!",
                    "propertyEditorUiAlias": "Umb.PropertyEditorUi.TextBox"
                },
                {
                    "alias": "maxChars",
                    "label": "Max characters allowed",
                    "description": "The maximum number of allowed characters in a suggestion",
                    "propertyEditorUiAlias": "Umb.PropertyEditorUi.Integer"
                }
            ]
        }
        ...
    }

The code above adds three configuration fields. Each entry in the properties collection represents a Configuration field.

• Disabled uses the Toggle Property Editor UI. This enables to switch the suggestion button on or off and provides the user with a toggle button.
• Placeholder text uses the TextBox Property Editor UI, allowing the user to write a text.
• Max characters allowed uses the Integer Property Editor UI, enabling the user to enter a numeric value.

The Property Editor UI needs to be declared as it declares what User Interface should be used for this field.

You can use any Property Editor UI to define Configuration fields. The alias of a given Property Editor UI can be found in Data Type configurations using that Property Editor.

1. Add default values for the new configuration fields:

umbraco-package.json

  ...
  "meta": {
    ...
    "settings": {
      "properties": [...],
      "defaultData": [
        {
          "alias": "disabled",
          "value": true
        },
        {
          "alias": "placeholder",
          "value": "Write a suggestion"
        },
        {
          "alias": "maxChars",
          "value": 50
        }
      ]
   }
   ...

See the entire file: umbraco-package.json

umbraco-package.json

{
    "$schema": "../../umbraco-package-schema.json",
    "id": "My.AwesomePackage",
    "name": "My Awesome Package",
    "version": "0.1.0",
    "extensions": [
        {
            "type": "propertyEditorUi",
            "alias": "My.PropertyEditorUi.Suggestions",
            "name": "My Suggestions Property Editor UI",
            "element": "/App_Plugins/Suggestions/dist/suggestions.js",
            "elementName": "my-suggestions-property-editor-ui",
            "meta": {
                "label": "Suggestions",
                "icon": "icon-list",
                "group": "common",
                "propertyEditorSchemaAlias": "Umbraco.Plain.String",
                "settings": {
                    "properties": [
                        {
                            "alias": "disabled",
                            "label": "Disabled",
                            "description": "Disables the suggestion button",
                            "propertyEditorUiAlias": "Umb.PropertyEditorUi.Toggle"
                        },
                        {
                            "alias": "placeholder",
                            "label": "Placeholder text",
                            "description": "A nice placeholder description to help out our editor!",
                            "propertyEditorUiAlias": "Umb.PropertyEditorUi.TextBox"
                        },
                        {
                            "alias": "maxChars",
                            "label": "Max characters allowed",
                            "description": "The maximum number of allowed characters in a suggestion",
                            "propertyEditorUiAlias": "Umb.PropertyEditorUi.Integer"
                        }
                    ],
                    "defaultData": [
                        {
                            "alias": "disabled",
                            "value": true
                        },
                        {
                            "alias": "placeholder",
                            "value": "Write a suggestion"
                        },
                        {
                            "alias": "maxChars",
                            "value": 50
                        }
                    ]
                }
            }
        }
    ]
}

defaultData only applies to newly created Data Types. If you already saved the Data Type in Part 1 of the tutorial, adding defaultData here won't automatically populate the existing configuration. Umbraco only reads default values when a Data Type is first created. If your Data Type already exists, you have two options:

• Manually set the values by going to Settings → Data Types. Open your Data Type and enter the values there.
• Delete and recreate the Data Type to have defaultData take effect automatically.

1. Save the files and reload the backoffice. You can now see the Configurations in the Data Type:

Data Type configuration.

Using the configuration

The next step is to gain access to our new configuration options. For this, open the suggestions-property-editor-ui.element.ts file.

1. Create some state variables that can store our configurations:

suggestions-property-editor-ui.element.ts

  @state()
  private _disabled?: boolean;

  @state()
  private _placeholder?: string;

  @state()
  private _maxChars?: number;

1. Let's create a config property. Add a new import and add the following property:

suggestions-property-editor-ui.element.ts

import { type UmbPropertyEditorConfigCollection } from '@umbraco-cms/backoffice/property-editor';

1. Look up the alias of the config and then grab the value by said alias:

suggestions-property-editor-ui.element.ts

  @property({ attribute: false })
  public set config(config: UmbPropertyEditorConfigCollection) {
    this._disabled = config.getValueByAlias("disabled");
    this._placeholder = config.getValueByAlias("placeholder");
    this._maxChars = config.getValueByAlias("maxChars");
  }

Let's use the placeholder and maxChars for the input field and the disabled option for the suggestion button.

1. Add a new import ifDefined :

suggestions-property-editor-ui.element.ts

import { ifDefined } from '@umbraco-cms/backoffice/external/lit';

1. Update the render method:

suggestions-property-editor-ui.element.ts

  render() {
    return html`
      <uui-input
        id="suggestion-input"
        class="element"
        label="text input"
        placeholder=${ifDefined(this._placeholder)}
        maxlength=${ifDefined(this._maxChars)}
        .value=${this.value || ""}
        @input=${this.#onInput}
      >
      </uui-input>
      <div id="wrapper">
        <uui-button
          id="suggestion-button"
          class="element"
          look="primary"
          label="give me suggestions"
          ?disabled=${this._disabled}
          @click=${this.#onSuggestion}
        >
          Give me suggestions!
        </uui-button>
        <uui-button
          id="suggestion-trimmer"
          class="element"
          look="outline"
          label="Trim text"
        >
          Trim text
        </uui-button>
      </div>
    `;
  }

See the entire file: suggestions-property-editor-ui.element.ts

suggestions-property-editor-ui.element.ts

import { UmbChangeEvent } from '@umbraco-cms/backoffice/event';
import { css, customElement, html, ifDefined, LitElement, property, state } from '@umbraco-cms/backoffice/external/lit';
import type {
	UmbPropertyEditorConfigCollection,
	UmbPropertyEditorUiElement,
} from '@umbraco-cms/backoffice/property-editor';
import { UmbTextStyles } from '@umbraco-cms/backoffice/style';

@customElement('my-suggestions-property-editor-ui')
export default class MySuggestionsPropertyEditorUIElement extends LitElement implements UmbPropertyEditorUiElement {
	@property({ type: String })
	public value = '';

	@state()
	private _disabled?: boolean;

	@state()
	private _placeholder?: string;

	@state()
	private _maxChars?: number;

	@state()
	private _suggestions = [
		'You should take a break',
		'I suggest that you visit the Eiffel Tower',
		'How about starting a book club today or this week?',
		'Are you hungry?',
	];

	@property({ attribute: false })
	public set config(config: UmbPropertyEditorConfigCollection) {
		this._disabled = config.getValueByAlias('disabled');
		this._placeholder = config.getValueByAlias('placeholder');
		this._maxChars = config.getValueByAlias('maxChars');
	}

	#onInput(e: InputEvent) {
		this.value = (e.target as HTMLInputElement).value;
		this.#dispatchChangeEvent();
	}

	#onSuggestion() {
		const randomIndex = (this._suggestions.length * Math.random()) | 0;
		this.value = this._suggestions[randomIndex];
		this.#dispatchChangeEvent();
	}

	#dispatchChangeEvent() {
		this.dispatchEvent(new UmbChangeEvent());
	}

	override render() {
		return html`
			<uui-input
				id="suggestion-input"
				class="element"
				label="text input"
				placeholder=${ifDefined(this._placeholder)}
				maxlength=${ifDefined(this._maxChars)}
				.value=${this.value || ''}
				@input=${this.#onInput}>
			</uui-input>
			<div id="wrapper">
				<uui-button
					id="suggestion-button"
					class="element"
					look="primary"
					label="give me suggestions"
					?disabled=${this._disabled}
					@click=${this.#onSuggestion}>
					Give me suggestions!
				</uui-button>
				<uui-button id="suggestion-trimmer" class="element" look="outline" label="Trim text"> Trim text </uui-button>
			</div>
		`;
	}

	static override readonly styles = [
		UmbTextStyles,
		css`
			#wrapper {
				margin-top: 10px;
				display: flex;
				gap: 10px;
			}
			.element {
				width: 100%;
			}
		`,
	];
}

declare global {
	interface HTMLElementTagNameMap {
		'my-suggestions-property-editor-ui': MySuggestionsPropertyEditorUIElement;
	}
}

1. Run the command npm run build in the suggestions folder.
2. Run the project.
3. Go to the Content section of the Backoffice to see the new changes in the property editor:

Suggestions Property Editor with disabled suggestions option

Going further

The Data Type now has configuration options wired up to the Property Editor. The next part covers integrating context with the Property Editor.