5.1.8

The Forms extension allows formatting a wiki page or a user dialog as a form. It is also used in conjunction with the Workflows extension where it provides input forms for workflow data.

Introduction

To create a checklist as a form, for example, the following steps are necessary:

1. Create the checklist form.
2. Create checklist instances.

Optionally, the styling of the form can be adjusted.

As an example, we are creating the first fields for an event where food-related hygiene information has to be tracked.

Event checklist example

Create a checklist form

1. Create the page Checklist Event Hygiene.form.

   

   Creating a new form

   This opens the Form editor.

   

   Form editor

2. Add a form section:
   1. Select the Section label element under Form Elements > Other (see screenshot annotation 2) and, holding down the left mouse button, drag it into the interactive form editor field below.
   2. Click anywhere in the Section label line. The field inspector opens.
   3. Enter the Name. This is saved as a field ID in the database and should therefore not contain any special characters.
   4. Enter the Title for the section label. This is displayed as the visible label for the text field.

      

      Adding the first section header

3. Create the form fields for the Event section. Here we add a text box as an example.
   1. Drag the Text element from Form elements > Inputs under the section heading.
   2. Click anywhere in the text field line. The field inspector opens.
   3. Enter the Name. This is used as the database ID for this field and should therefore not contain any special characters.
   4. Enter the Label. This is displayed as the visible label for the text field.
   5. Add more form elements.
4. Click Save. The form is now available in the main namespace as EventChecklistHygiene.form.

   

   Saved form

   
   To continue editing the form, switch to the editing mode of the page (1).

Form elements

It is possible to add the following form fields to your form:

Inputs

Field	Functionality
Book	auto-complete field that finds pages in the namespace "Book"
Text	standard text field
Textarea	multi-line text field
Wikitext input	multi-line text field that expects Wikitext syntax
Category multiselect	token field to add one or more categories to the page
Checkbox	single checkbox
Menu tag multiselect	multiple-value input; values are separated with the enter-key
Checkbox multiselect	checkbox group (allows selecting multiple values in the group)
Dropdown	dropdown list with predefined options
Number	integer field
Radio button	single radio button (usually not used in a manually completed form)
Radio group	radio buttons for toggling a selection (allows selecting only one value in the group)
File chooser	Allows to select a file
Title input	auto-complete field for wiki pages
Combo box	combines a text input field and a dropdown list. Users can select a predefined value or type their own.
Password input	sets a password with a password and password-repeat field. This is not used in forms for the target types JSON on wikipage, Template or Email, as the password is stored in plain text.
Tag input
Date
Title input
User input
Group input
Group multiselect
User multiselect
Title multiseslect
Date picker
Percent

Other

Element	Description	Options
Static Wikitext	non-editable text
Button	triggers an action (requires a defined event listener)
Message banner	message that can be shown anywhere in the form; the type that is set (notice, error, warning, success) provides the visual formatting
Partial form import	adds form fields from another form
Icon	-
Indicator	-
Label	-
Progress bar	visual representation of the number of completed steps in a form such as a checklist
Section label	a heading to a form section
HR	a visual separator line	-

Input field options

Each input field has a combination of any of these options:

main

Type	Field	Functionality
(all)	Name	field name stored in the database (avoid special characters)
	Label	text label shown to users
	Help	creates a tooltip pop-up next to the label
	No layout	hides the label
	Show on	mode in which this field is visible
	Editable on	sets when the field value can be edited
Book	Return property	?

styling

Type	Field	Functionality
(all)	CSS Classes	add individual CSS-classes for use on MediaWiki:Common.css - the class is set on the form field itself and does not include the label; multiple classes can be set together or you can add them separately
	Style	define an inline style that affects only this field. The style is applied to the wrapper and includes the label and the field
Textarea, Wikitext input	Number of rows	used for textareas
	Placeholder	text that is displayed before the user is typing a value (has no effect, if there is also a default value set)
Radio group	No default value	ensures that there is no pre-selected radio-button if a default would not make sense
Radio group, Checkbox multiselect	Horizontal layout	aligns multiselect checkboxes or radio groups horizontally
Button	Icon	displays an icon before the text, (e.g. a bootstrap-icon like bi bi-calendar)
	Indicator	displays an icon after the text (e.g. a bootstrap-icon like bi bi-arrow-right)
	Framed	when deactivated, the button looks like text only (and can be styled via CSS classes, e.g. btn button-warning)

other

Type	Fieldset	Field	Functionality
(all)	Custom widget properties	Key
		Value
	Listeners	Event
		Callback
		Default value / Selected by default	value that is used if the user does not provide a value; field type "checkbox" has option "Selected by default" instead
		Required	form cannot be submitted without this field having a value
Password		Password strength	weak: medium: strong:
Tag		Input position	inline: outline:
		Allow arbitrary	It is possible to add values other than the allowed values (only necessary if allowed values are defined)

Form Settings

Appearance

Field	Functionality
Title
Display title
Display form name

Behaviour

Field	Functionality

Infrastructure

Field	Functionality

Target

Field	Functionality

Listeners

Field	Functionality

Create a checklist instance

To create a checklist from the form:

enter a target page name.

1. Fill out the form fields.
2. Click Submit.

The checklist is now saved in the wiki and can be edited further.

Send email

The form can also send an Email after being saved:

Email target

• Target type: Email
• Recipient: Possible recipients must have been configured on the server for security reasons. Example:

 $wgFormsTargetEMailRecipients = [

'Marketing' => "marketing@example.com",

'Administration' => 'WikiSysop'

];

• Subject: Existing form fields can be used as variables here. The value is taken from the form.

• Content: As in the subject, existing form fields can also be used as variables here. The value is taken from the form.

Localization messages in combination with form fields can also be used as subject or email body:

{{int:Mailsubject| {{{name}}}|{{{surname}}} }}

Adjust the styling

Common.css

To style individual elements in the form, go to the styling tab in the options dialog. There, you can enter a css class name. The styling is then defined on the MediaWiki:Common.css page (admin rights are required).

To style the section heading:

1. Open the styling tab in the options menu of the Event heading field.
2. Add a new CSS class and enter a selector name (CSS Classes field), e.g. frm-sectionhd.

   

   Add a css class

3. Paste the following style declarations into the MediaWiki:Common.css page, e.g.:

   border-bottom: 1px solid #a6a6a7;  background:#f1f3f9; padding:6px;margin:30px 0;
   

   

   Section label with customized styling

If you do not have permission to view this page, you can enter style information directly for each element in the form via inline styling.

Inline styling

Without access to MediaWiki:Common.css, the style information can be entered directly in the form. However, with many recurring style declarations this is not efficient in contrast to the definition of CSS classes in MediaWiki:Common.css.

As an example, let's apply the previous section heading example directly as inline styling. To do this, open the options menu of the ech-event form element again. Enter the following statement in the Styling field and save the change:

border-bottom: 1px solid #a6a6a7;  background:#f1f3f9; padding:6px;margin:30px 0;

Inline styling of a form element

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