2

I have multiple channels with different field groups, but several duplicate fields. For example:

Channels:

  • products_bikes
  • products_skateboards
  • products_trikes

Fields:

  • bikes_summary
  • skateboards_summary
  • trikes_summary

I use the same detail template to output info for all of the channels, but with the duplicate fields, I have to repeat the "summary" field 3 times:

{exp:channel:entries
    channel='products_bikes|products_skateboards|products_trikes'
}
    <h1>{title}</h1>

    {bikes_summary}
    {skateboards_summary}
    {trikes_summary}

{/exp:channel:entries}

And this isn't the only field that's repeated. So that can get pretty hairy, especially if I need to check if a field is empty or not, or if I want to add another product type in the future.

So ideally I'd be able to set a channel prefix, and use it in a single field tag:

{{channel_prefix}_summary}

I can't use the channel_short_name because it doesn't match up, so I figured Stash might be able to do it. I tried:

{exp:stash:channel_prefix}
    {if channel_short_name == 'products_bikes'}
        bikes
    {/if}
    {if channel_short_name == 'products_skateboards'}
        skateboards
    {/if}
    {if channel_short_name == 'products_trikes'}
        trikes
    {/if}
{/exp:stash:channel_prefix}

{{exp:stash:channel_prefix}_summary}

But that output the text "{bikes_summary}" rather than parsed the field tag. I figure parse order has to do with it, but I'm not sure how to fix it - or if it's possible.

Thanks for any help!

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3 Answers 3

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3

The first thing I would ask is do you really need a fieldgroup for each product channel? Multiple channels can share the same fieldgroup and you can use publish layouts to hide the fields that are not relevant to a particular product. Using the same fieldgroup will also force you to generalise the fields you use which can be a good thing for rationalising your data structure.

If not then you could adopt the following approach. It does requires that you use a consistent naming scheme for your fields, e.g. channel_fieldname:

{!-- make a list of your channel prefixes --}
{exp:stash:set_list name="channels"}
    {stash:channel}products_bikes{/stash:channel}
    {stash:channel}products_skateboards{/stash:channel}
    {stash:channel}products_trikes{/stash:channel}
{/exp:stash:set_list}

{!-- make a list of your common field suffixes --}
{exp:stash:set_list name="fields"}
    {stash:field}summary{/stash:field}
    {stash:field}another_field{/stash:field}
{/exp:stash:set_list}

{!-- map channels and fields to generate tag pairs --}
{exp:stash:set name="mapped_fields" parse_tags="yes" parse_depth="2" type="snippet"}
   {exp:stash:get_list name="fields"}
      {stash:{field}}
         {exp:stash:get_list:nested name="channels"}
            {{channel}_{field}}
         {/exp:stash:get_list:nested}
      {/stash:{field}}
   {/exp:stash:get_list}
{/exp:stash:set}

{!-- capture the data --}
{exp:stash:set parse_tags="yes" type="snippet"}
   {exp:channel:entries
      channel='{exp:stash:get_list name="channels" backspace="1"}{channel}|{/exp:stash:get_list}'
      parse="inward"
   }

   {mapped_fields}

  {/exp:channel:entries}
{/exp:stash:set}

{!-- example of using the data in your view template (Stash embed or EE embed) --}
{if summary}{summary}{/if}

{!-- example of using the data in the *same* template you capture the data --}
{if summary}{exp:stash:get name="summary" type="snippet"}{/if}

To make this even more robust, you could list the channels automatically using a plugin like Get Channels.

{exp:stash:set_list name="channels" parse_tags="yes"}
    {exp:getchannels}
       {stash:channel}{channel_name}{/stash:channel}
    {/exp:getchannels}
{/exp:stash:set_list}
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2
  • Yikes, that's almost more complicated than just duplicating the fields!
    – kmgdev
    Commented Jul 31, 2013 at 21:53
  • 1
    Super minor, but could you perhaps elaborate on the capturing and usage example? I have this {exp:stash:get name="date_to_use" type="snippet"} inside of a channel entries loop in the same template as the data capture, but no luck.
    – jpea
    Commented Oct 21, 2014 at 16:47
0

Stash doesn't work for this because their tow instances are parsed on the same parsing stage. So, when you call stash:channel_prefix its value isn't available yet.

Your better option is to remove the "products_" prefix from the short names of the channels.

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I think basically if you wrap the second part in a {exp:stash:parse parse_vars="yes" parse_depth="2"} - it will be like the categories bit in my router basically.

https://expressionengine.stackexchange.com/a/12231/1532

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