DCA Adjustments

The Contao “Data Container Array” (DCA) offers numerous, practical configuration options. Here you can find a selection of helpful examples.

Starting with Contao 4.9, the respective customizations are expected in the »contao/dca« directory. If the directories do not exist yet, you have to create them first. For each Contao table you need a separate file, for example »contao/dca/tl_content.php«. After that, you need to recreate the application cache via the Contao Manager or via the console. This step is required after every change.

Info

Do you know other practical examples? Then add your information to this collection. Detailed information how you can contribute to the documentation can be found here.

Allow HTML in headings

// contao/dca/tl_content.php
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['headline']['eval']['allowHtml'] = true;

Allow HTML in news headlines

// contao/dca/tl_news.php
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_news']['fields']['headline']['eval']['preserveTags'] = true;

Allow HTML in page name and page title

// contao/dca/tl_page.php
// HTML in page names
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_page']['fields']['title']['eval']['allowHtml'] = true;
// HTML in page title
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_page']['fields']['pageTitle']['eval']['allowHtml'] = true;

Allow HTML in captions

// contao/dca/tl_content.php
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['caption']['eval']['allowHtml'] = true;

Hide a field in the back end

To hide the field, you change the palette and remove the field from the configuration settings of the module Personal data:

// contao/dca/tl_member.php
use Contao\CoreBundle\DataContainer\PaletteManipulator;

PaletteManipulator::create()
    ->removeField('company')
    ->applyToPalette('default', 'tl_member')
;

unset($GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_member']['fields']['company']['eval']['feEditable']);
unset($GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_member']['fields']['company']['eval']['feGroup']);

You can also remove the field entirely:

// contao/dca/tl_member.php
use Contao\CoreBundle\DataContainer\PaletteManipulator;

PaletteManipulator::create()
    ->removeField('company')
    ->applyToPalette('default', 'tl_member')
;

unset($GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_member']['fields']['company']);

Note: with this change, the column company will be suggested for deletion when you run Update tables in the Contao Install Tool!

Show IDs in page tree

// contao/dca/tl_page.php
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_page']['list']['label']['fields'][] = 'id';
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_page']['list']['label']['format'] = '%s <span style="font-weight:normal; padding-left: 3px;">(IDp: %s)</span>';

Show IDs in the article tree

// contao/dca/tl_article.php
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_article']['list']['label']['fields'][] = 'id'; 
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_article']['list']['label']['format'] = '%s <span style="font-weight:normal; padding-left: 3px;">(%s, IDa: %s)</span>';

Make company a mandatory field in the member table

// contao/dca/tl_member.php
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_member']['fields']['company']['eval']['mandatory'] = true;

Hide search in file manager

// contao/dca/tl_files.php
unset($GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_files']['list']['sorting']['panelLayout']);

Restrict H-tag in headings

// contao/dca/tl_content.php
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['headline']['options']= ['h2','h3']; # Restrict example to h2 and h3

Presets player size

// contao/dca/tl_content.php
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['playerSize']['default'] = [960,540];

Presets image setting

// contao/dca/tl_content.php
// The presets are applied to all content with image elements. Image, gallery
// Thumbnails per row
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['perRow']['default'] = '4';
// Tick large view/new window
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['fullsize']['default'] = '1';
// Preselection image spacing in px
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['imagemargin']['default'] = serialize(['unit' => 'px']);
// Sort by individual order
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['sortBy']['default'] = 'custom'; 
// Sort by file name (ascending)
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['sortBy']['default'] = 'name_asc'; 
// Sort by file name (descending)
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['sortBy']['default'] = 'name_desc'; 
// Sort by date (ascending)
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['sortBy']['default'] = 'date_asc'; 
// Sort by date (descending)
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['sortBy']['default'] = 'date_desc'; 
// Sort by random order
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['sortBy']['default'] = 'random'; 
// Image size for example exact format center | center
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['size']['default'] = [500,500,'center_center'];
// other variables for Exact format:
// 'crop', 'left_top', 'left_center', 'left_bottom', 'center_top', 'center_bottom', 'right_top', 'right_center', 'right_bottom'
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['size']['default'] = [150]; # Image width of 150px
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['size']['default'] = [150,150]; # Image width and height of 150px
// Custom image sizes
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['size']['default'] = [0, 0, 2]; # the '2' is the ID of the image size

Display the article section in the list view of content elements

// contao/dca/tl_content.php
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['list']['sorting']['headerFields'][] = 'inColumn';

Enable searching for CSS ID/class in content elements.

// contao/dca/tl_content.php
$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_content']['fields']['cssID']['search'] = true;