How to store widget fields data as an array?

Question

I am creating a widget, it needs to store about 10 IDs. Right now I'm using following field method to store each of the ID in a separate field. It stores data of each field in a separately in the wordpress. Is it possible to store the data of all fields in just one row in wordpress for examlpe using an array?

<input 
    class="widefat" 
    id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id('item1_id'); ?>" 
    name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name('item1_id'); ?>" 
    value="<?php echo $instance['item1_id']; ?>" 
    />

<input 
    class="widefat" 
    id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id('item2_id'); ?>" 
    name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name('item2_id'); ?>" 
    value="<?php echo $instance['item2_id']; ?>" 
    />

$instance is an array and contains all values. And what do you mean by 'to store the data of all fields in just one row'? Did you mean one database row? — Ralf912
– Ralf912, Commented Apr 4, 2013 at 20:43

fuxia · Accepted Answer · 2013-04-04 20:57:58Z

You have to collect multiple fields under the same name like this …

name="collect[1]"
name="collect[2]"

… and adjust your widget logic to this.

Here is a very simple demo widget:

<?php  # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
/* Plugin Name: Store Options as array */

add_action( 'widgets_init', array ( 'T5_Array_Options_Widget', 'register' ) );

class T5_Array_Options_Widget extends WP_Widget
{
    /**
     * Constructor.
     */
    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct( strtolower( __CLASS__ ), 'Array Demo' );
    }

    /**
     * Echo the settings update form
     *
     * @param array $instance Current settings
     */
    public function form( $instance )
    {
        $title = isset ( $instance['title'] ) ? $instance['title'] : '';
        $title = esc_attr( $title );

        printf(
            '<p><label for="%1$s">%2$s</label><br />
            <input type="text" name="%3$s" id="%1$s" value="%4$s" class="widefat"></p>',
            $this->get_field_id( 'title' ),
            'Title',
            $this->get_field_name( 'title' ),
            $title
        );

        $fields = isset ( $instance['fields'] ) ? $instance['fields'] : array();
        $field_num = count( $fields );
        $fields[ $field_num + 1 ] = '';
        $fields_html = array();
        $fields_counter = 0;

        foreach ( $fields as $name => $value )
        {
            $fields_html[] = sprintf(
                '<input type="text" name="%1$s[%2$s]" value="%3$s" class="widefat">',
                $this->get_field_name( 'fields' ),
                $fields_counter,
                esc_attr( $value )
            );
            $fields_counter += 1;
        }

        print 'Fields<br />' . join( '<br />', $fields_html );
    }

    /**
     * Renders the output.
     *
     * @see WP_Widget::widget()
     */
    public function widget( $args, $instance )
    {
        print $args['before_widget']
        . $args['before_title']
        . apply_filters( 'widget_title', $instance['title'] )
        . $args['after_title']
        . join( '<br />', $instance['fields'] )
        . $args['after_widget'];
    }

    /**
     * Prepares the content. Not.
     *
     * @param  array $new_instance New content
     * @param  array $old_instance Old content
     * @return array New content
     */
    public function update( $new_instance, $old_instance )
    {
        $instance          = $old_instance;
        $instance['title'] = esc_html( $new_instance['title'] );

        $instance['fields'] = array();

        if ( isset ( $new_instance['fields'] ) )
        {
            foreach ( $new_instance['fields'] as $value )
            {
                if ( '' !== trim( $value ) )
                    $instance['fields'][] = $value;
            }
        }

        return $instance;
    }

    /**
     * Tell WP we want to use this widget.
     *
     * @wp-hook widgets_init
     * @return void
     */
    public static function register()
    {
        register_widget( __CLASS__ );
    }
}

Backend

enter image description here

Frontend

enter image description here

Great answer on multiple fields, but is it possible some update on having 2 fields in a row? i am trying to use this on my widget but i need to have 2 fields in a row like price / destination, but i can't figure out how to get it, i always get some kind of error. — lonerunner
– lonerunner, Commented Apr 29, 2016 at 1:11
@AleksandarĐorđević Just write the HTML for that, and do not use class="widefat" for the fields. — fuxia
– fuxia ♦, Commented Apr 29, 2016 at 1:12
If i am just smart as you think. I understand that i am supposed to get it to save in database as field[0][price] and field[0][destination] and so on? but somehow i don't get it done right. — lonerunner
– lonerunner, Commented Apr 29, 2016 at 1:25
Is it possible foo to be an array which has key/value pairs? — worldwildwebdev
– worldwildwebdev, Commented Jun 13, 2017 at 22:12

score 5 · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-05 06:14:35Z

The above answer is good if you need the fields to be numbered. In my case, I didn't. I have a widget with options that allow the user to select any number of categories to be used within the widget.

Here's my widget form. — Three important things here

Make sure to default the value to an empty array() if the widget's value is not set
In the form <label> name attribute, notice that I attach a [] at the end. This tells PHP that I'm submitting an array of values for this key
Wrap the checkbox in the label as <label><input type="checkbox" ...></label>. — Each of our checkboxes will not have a unique id attribute, so the <label> for attribute will not work. We could generate unique IDs, but that's a hassle. If you just wrap the label around the input, the label get associated properly without the hassle of connecting the for+id

Now the code

public function form($instance) {
  $title = isset($instance['title']) ? $instance['title'] : '';
  $categories = isset($instance['categories']) ? $instance['categories'] : array();
  ?>

  <p>
    <label for="<?php echo $this->get_field_id('title') ?>">
      <?php _e( 'Title:' ) ?>
    </label>
    <input class="widefat"
           id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id('title') ?>"
           name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name('title') ?>"
           value="<?php echo $title ?>" />
  </p>

  <p>Categories</p>
  <ul>
  <?php foreach (\get_categories() as $category): ?>
    <li>
      <label>
        <input type="checkbox"
             class="checkbox"
             name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name('categories') ?>[]"
             value="<?php echo $category->cat_ID ?>"
             <?php checked(in_array($category->cat_ID, $categories)) ?> />
        <?php echo $category->name ?>
      </label>
    </li>
  <?php endforeach ?>
  </ul>
  <?php
}

And here's my update function

I'm interested in saving the Category IDs in an array, which are numbers, so I use array_map with intval to ensure that all submitted datum are valid integers. Additionally, I use array_filter to remove any invalid submissions.

// @param array $a - the new instance options
// @param arram $b - the old instance options
public function update($a, $b) {
  return array(
    'title'      => isset($a['title']) ? strip_tags($a['title']) : $b['title'],
    'categories' => isset($a['categories']) ? array_filter(array_map(function($id) { return intval($id); }, (array) $a['categories'])) : (array) $b['title']
  );
}

It's particularly challenging to describe this WordPress stuff. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to elaborate.

Stack Exchange Network

How to store widget fields data as an array?

2 Answers 2

Backend

Frontend

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

How to store widget fields data as an array?

2 Answers 2

Backend

Frontend

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related

Hot Network Questions