How to support auto generate slug from title field in collections

[Stupidism]

For example,

If editor input
How to support auto generate slug from title field in collections as the title of the post/article.

I want another field slug to be auto-genrated with slug

how-to-support-auto-generate-slug-from-title-field-incollectionss

[GeorgeyB]

I've done a similar thing. I used the beforeChange hook.

Given the following creator function:

function generateSlugFrom(titleField: string, slugField = 'slug'): BeforeChangeHook<Product> {
    return ({ data }) => {
        if (!(titleField in data)) {
            return data;
        }

        return {
            ...data,
            [slugField]: slugify(data[titleField])
        };
    };
}

I use it like so:

const Products: CollectionConfig = {
    slug: 'products',
    hooks: {
        beforeChange: [generateSlugFrom('name')]
    },
    fields: [
        {
            name: 'name',
            label: 'Name',
            type: 'text'
        },
        {
            name: 'slug',
            label: 'Slug',
            type: 'text'
        },
    ]
};

With help of course, from slugify.

[Stupidism]

Great, that's exactly what I want.

[Stupidism]

Another implementation from the public demo: https://github.com/payloadcms/public-demo/blob/master/src/fields/slug.ts

[MinSomai]

what is the use case for this slug? I can't seem to wrap my head around because we can query with document id only.

[Stupidism]

It's more like auto-generate slug before writing to database.
Are you looking for sth-like slug updates in UI while inputting for name/title?

[MinSomai]

slug is generated fine. I want to use this slug to query document.

[jmikrut]

Hey @MinSomai — you can totally query via the slug field.

In REST, it'd be ?where[slug][equals]=slug-here or similar.

For more, including how to query in GraphQL and the Local API, take a look at the documentation for querying here.

[MinSomai]

I'm dumb. totally makes sense now, thanks.

[Stupidism]

A better solution for slug is to add a custom element:

// Articles:

fields: [
  // ...
  slug({ trackingField: 'title' }),
  // ...
]

// fields/slug.ts

import { Field } from 'payload/types';
import { merge } from 'lodash';

import { getSlugInput } from './ui/SlugInput';

type Slug = (
  options?: { trackingField?: string },
  overrides?: Partial<Field>
) => Field;

// By dynamically building fields in code configurations are reusable and concise
export const slug: Slug = ({ trackingField = 'title' } = {}, overrides) =>
  merge<Field, Partial<Field> | undefined>(
    {
      name: 'slug',
      unique: true,
      type: 'text',
      admin: {
        position: 'sidebar',
        components: {
          Field: getSlugInput({ trackingField })
        }
      },
    },
    overrides
  );

// SlugInput.tsx
import { kebabCase } from 'lodash';
import { TextInput, useField, useWatchForm } from 'payload/components/forms';
import { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';

export const getSlugInput = ({ trackingField }: { trackingField: string }) => () => {
  const { getDataByPath } = useWatchForm();
  const { value: slugValue = '', setValue: setSlugValue } = useField<string>({ path: 'slug' });
  const trackingFieldValue = getDataByPath<string>(trackingField) || '';
  const prevTrackingFieldValueRef = useRef(trackingFieldValue);
  const stopTrackingRef = useRef(false);

  useEffect(() => {
    if (!trackingField || stopTrackingRef.current) {
      return;
    }
    if (trackingFieldValue === prevTrackingFieldValueRef.current) {
      return;
    }
    const prevSlugValue = kebabCase(prevTrackingFieldValueRef.current);
    prevTrackingFieldValueRef.current = trackingFieldValue;
    if (prevSlugValue !== slugValue) {
      return;
    }
    setSlugValue(kebabCase(trackingFieldValue));
  }, [trackingFieldValue]);

  return (
    <div>
      <TextInput
        name="slug"
        path="slug"
        label="Slug"
        description={slugValue ? `Auto generated based on ${trackingField}` : `Will be auto-generated from ${trackingField} when save`}
        value={slugValue}
        onChange={e => {
          setSlugValue(e.target.value);
          stopTrackingRef.current = true;
        }}
      />
    </div>
  );
}

[designly1]

Here's an updated version of the @Stupidism solution:

import React, { useEffect, useRef } from "react";
import { kebabCase } from "lodash";
import { TextInput, useFieldType } from "payload/components/forms";

import { TextField } from "payload/types";

export type SlugInputProps = TextField & {
  trackingField: string;
};

export default function SlugInput(props: SlugInputProps) {
  const {
    trackingField,
    required,
    admin: { readOnly },
  } = props;

  const { value: slugValue = "", setValue: setSlugValue } =
    useFieldType<string>({
      path: "slug",
    });

  const { value: trackingFieldValue } = useFieldType<string>({
    path: trackingField,
  });

  const prevTrackingFieldValueRef = useRef(trackingFieldValue);
  const stopTrackingRef = useRef(false);

  useEffect(() => {
    if (!trackingField || stopTrackingRef.current) {
      return;
    }
    if (trackingFieldValue === prevTrackingFieldValueRef.current) {
      return;
    }
    const prevSlugValue = kebabCase(prevTrackingFieldValueRef.current);
    prevTrackingFieldValueRef.current = trackingFieldValue;
    if (prevSlugValue !== slugValue) {
      return;
    }
    setSlugValue(kebabCase(trackingFieldValue));
  }, [trackingFieldValue]);

  return (
    <div>
      <TextInput
        name="slug"
        path="slug"
        label="Slug"
        description={
          slugValue
            ? `Auto generated based on ${trackingField}`
            : `Will be auto-generated from ${trackingField} when saved`
        }
        value={slugValue}
        onChange={(e) => {
          setSlugValue(e.target.value);
          stopTrackingRef.current = true;
        }}
        readOnly={readOnly}
        required={required}
      />
    </div>
  );
}

import React from "react";
import { Field } from "payload/types";
import { merge } from "lodash";
import SlugInput from "../ui/SlugInput";

type Slug = (
  options?: { trackingField?: string },
  overrides?: Partial<Field>
) => Field;

export const slug: Slug = ({ trackingField = "title" } = {}, overrides) =>
  merge<Field, Partial<Field> | undefined>(
    {
      name: "slug",
      unique: true,
      type: "text",
      admin: {
        position: "sidebar",
        components: {
          Field: (props) => (
            <SlugInput trackingField={trackingField} {...props} />
          ),
        },
      },
    },
    overrides
  );

[designly1]

Note that the field def file slug needs to be .tsx extension