Joomla - Custom fields in Backend - Template override

Question

I have a Joomla-site with a lot of extra-fields in custom fields area. When I edit my articles the long list of fields is quite confusing. So I thought I could be a good idea to show the custom fields in backend in two columns like it is in the "images and links"-tab. Don't know what I mean. Look here for an example:

Of course I could write my own override for the template, but where the hell is the view of fields-tab in backend built up? The individual fields are in a container named "control-group" but I don't find the pivotal file in /administrator/components/com_fields

Could anybody please help me out of this dilemma? Thank you very much!

Answer 1

Custom Fields are added to forms by System - Fields plugin.

Before doing template override I suggest checking out Field Groups feature. Each field group has its own fieldset which results in a separate tab in form view:

If this solution doesn't suit you, you can override form view layout:

administrator/components/com_content/views/article/tmpl/edit.php

In the override add fields-0 fieldset to ignored fieldsets array:

$this->ignore_fieldsets[] = 'fields-0';

And then render the fields manually:

<?php echo JHtml::_('bootstrap.addTab', 'myTab', 'fields', JText::_('JGLOBAL_FIELDS')); ?>
    <div class="row-fluid form-horizontal-desktop">
        <div class="span6">
            <?php echo $this->form->renderField('field-1', 'com_fields'); ?>
        </div>
        <div class="span6">
            <?php echo $this->form->renderField('field-2', 'com_fields'); ?>
        </div>
    </div>
<?php echo JHtml::_('bootstrap.endTab'); ?>

You can also combine both methods to avoid having to render each field by name and instead use fieldsets (field groups). E.g. create two field groups, assign fields to them. In the override exclude the groups:

$this->ignore_fieldsets[] = 'fields-1';
$this->ignore_fieldsets[] = 'fields-2';

And then render them:

<?php echo JHtml::_('bootstrap.addTab', 'myTab', 'fields', JText::_('JGLOBAL_FIELDS')); ?>
    <div class="row-fluid form-horizontal-desktop">
        <div class="span6">
            <?php echo $this->form->renderFieldset('fields-1'); ?>
        </div>
        <div class="span6">
            <?php echo $this->form->renderFieldset('fields-2'); ?>
        </div>
    </div>
<?php echo JHtml::_('bootstrap.endTab'); ?>