Many Drupal websites contain content that requires storage, data entry, or display that is not natively supported by core or contributed modules—for example a recipe site that requires a multi-value ingredient field with properties for quantity and unit. Drupal’s plugin-based Field API allows developers to easily create new field types, formatters, and widgets to support the specific needs of the site’s content.

In this session, you’ll learn how to:

Determine when content has specific storage, data entry, or display requirements that warrant the customization of a field
Modify and extend existing field plugins to offer custom features through third-party settings
Define a new base field on an entity type
Define a new field formatter to customize the rendering of a field’s content
Define a new field widget to customize the way site users enter content for a field
Define a new field type, which allows customization of the structure of the content and how the data is stored
Customizing fields to better support your content allows you to:

Avoid the need to create new entities (using the Paragraphs module, for example) and entity references to allow multiple properties to be assigned to a single field
Improve the experience of users who enter content
Simplify how content is stored in the database and reduce the complexity of database queries
Provide more flexibility when rendering content