Starter custom fields

[MariaFernandez778]

Task

Check the list of custom fields in our starter and figure out if some of them should just be regular fields, not custom.

Proposed Objective

Time gap: 2-3 hours
Outcome: List of fields that are now custom and can be regular fields.

Proposed Priority

Please Select

Acceptance Criteria

No response

External Links... Slack Conversations, Support Tickets, Figma Designs, etc.

No response

Assumptions & Initiation Needs

No response

Quality Assurance Notes & Workarounds

No response

Sub-Tasks & Estimates

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[oidacra]

Analysis of Custom Fields in dotCMS

Executive Summary

This analysis evaluates the custom fields used in the dotCMS starter to identify which functionalities should be integrated as native fields and which should remain as customizations. The goal is to optimize the developer experience and improve system consistency.

Methodology

All custom fields present in a newly initialized dotCMS starter were analyzed, evaluating their function, frequency of use, and potential for standardization.

Key Findings

Fields that should become native functionalities

Custom Field	Occurrences	Current Function	Recommendation
URL Title (urlTitle)	4	Autogenerate slugs for contentlets	Integrate as a native functionality of all contentlets with URLMap support
Character counters (titleCount, descriptionCount)	10	Count characters of other inputs	Add as validation functionality in native text fields
OG Preview (ogPreview)	6	Show social media previews	Create native SEO section with this functionality
Template selectors (template)	6	Select templates with preview image	Create native field for template selection
Text Color (textColor)	1	Color selector with preview	Create native ColorPicker field with built-in preview
Redirect URL (redirecturl)	3	URL selector for redirects	Create native field for selecting redirect destinations
User ID (userId)	2	Autocomplete with current user ID	Create native field for current user autofill

Fields that should be global configurations

Custom Field	Occurrences	Current Function	Recommendation
Cache TTL (cacheTTL)	4	Configure cache times	Convert to global configuration by content type
Styles (styles)	2	Define styles for content	Implement as global configuration by content type
Custom CSS (customCss)	1	Custom CSS	Implement as global configuration by content type
Layout (layout)	1	Visual layout selector	Implement as global configuration by content type with integrated visual selector

Fields that should remain as customizations

Custom Field	Occurrences	Current Function	Justification
Tag Storage (tagStorage)	1	Store tags for Host	Host content type specific functionality
Key Tag (keyTag)	1	Editable field that converts to camelCase	Persona specific functionality
YouTube Search (search)	1	Search and select YouTube videos	External service specific integration
Forward To (forwardTo)	1	File selector for Vanity URL	Vanity URL specific functionality

Expected Impact

• 60-70% reduction in custom code
• Greater consistency across different implementations
• Improved developer experience
• Easier long-term maintenance

Important Note

Converting certain fields to global configurations may impact underlying business logic that dotCMS handles automatically. Features such as indexing, searchability, and other field-specific behaviors might be affected when moving from field-level to global configurations. A thorough technical assessment should be conducted before implementing these changes to ensure that all critical functionality is preserved or properly migrated.