Modifiers

A modifier is the most flexible of the three template extension points. The same modifier works three ways:

fenom

{$title|upper}              {* as a filter     *}
{upper($title)}             {* as a function   *}
{set $t = $title|upper}     {* in an expression *}

That is what separates it from a pseudo-tag, which only works in the first position of a tag and never inside an expression. The rule is simple: need a value — write a modifier; need a chunk of HTML — write a pseudo-tag.

🛠 Your own modifiers

core/App/Helpers/fenom/modifiers.php

The file returns a name → function map:

php

return [
    'upper' => function ($value) {
        return mb_strtoupper((string) $value);
    },
    'excerpt' => function ($text, int $length = 100) {
        return mb_substr(strip_tags((string) $text), 0, $length);
    },
];

fenom

<h2>{$title|upper}</h2>
<p>{$content|excerpt:200}</p>

Arguments after the first are passed with colons: {$x|mod:$a:$b}.

$this->modx is available

The file is included from inside View, so closures in it see $this — meaning $this->modx is the current MODX instance. The global modx() helper works too.

Your file is read after the built-in modifiers, so a modifier with the same name overrides the built-in one. A component upgrade never touches this file.

🔧 Built-in modifiers

Text

Modifier	Signature	What it does
`trim`	`($input, $chars = " \n\r\t\v\0")`	trims both ends
`truncate`	`($input, ['length' => 160, 'suffix' => '...'])`	strips tags, cuts on a word boundary
`ellipsis`	`($input, $length = 100)`	same, but keeps HTML and repairs unclosed tags
`notags`	`($string, $allowable_tags = null)`	`strip_tags()`
`uppercase`	`($input)`	aliases: `upper`, `up`, `strtoupper`
`lowercase`	`($input)`	aliases: `lower`, `low`, `strtolower`
`preg_replace`	`($value, $pattern, $replacement = '', $limit = -1)`	value first, not the pattern
`split`	`($input, $delimiter = ',')`	string → array
`join`	`($input, $glue = ',')`	array or iterator → string
`decl`	`($number, $forms, $showNumber = false, $sep = '\|')`	plural forms for Slavic languages
`date`	`($value, $format = 'j F Y, H:i', $locale = null)`	`$locale = 'ru'` gives Russian month and day names
`default`	`($input, $fallback)`	replaces `null`, `''`, `[]` and `false`
`phone`	`($value)`	keeps digits and `+`
`parseNumber`	`($text)`	first number in the string
`editorjs`	`($json, $options = '')`	renders Editor.js blocks
`print`	`($input, $wrap = true)`	`print_r()` inside `<pre>` — for debugging

Links, settings, translations

Modifier	Signature	What it does
`route`	`($name, $parameters = [])`	route URL by name, with the language prefix
`lang_url`	`($uri = '')`	prepends the current language prefix to a URL
`url`	`($id, $context = '', $args = '', $scheme = -1, $options = [])`	`modX::makeUrl()` by resource id
`lang`	`($key, $params = [], $language = '')`	a string from `App/lang/`
`lexicon`	`($key, $params = [], $language = '')`	a MODX lexicon entry
`config`	`($key, $default = null)`	`Config` first, then the MODX system setting
`placeholder`	`($key)`	a MODX placeholder

Objects and lists

Modifier	Signature	Returns
`resource`	`($id, $field = '')`	one field, or the whole `site_content` row
`user`	`($id, $field = 'username')`	a user field merged with the profile; `'photo'` falls back to a Gravatar, and passwords and sessions are stripped
`resources`	`($ids = null, $options = [])`	a flat list of resources
`pbresources`	`($ids = null, $options = [])`	the same from `pb_resources`; alias `pbResources`
`users`	`($ids = null, $options = [])`	a list of users
`menu`	`($rootId = 0, $level = 3)`	a menu tree
`blocks`	`($where = [])`	published blocks in their own order

resources, pbresources and users accept ids as a '12,7,3' string, an array or a number — and then preserve the order of the ids. An associative array as the first argument is read as options: parent, template, context, where, sortby, sortdir, limit, offset. See Helpers.

Nested rendering

Modifier	Signature	What it does
`render`	`($template, $params = [])`	renders a string as a template (`@INLINE`)
`chunk`	`($template, $data = [])`	a MODX chunk; understands `file:` and `path:`
`snippet`	`($name, $params = [])`	a MODX snippet; `!name` skips the cache, `file:name` runs a file
`pbJson`	`($data, $options = '')`	serialisation through the `pbJson` snippet

Images

Modifier	Signature
`glide`	`($url, $options = 'fm=webp&q=85')`
`pthumb`	`($url, $options = [])`
`phpthumbon`	`($url, $options = [])`

JSON and arrays

Modifier	Signature
`toJSON`	`($array, $options = 320, $depth = 512)`
`fromJSON`	`($string, $assoc = true, $depth = 512, $options = 0)`
`slice`	`($array, $start = 0, $length = null)`

Assets

cssToHead($css, $media = null), jsToHead($js, $plaintext = false), jsToBottom($js, $plaintext = false), htmlToHead($html), htmlToBottom($html) wrap the MODX regClient* methods. They return nothing and are called for the side effect.

Access

Modifier	Signature
`isloggedin`	`($ctx = null)` — current context by default
`isnotloggedin`	`($ctx = null)`
`ismember`	`($id, $groups = [], $matchAll = false)` — empty `$id` means the current user

In markup the same checks read better as block tags: {auth}, {guest}, {admin}.

Miscellaneous

button(array $button) builds an <a> or a <button> from an array with the keys published, type, caption, classes, href, file, attr, disabled, target_blank, name, value. Without published it returns nothing.

Modifiers ​

🛠 Your own modifiers ​

🔧 Built-in modifiers ​

Text ​

Links, settings, translations ​

Objects and lists ​

Nested rendering ​

Images ​

JSON and arrays ​

Assets ​

Access ​

Miscellaneous ​