Visual Composer for Backpack

Improve the way you edit pages.

Installation

composer require novius/laravel-backpack-visualcomposer

Then add this to config/app.php:

Novius\Backpack\VisualComposer\VisualComposerServiceProvider::class,

Finally, run:

php artisan migrate

Use

In the model:

use \Novius\Backpack\VisualComposer\Traits\VisualComposer;

In the crud controller:

public function setup($template_name = false)
{
    parent::setup($template_name);

    $this->crud->addField([
        'name' => 'visualcomposer_main',
        'label' => 'Visual Composer',
        'type' => 'view',
        'view'   => 'visualcomposer::visualcomposer',
        // (optionnal) Only those template will be available
        'templates' => [
            MyNewRowTemplate::class,
        ],
        // (optionnal) Pre-fill the visualcomposer with rows on new models
        'default' => [
            ['template' => MyNewRowTemplate::class],
        ],
        'wrapperAttributes' => [
            'class' => 'form-group col-md-12',
        ],
    ]);
}

public function store(PageRequest $request)
{
    $r = parent::store($request);
    $this->crud->entry->visualcomposer_main = $request->visualcomposer_main;
    return $r;
}

public function update(PageRequest $request)
{
    $r = parent::update($request);
    $this->crud->entry->visualcomposer_main = $request->visualcomposer_main;
    return $r;
}

In the model view:

@foreach($page->visualcomposer_main as $row)
    {!! $row->template::renderFront($row) !!}
@endforeach

Edit default config and templates

Run:

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Novius\Backpack\VisualComposer\VisualComposerServiceProvider"

...it will output the list of copied files than can now be overwritten, including the config, the backpack field type, the language files and 11 built-in templates:

• Article, an wysiwyg and inputs for the title, subtitle, date, author, CTA button and user-customizable colors
• BackgroundImageAndText, an uploadable picture with a caption and wysiwyg description
• ImageInBase64, a picture stored as base64 instead of file upload
• ImageInContainer, an uploadable picture, and that’s it
• LeftImageRightText, a picture and some text fields on two columns
• LeftTextRightImage, some text fields and a picture on two columns
• LeftTextRightQuote, some text fields and customizable background color, on two columns
• Minimal, an empty template with the minimum code for it to work
• Slideshow, a slider of unlimited pictures and their captions
• ThreecolumnsImageTextCta, three columns with a picture, a title, a wysiwyg and a CTA button on each of them
• TwoColumnsImageTextCta, the same as above, but on two columns instead of three

Check out how they are made, so you can customize them and build your own.

Steps to create a new Template

• Create a class for your template. This needs to extend Novius\Backpack\VisualComposer\Templates\RowTemplateAbstract

eg.

<?php

namespace App\Templates;

use Novius\Backpack\VisualComposer\Templates\RowTemplateAbstract;

class MyNewRowTemplate extends RowTemplateAbstract
{
    public static $name = 'my-new-row-template';
}

• Add the template classname to project/config/visualcomposer.php templates array

    // Installed and available templates to show in crud
    'templates' => [
        ...
        \App\Templates\MyNewRowTemplate::class,
        ...
    ],

• In project/resources/views/vendor/visualcomposer/templates there is a folder for each template. Create a folder with the classname eg. MyNewRowTemplate. The folder needs a crud.blade.php (for admin) and a front.blade.php (for frontend). See the other templates for examples.

eg In crud.blade.php:

<div class="row-template vc-my-new-row-template">
    <input type="hidden" class="content">
    <textarea class="some_field"
              placeholder="{{ trans('visualcomposer::my-new-row-template.crud.some_field') }}"></textarea>
</div>

@push('crud_fields_scripts')
    <script>
        window['vc_boot', {!!json_encode($template)!!}] = function ($row, content)
        {
            var $hiddenInput = $(".content[type=hidden]", $row);
            var fields = [
                'some_field',
            ];

            // Setup update routine
            var update = function () {
                var contents = [];
                fields.map(function (item) {
                    contents.push($('.'+item, $row).val());
                });
                $hiddenInput.val(
                    JSON.stringify(contents)
                );
            };

            // Parse and fill fields from json passed in params
            fields.map(function (item, index) {
                try {
                    $('.'+item, $row).val(JSON.parse(content)[index]);
                } catch(e) {
                    console.log('Empty or invalid json:', content);
                }
            });

            // Update hidden field on change
            $row.on(
                'change blur keyup',
                'input, textarea, select',
                update
            );

            // Initialize hidden form input in case we submit with no change
            update();
        }
    </script>
@endpush

• In project/resources/lang/vendor/visualcomposer/en/templates.php add an array element which defines what the template will appear as in the admin dropdown list, as well as terms within crud.blade.php eg.

<?php
...
    'my-new-row-template' => [
        'name' => 'My new row template',
        'crud' => [
            'some_field' => 'Some field for you to write something in',
        ],
    ],