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Version: v0.2 (next)

Basic Usage

Using Flare is simple: define a list, add filters, and display it on your page.

The 5-Step Setup​

  1. Create a List Configuration: Go to Layout → Listings  FLARE in the Contao backend.
  2. Configure the List: Select the List Type (e.g., News, Events, Data Container) and configure the relevant fields.
  3. Add Filter Elements: Each list is an archive of filters. Add filters as children to your list.
  4. Display the List: Add a Flare List View content element to any page and select your list configuration.
  5. Add a Reader (Optional): If you need detail pages, add a Flare Reader content element to a separate page and select your list configuration.
    • Reader-URLs: If you have a detail page, and you want flare to automatically generate URLs to it, return to the list configuration and specify the details page.

Core Concepts​

1. List Configuration (The "Specification")​

A list configuration is the static definition of your data source. It determines:

  • Which database table to use.
  • Which filter elements are available.
  • Default sorting and pagination settings.
  • The "auto_item" field used for detail page URLs.

2. Interactive Lists​

A Flare List View content element uses the InteractiveContext. This automatically:

  • Generates a Symfony filter form.
  • Handles pagination and URL parameters.
  • Processes user input to filter the list in real-time.

3. Detail Pages (Readers)​

The Flare Reader content element uses the auto_item feature to display a single record.

  • Flare automatically resolves the record based on the URL alias.
  • It provides metadata (Page Title, Description) via events.

4. What is an "Intrinsic" Filter?​

In Flare, a filter can be marked as Intrinsic:

  • Checked: The filter is applied automatically (e.g., published = 1) and is hidden from the user.
  • Unchecked: The filter is visible in the frontend form, allowing the user to interact with it.

Example: News List​

  1. Create a list of type News, which automatically uses the tl_news table.
  2. Add an Intrinsic filter, e.g., a published filter using the published filter type.
  3. Add a Visible filter, e.g., a news archives filter using the archive filter type.
  4. Add the content element to a page.
  5. Flare will show a dropdown of news archives and list only published the news articles belonging to the selected archive.

In case of the the News list type, a published filter is added by default. If you add your own published filter, it will replace the default one.

Besides News and the generic Data Container type, Flare ships an Events list type for tl_calendar_events, which becomes available when the Contao calendar bundle is installed. See Integrations for details.