SHS-5674: Help text for link fields is confusing

[codechefmarc]

READY FOR REVIEW

Summary

• Creates dynamic help text for link fields using the default widget (not Linkit widgets) based on internal vs external requirements and regular vs menu usage.

Need Review By (Date)

2025-01-08

Urgency

low

Steps to Test

1. Login to the site as an admin

Testing internal and external links

1. Add a event
2. Under Map Link, verify that the URL help text is: "Start typing the title of a piece of content to select it. You can also enter an internal path such as /about/contact-us or an external URL such as https://www.stanford.edu."

Testing external links only

1. Add a course
2. Under Course Link, verify that the help text is: "This must be an external URL such as https://www.stanford.edu."

Testing menu items and shortcuts

1. Visit the main navigation list /admin/structure/menu/manage/main
2. Edit an existing link or create a new link
3. Verify that the Link help text is: "Start typing the title of a piece of content to select it. You can also enter an internal path such as /about/contact-us or an external URL such as https://www.stanford.edu. Enter to link to the front page. Enter to display a menu item that is only text without a link."

6. Visit the shortcuts overview page /admin/config/user-interface/shortcut/manage/default/customize
7. Edit an existing or create a new shortcut
8. Verify the Path help text is: "This must be an internal path such as /about/contact-us You can also start typing the title of a piece of content to select it. Enter to link to the front page. Enter to display a menu item that is only text without a link."

Note: I did not find a field that used internal links only that wasn't the shortcut. So, to test, we can create a dummy field in a content type and set it to use internal links only. I did test this locally and it works fine:

PR Checklist

• PR Checklist
• Humsci Basic PR Checklist

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[cienvaras]

@codechefmarc Looks great, just a minor code improvement suggestion.

[codechefmarc]

Ready to re-test.

[cienvaras]

@codechefmarc LGTM, thanks for the fixes.

@ahughes3 Ready for you to review.

[ahughes3]

Approved!

[pookmish]

Would this be possible via this contrib module

[codechefmarc]

Would this be possible via this contrib module

@pookmish - This module would work for content entities, but not for menu items or shortcuts as the AC originally intended. Additionally, if we went this route, it would create a lot more config and each link field would have to be edited separately to make the change. If those link fields change what kinds of links they accept (internal, external, or both) then the help text would have to be updated. With the current approach, this is handled dynamically for any link field.

Let me know how you would like us to proceed. Thanks!

[pookmish]

Ok, it's one of those tomato potato situations. I just wanted to bring up the option. I'm ok with this solution.