Unable to add new form field

[stuartmcgill]

I've just started using Twill this week for a new project and am trying to add a new content type. I've been following the simple page builder guide.

After completing that guide, I'm now trying to add my own custom fields to a new content type ('newsItems'). As far as I can tell from the docs, all I need to do to add e.g. 'Author' and 'Article date' fields is to update the getForm() method:

public function getForm(TwillModelContract $model): Form
    {
        $form = parent::getForm($model);

        $form->add(
            Input::make()->name('description')->label('Description')->translatable()
        );

        $form->add(
            Medias::make()->name('cover')->label('Cover image')
        );

        $form->add(
            DatePicker::make()->name('article_date')->withoutTime()
        );

        $form->add(
            Input::make()->name('author')->label('Author')->translatable()
        );

        $form->add(
            BlockEditor::make()
        );

        return $form;
    }

I don't need to create any migrations, the actual data will just be stored in news_item_revisions.payload as the latest version?

I'm really struggling to get this to work. The data occasionally gets saved i.e. this query brings back the data I saved:

SELECT id, JSON_EXTRACT(payload, '$.author'), JSON_EXTRACT(payload, '$.article_date') from news_item_revisions

But my custom data (author, article date) is never displayed when I refresh the CMS editor, and so with the next save it gets wiped (unlike the description field, which behaves properly).

I think I must have missed something pretty fundamental...

[ifox]

Hi @stuartmcgill, each field you add at the form level needs a column in your main model table and it needs to be added to the model $fillable array as well. When working with blocks, you don't need any migration, but outside of blocks, data is stored using standard Laravel Eloquent models and attributes.

[stuartmcgill]

Thank you very much, it's working after adding the column and updating $fillable. I was getting confused by the Cover image in the guide which (because it's a related image) doesn't need either of these things.

[ifox]

Each field documentation page is indicating the migration needs if any, eg. https://twillcms.com/docs/form-fields/input.html#:~:text=A%20migration%20to,1

[ifox]

Fields like medias, files, browsers, and block editors do not need migrations because they use polymorphic tables from Twill (twill_mediables, twill_fileables, twill_related, twill_blocks)

[YahyaS3d]

Ensure Field Names Match Database:
Verify that the database table associated with your content type (news_item_revisions) has columns named author and article_date to store the custom data.