Adds a new `admin.disableBlockName` property that allows you to disable
the blockName field entirely in the admin view. It defaults to false for
backwards compatibility.
The `localized` properly was not stripped out of referenced block fields, if any parent was localized. For normal fields, this is done in sanitizeConfig. As the same referenced block config can be used in both a localized and non-localized config, we are not able to strip it out inside sanitizeConfig by modifying the block config.
Instead, this PR had to bring back tedious logic to handle it everywhere the `field.localized` property is accessed. For backwards-compatibility, we need to keep the existing sanitizeConfig logic. In 4.0, we should remove it to benefit from better test coverage of runtime field.localized handling - for now, this is done for our test suite using the `PAYLOAD_DO_NOT_SANITIZE_LOCALIZED_PROPERTY` flag.
If you have multiple blocks that are used in multiple places, this can quickly blow up the size of your Payload Config. This will incur a performance hit, as more data is
1. sent to the client (=> bloated `ClientConfig` and large initial html) and
2. processed on the server (permissions are calculated every single time you navigate to a page - this iterates through all blocks you have defined, even if they're duplicative)
This can be optimized by defining your block **once** in your Payload Config, and just referencing the block slug whenever it's used, instead of passing the entire block config. To do this, the block can be defined in the `blocks` array of the Payload Config. The slug can then be passed to the `blockReferences` array in the Blocks Field - the `blocks` array has to be empty for compatibility reasons.
```ts
import { buildConfig } from 'payload'
import { lexicalEditor, BlocksFeature } from '@payloadcms/richtext-lexical'
// Payload Config
const config = buildConfig({
// Define the block once
blocks: [
{
slug: 'TextBlock',
fields: [
{
name: 'text',
type: 'text',
},
],
},
],
collections: [
{
slug: 'collection1',
fields: [
{
name: 'content',
type: 'blocks',
// Reference the block by slug
blockReferences: ['TextBlock'],
blocks: [], // Required to be empty, for compatibility reasons
},
],
},
{
slug: 'collection2',
fields: [
{
name: 'editor',
type: 'richText',
editor: lexicalEditor({
BlocksFeature({
// Same reference can be reused anywhere, even in the lexical editor, without incurred performance hit
blocks: ['TextBlock'],
})
})
},
],
},
],
})
```
## v4.0 Plans
In 4.0, we will remove the `blockReferences` property, and allow string block references to be passed directly to the blocks `property`. Essentially, we'd remove the `blocks` property and rename `blockReferences` to `blocks`.
The reason we opted to a new property in this PR is to avoid breaking changes. Allowing strings to be passed to the `blocks` property will prevent plugins that iterate through fields / blocks from compiling.
## PR Changes
- Testing: This PR introduces a plugin that automatically converts blocks to block references. This is done in the fields__blocks test suite, to run our existing test suite using block references.
- Block References support: Most changes are similar. Everywhere we iterate through blocks, we have to now do the following:
1. Check if `field.blockReferences` is provided. If so, only iterate through that.
2. Check if the block is an object (= actual block), or string
3. If it's a string, pull the actual block from the Payload Config or from `payload.blocks`.
The exception is config sanitization and block type generations. This PR optimizes them so that each block is only handled once, instead of every time the block is referenced.
## Benchmarks
60 Block fields, each block field having the same 600 Blocks.
### Before:
**Initial HTML:** 195 kB
**Generated types:** takes 11 minutes, 461,209 lines
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/11d49a4e-5414-4579-8050-e6346e552f56
### After:
**Initial HTML:** 73.6 kB
**Generated types:** takes 2 seconds, 35,810 lines
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3eab1a99-6c29-489d-add5-698df67780a3
### After Permissions Optimization (follow-up PR)
Initial HTML: 73.6 kB
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a909202e-45a8-4bf6-9a38-8c85813f1312
## Future Plans
1. This PR does not yet deduplicate block references during permissions calculation. We'll optimize that in a separate PR, as this one is already large enough
2. The same optimization can be done to deduplicate fields. One common use-case would be link field groups that may be referenced in multiple entities, outside of blocks. We might explore adding a new `fieldReferences` property, that allows you to reference those same `config.blocks`.
Currently, Payload renders all custom components on initial compile of
the admin panel. This is problematic for two key reasons:
1. Custom components do not receive contextual data, i.e. fields do not
receive their field data, edit views do not receive their document data,
etc.
2. Components are unnecessarily rendered before they are used
This was initially required to support React Server Components within
the Payload Admin Panel for two key reasons:
1. Fields can be dynamically rendered within arrays, blocks, etc.
2. Documents can be recursively rendered within a "drawer" UI, i.e.
relationship fields
3. Payload supports server/client component composition
In order to achieve this, components need to be rendered on the server
and passed as "slots" to the client. Currently, the pattern for this is
to render custom server components in the "client config". Then when a
view or field is needed to be rendered, we first check the client config
for a "pre-rendered" component, otherwise render our client-side
fallback component.
But for the reasons listed above, this pattern doesn't exactly make
custom server components very useful within the Payload Admin Panel,
which is where this PR comes in. Now, instead of pre-rendering all
components on initial compile, we're able to render custom components
_on demand_, only as they are needed.
To achieve this, we've established [this
pattern](https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/pull/8481) of React
Server Functions in the Payload Admin Panel. With Server Functions, we
can iterate the Payload Config and return JSX through React's
`text/x-component` content-type. This means we're able to pass
contextual props to custom components, such as data for fields and
views.
## Breaking Changes
1. Add the following to your root layout file, typically located at
`(app)/(payload)/layout.tsx`:
```diff
/* THIS FILE WAS GENERATED AUTOMATICALLY BY PAYLOAD. */
/* DO NOT MODIFY IT BECAUSE IT COULD BE REWRITTEN AT ANY TIME. */
+ import type { ServerFunctionClient } from 'payload'
import config from '@payload-config'
import { RootLayout } from '@payloadcms/next/layouts'
import { handleServerFunctions } from '@payloadcms/next/utilities'
import React from 'react'
import { importMap } from './admin/importMap.js'
import './custom.scss'
type Args = {
children: React.ReactNode
}
+ const serverFunctions: ServerFunctionClient = async function (args) {
+ 'use server'
+ return handleServerFunctions({
+ ...args,
+ config,
+ importMap,
+ })
+ }
const Layout = ({ children }: Args) => (
<RootLayout
config={config}
importMap={importMap}
+ serverFunctions={serverFunctions}
>
{children}
</RootLayout>
)
export default Layout
```
2. If you were previously posting to the `/api/form-state` endpoint, it
no longer exists. Instead, you'll need to invoke the `form-state` Server
Function, which can be done through the _new_ `getFormState` utility:
```diff
- import { getFormState } from '@payloadcms/ui'
- const { state } = await getFormState({
- apiRoute: '',
- body: {
- // ...
- },
- serverURL: ''
- })
+ const { getFormState } = useServerFunctions()
+
+ const { state } = await getFormState({
+ // ...
+ })
```
## Breaking Changes
```diff
- useFieldProps()
- useCellProps()
```
More details coming soon.
---------
Co-authored-by: Alessio Gravili <alessio@gravili.de>
Co-authored-by: Jarrod Flesch <jarrodmflesch@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: James <james@trbl.design>
