Standard form field and parameter types

There are many different standard parameter and form field types supported in the Joomla Framework for all extension types (templates, components, modules and plugins). This section gives a brief description of each form field type, in alphabetical order. Full details of each form field type are given on the following pages.

Form fields and the JForm class were introduced in Joomla 1.6. Prior to that these standard types were referred to as parameter types and were handled by the, now deprecated, JParameter class.

Parameter	Form field	Description
	accesslevel	provides a drop down list of viewing access levels.
	cachehandler	provides a list of available cache handling options.
calendar	calendar	provides a text box for entry of a date. An icon next to the text box provides a link to a pop-up calendar, which can also be used to enter the date value.
category		provides a drop down list of categories from a given section.
	category	provides a drop down list of categories from a given extension.
	checkbox	provides a single checkbox to be checked or unchecked.
	checkboxes	provides unlimited checkboxes that can be used for multi-select.
	combo	provides a combo box field.
	componentlayout	provides a grouped list of core and template alternate layouts for a component item.
	contentlanguage	provides a list of installed content languages for use in conjunction with the language switcher plugin.
	editor	provides an editor area field
editors	editors	provides a drop down list of the available WYSIWYG editors.
	file
filelist	filelist	provides a drop down list of files from a specified directory.
folderlist	folderlist	provides a drop down list of folders from a specified directory.
	groupedlist	provides a drop down list of items organized into groups.
helpsites	helpsite	provides a drop down list of the help sites for your Joomla installation.
hidden	hidden	provides a hidden field for saving a parameter whose value cannot be altered directly by a user in the Administrator (it can be altered in code or by editing the params.ini file).
imagelist	imagelist	provides a drop down list of image files in a specified directory.
	integer	provides a drop down list of integers between a minimum and maximum.
languages	language	provides a drop down list of the installed languages for the Front-end or Back-end.
list	list	provides a drop down list of custom-defined entries.
	media	provides modal access to the media manager for insertion of images with upload for users with appropriate permissions.
menu	menu	provides a drop down list of the available menus from your Joomla site.
menuitem	menuitem	provides a drop down list of the available menu items from your Joomla site.
	modulelayout	provides a list of alternative layout for a module grouped by core and template.
password	password	provides a text box for entry of a password. The password characters will be obscured as they are entered.
radio	radio	provides radio buttons to select different options.
	rules	provides a matrix of group by action options for managing access control. Display depends on context.
	sessionhandler	provides a drop down list of session handler options.
section		provides a drop down list of the sections from your Joomla site. Sections have been removed in favour of subcategories in Joomla 1.6 onwards.
spacer	spacer	provides a visual separator between parameter field elements. It is purely a visual aid and no parameter value is stored.
sql	sql	provides a drop down list of entries obtained by running a query on the Joomla Database. The first results column returned by the query provides the values for the drop down box.
	templatestyle	provides a drop down list of template styles.
text	text	provides a text box for data entry.
textarea	textarea	provides a text area for entry of multi-line text.
timezone	timezone	provides a drop down list of time zones.
	user	provides a modal list of users.
usergroup		provides a drop down list of user groups.
	usergroup	provides an array of check boxes allowing multi-select.