# Advanced Payload CMS: Building Custom Features and Plugins
This article explores advanced features and customization options in Payload CMS, focusing on building custom plugins, hooks, and field types.
## Custom Field Types
Creating custom field types allows you to extend Payload’s functionality with specialized input types.
“`typescript
// fields/ColorPicker.ts
import { Field } from ‘payload/types’;
export const ColorPickerField: Field = {
name: ‘colorPicker’,
type: ‘text’,
admin: {
components: {
Field: ({ value, onChange }) => {
return (
<div>
<input
type=”color”
value={value || ‘#000000’}
onChange={(e) => onChange(e.target.value)}
/>
<input
type=”text”
value={value || ‘#000000’}
onChange={(e) => onChange(e.target.value)}
/>
</div>
);
},
},
},
};
// Usage in collection
{
name: ‘brandColor’,
type: ‘text’,
admin: {
components: {
Field: ColorPickerField,
},
},
}
“`
## Custom Hooks and Middleware
### Collection Hooks
“`typescript
// hooks/beforeChange.ts
import { CollectionBeforeChangeHook } from ‘payload/types’;
export const generateSlug: CollectionBeforeChangeHook = async ({
data,
req,
operation,
}) => {
if (operation === ‘create’ || operation === ‘update’) {
if (data.title && !data.slug) {
data.slug = data.title
.toLowerCase()
.replace(/[^a-z0-9]+/g, ‘-‘)
.replace(/(^-|-$)/g, ”);
}
}
return data;
};
// collections/Posts.ts
import { generateSlug } from ‘../hooks/beforeChange’;
export const Posts: CollectionConfig = {
slug: ‘posts’,
hooks: {
beforeChange: [generateSlug],
},
fields: [
{
name: ‘title’,
type: ‘text’,
},
{
name: ‘slug’,
type: ‘text’,
admin: {
readOnly: true,
},
},
],
};
“`
## Custom Admin Components
### Dashboard Widgets
“`typescript
// components/AdminDashboard.tsx
import React from ‘react’;
import { Card } from ‘payload/components’;
const DashboardStats = () => {
const [stats, setStats] = React.useState({
posts: 0,
users: 0,
});
React.useEffect(() => {
const fetchStats = async () => {
const response = await fetch(‘/api/stats’);
const data = await response.json();
setStats(data);
};
fetchStats();
}, []);
return (
<Card>
<h2>Site Statistics</h2>
<div className=”stats-grid”>
<div>
<h3>Total Posts</h3>
<p>{stats.posts}</p>
</div>
<div>
<h3>Total Users</h3>
<p>{stats.users}</p>
</div>
</div>
</Card>
);
};
// payload.config.ts
export default buildConfig({
admin: {
components: {
afterDashboard: [DashboardStats],
},
},
});
“`
## Custom Authentication
“`typescript
// auth/customAuth.ts
import { AuthStrategy } from ‘payload/auth’;
const customAuthStrategy: AuthStrategy = {
verify: async ({ password, user }) => {
// Custom password verification logic
const isValid = await verifyPassword(password, user.password);
return isValid;
},
generateToken: async ({ user }) => {
// Custom token generation
return generateCustomToken(user);
},
validateToken: async ({ token }) => {
// Custom token validation
return validateCustomToken(token);
},
};
// collections/Users.ts
export const Users: CollectionConfig = {
slug: ‘users’,
auth: {
strategy: customAuthStrategy,
tokenExpiration: 7200, // 2 hours
},
};
“`
## Advanced Access Control
“`typescript
// access/complexAccess.ts
import { Access } from ‘payload/types’;
export const complexAccess: Access = async ({ req: { user } }) => {
if (user?.roles?.includes(‘admin’)) return true;
if (user?.roles?.includes(‘editor’)) {
return {
or: [
{
‘status.equals’: ‘draft’,
},
{
‘author.equals’: user.id,
},
],
};
}
return {
and: [
{
‘status.equals’: ‘published’,
},
{
‘visibility.equals’: ‘public’,
},
],
};
};
// collections/Posts.ts
import { complexAccess } from ‘../access/complexAccess’;
export const Posts: CollectionConfig = {
slug: ‘posts’,
access: {
read: complexAccess,
update: ({ req: { user } }) => {
if (user?.roles?.includes(‘admin’)) return true;
return {
‘author.equals’: user?.id,
};
},
},
};
“`
## Plugin Development
“`typescript
// plugins/seoPlugin.ts
import { Plugin } from ‘payload/types’;
export const seoPlugin: Plugin = {
name: ‘seo’,
collections: {
modify: (collections) => {
return collections.map((collection) => {
if (collection.slug === ‘posts’) {
return {
…collection,
fields: [
…collection.fields,
{
name: ‘seo’,
type: ‘group’,
fields: [
{
name: ‘title’,
type: ‘text’,
},
{
name: ‘description’,
type: ‘textarea’,
},
{
name: ‘keywords’,
type: ‘array’,
fields: [
{
name: ‘keyword’,
type: ‘text’,
},
],
},
],
},
],
};
}
return collection;
});
},
},
};
// payload.config.ts
import { seoPlugin } from ‘./plugins/seoPlugin’;
export default buildConfig({
plugins: [seoPlugin],
});
“`
## Performance Optimization
1. **Index Configuration**
“`typescript
// collections/Posts.ts
export const Posts: CollectionConfig = {
slug: ‘posts’,
indexes: [
{
name: ‘status_and_date’,
fields: [
{
name: ‘status’,
order: ‘asc’,
},
{
name: ‘publishedDate’,
order: ‘desc’,
},
],
},
],
};
“`
2. **Pagination and Filtering**
“`typescript
const posts = await payload.find({
collection: ‘posts’,
limit: 10,
page: 1,
where: {
and: [
{
‘status.equals’: ‘published’,
},
{
‘publishedDate.less_than’: new Date().toISOString(),
},
],
},
sort: ‘-publishedDate’,
});
“`
This article covers advanced topics in Payload CMS development, providing developers with the tools and knowledge to build sophisticated content management solutions.