Matrix Blocks

If you’ve ever worked with a hairball of content and markup managed in an increasingly-fragile WYSIWYG field, you’re probably going to like Matrix blocks.

Matrix blocks are groupings of fields an editor can use to build and rearrange content. They can be critical in supporting flexible, customizable content for an editor that’s balanced with the kind of discrete, well-modeled content a developer wants to work with.

# Querying Matrix Blocks

You can fetch Matrix blocks in your templates or PHP code using Matrix block queries.

Twig
PHP

{# Create a new Matrix block query #}
{% set myMatrixBlockQuery = craft.matrixBlocks() %}

Once you’ve created a Matrix block query, you can set parameters on it to narrow down the results, and then execute it by calling .all(). An array of MatrixBlock (opens new window) objects will be returned.

See Element Queries to learn about how element queries work.

# Example

We can display content from all the Matrix blocks of an element by doing the following:

Create a Matrix block query with craft.matrixBlocks().
Set the owner, fieldId, and type parameters on it.
Fetch the Matrix blocks with .all().
Loop through the Matrix blocks using a for (opens new window) tag to output the contents.

{# Create a Matrix block query with the 'owner', 'fieldId', and 'type' parameters #}
{% set myMatrixBlockQuery = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .owner(myEntry)
  .fieldId(10)
  .type('text') %}

{# Fetch the Matrix blocks #}
{% set matrixBlocks = myMatrixBlockQuery.all() %}

{# Display their contents #}
{% for block in matrixBlocks %}
  <p>{{ block.text }}</p>
{% endfor %}

In order for the returned Matrix block(s) to be populated with their custom field content, you will need to either set the fieldId or id parameter.

# Parameters

Matrix block queries support the following parameters:

Param	Description
afterPopulate	Performs any post-population processing on elements.
allowOwnerDrafts	Narrows the query results based on whether the Matrix blocks’ owners are drafts.
allowOwnerRevisions	Narrows the query results based on whether the Matrix blocks’ owners are revisions.
andRelatedTo	Narrows the query results to only Matrix blocks that are related to certain other elements.
asArray	Causes the query to return matching Matrix blocks as arrays of data, rather than MatrixBlock (opens new window) objects.
cache	Enables query cache for this Query.
clearCachedResult	Clears the cached result (opens new window).
dateCreated	Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ creation dates.
dateUpdated	Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ last-updated dates.
field	Narrows the query results based on the field the Matrix blocks belong to.
fieldId	Narrows the query results based on the field the Matrix blocks belong to, per the fields’ IDs.
fixedOrder	Causes the query results to be returned in the order specified by id.
id	Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ IDs.
ignorePlaceholders	Causes the query to return matching Matrix blocks as they are stored in the database, ignoring matching placeholder elements that were set by craft\services\Elements::setPlaceholderElement() (opens new window).
inReverse	Causes the query results to be returned in reverse order.
limit	Determines the number of Matrix blocks that should be returned.
offset	Determines how many Matrix blocks should be skipped in the results.
orderBy	Determines the order that the Matrix blocks should be returned in. (If empty, defaults to `sortOrder ASC`.)
owner	Sets the ownerId and siteId parameters based on a given element.
ownerId	Narrows the query results based on the owner element of the Matrix blocks, per the owners’ IDs.
preferSites	If unique is set, this determines which site should be selected when querying multi-site elements.
prepareSubquery	Prepares the element query and returns its subquery (which determines what elements will be returned).
primaryOwner	Sets the primaryOwnerId and siteId parameters based on a given element.
primaryOwnerId	Narrows the query results based on the primary owner element of the Matrix blocks, per the owners’ IDs.
relatedTo	Narrows the query results to only Matrix blocks that are related to certain other elements.
search	Narrows the query results to only Matrix blocks that match a search query.
site	Determines which site(s) the Matrix blocks should be queried in.
siteId	Determines which site(s) the Matrix blocks should be queried in, per the site’s ID.
siteSettingsId	Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ IDs in the `elements_sites` table.
status	Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ statuses.
trashed	Narrows the query results to only Matrix blocks that have been soft-deleted.
type	Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ block types.
typeId	Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ block types, per the types’ IDs.
uid	Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ UIDs.
unique	Determines whether only elements with unique IDs should be returned by the query.
with	Causes the query to return matching Matrix blocks eager-loaded with related elements.

# `afterPopulate`

Performs any post-population processing on elements.

# `allowOwnerDrafts`

Narrows the query results based on whether the Matrix blocks’ owners are drafts.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches Matrix blocks…
`true`	which can belong to a draft.
`false`	which cannot belong to a draft.

# `allowOwnerRevisions`

Narrows the query results based on whether the Matrix blocks’ owners are revisions.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches Matrix blocks…
`true`	which can belong to a revision.
`false`	which cannot belong to a revision.

# `andRelatedTo`

Narrows the query results to only Matrix blocks that are related to certain other elements.

See Relations (opens new window) for a full explanation of how to work with this parameter.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch all Matrix blocks that are related to myCategoryA and myCategoryB #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .relatedTo(myCategoryA)
  .andRelatedTo(myCategoryB)
  .all() %}

# `asArray`

Causes the query to return matching Matrix blocks as arrays of data, rather than MatrixBlock (opens new window) objects.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks as arrays #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .asArray()
  .all() %}

# `cache`

Enables query cache for this Query.

# `clearCachedResult`

Clears the cached result (opens new window).

# `dateCreated`

Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ creation dates.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches Matrix blocks…
`'>= 2018-04-01'`	that were created on or after 2018-04-01.
`'< 2018-05-01'`	that were created before 2018-05-01.
`['and', '>= 2018-04-04', '< 2018-05-01']`	that were created between 2018-04-01 and 2018-05-01.
`now`/`today`/`tomorrow`/`yesterday`	that were created at midnight of the specified relative date.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks created last month #}
{% set start = date('first day of last month')|atom %}
{% set end = date('first day of this month')|atom %}

{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .dateCreated(['and', ">= #{start}", "< #{end}"])
  .all() %}

# `dateUpdated`

Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ last-updated dates.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches Matrix blocks…
`'>= 2018-04-01'`	that were updated on or after 2018-04-01.
`'< 2018-05-01'`	that were updated before 2018-05-01.
`['and', '>= 2018-04-04', '< 2018-05-01']`	that were updated between 2018-04-01 and 2018-05-01.
`now`/`today`/`tomorrow`/`yesterday`	that were updated at midnight of the specified relative date.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks updated in the last week #}
{% set lastWeek = date('1 week ago')|atom %}

{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .dateUpdated(">= #{lastWeek}")
  .all() %}

# `field`

Narrows the query results based on the field the Matrix blocks belong to.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches Matrix blocks…
`'foo'`	in a field with a handle of `foo`.
`'not foo'`	not in a field with a handle of `foo`.
`['foo', 'bar']`	in a field with a handle of `foo` or `bar`.
`['not', 'foo', 'bar']`	not in a field with a handle of `foo` or `bar`.
a craft\fields\Matrix (opens new window) object	in a field represented by the object.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks in the Foo field #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .field('foo')
  .all() %}

# `fieldId`

Narrows the query results based on the field the Matrix blocks belong to, per the fields’ IDs.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches Matrix blocks…
`1`	in a field with an ID of 1.
`'not 1'`	not in a field with an ID of 1.
`[1, 2]`	in a field with an ID of 1 or 2.
`['not', 1, 2]`	not in a field with an ID of 1 or 2.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks in the field with an ID of 1 #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .fieldId(1)
  .all() %}

# `fixedOrder`

Causes the query results to be returned in the order specified by id.

If no IDs were passed to id, setting this to true will result in an empty result set.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks in a specific order #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .id([1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
  .fixedOrder()
  .all() %}

# `id`

Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ IDs.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches Matrix blocks…
`1`	with an ID of 1.
`'not 1'`	not with an ID of 1.
`[1, 2]`	with an ID of 1 or 2.
`['not', 1, 2]`	not with an ID of 1 or 2.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch the Matrix block by its ID #}
{% set MatrixBlock = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .id(1)
  .one() %}

This can be combined with fixedOrder if you want the results to be returned in a specific order.

# `ignorePlaceholders`

Causes the query to return matching Matrix blocks as they are stored in the database, ignoring matching placeholder elements that were set by craft\services\Elements::setPlaceholderElement() (opens new window).

# `inReverse`

Causes the query results to be returned in reverse order.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks in reverse #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .inReverse()
  .all() %}

# `limit`

Determines the number of Matrix blocks that should be returned.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch up to 10 Matrix blocks  #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .limit(10)
  .all() %}

# `offset`

Determines how many Matrix blocks should be skipped in the results.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch all Matrix blocks except for the first 3 #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .offset(3)
  .all() %}

# `orderBy`

Determines the order that the Matrix blocks should be returned in. (If empty, defaults to sortOrder ASC.)

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch all Matrix blocks in order of date created #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .orderBy('dateCreated ASC')
  .all() %}

# `owner`

Sets the ownerId and siteId parameters based on a given element.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks created for this entry #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .owner(myEntry)
  .all() %}

# `ownerId`

Narrows the query results based on the owner element of the Matrix blocks, per the owners’ IDs.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches Matrix blocks…
`1`	created for an element with an ID of 1.
`'not 1'`	not created for an element with an ID of 1.
`[1, 2]`	created for an element with an ID of 1 or 2.
`['not', 1, 2]`	not created for an element with an ID of 1 or 2.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks created for an element with an ID of 1 #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .ownerId(1)
  .all() %}

# `preferSites`

If unique is set, this determines which site should be selected when querying multi-site elements.

For example, if element “Foo” exists in Site A and Site B, and element “Bar” exists in Site B and Site C, and this is set to ['c', 'b', 'a'], then Foo will be returned for Site B, and Bar will be returned for Site C.

If this isn’t set, then preference goes to the current site.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch unique Matrix blocks from Site A, or Site B if they don’t exist in Site A #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .site('*')
  .unique()
  .preferSites(['a', 'b'])
  .all() %}

# `prepareSubquery`

Prepares the element query and returns its subquery (which determines what elements will be returned).

# `primaryOwner`

Sets the primaryOwnerId and siteId parameters based on a given element.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks created for this entry #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .primaryOwner(myEntry)
  .all() %}

# `primaryOwnerId`

Narrows the query results based on the primary owner element of the Matrix blocks, per the owners’ IDs.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches Matrix blocks…
`1`	created for an element with an ID of 1.
`'not 1'`	not created for an element with an ID of 1.
`[1, 2]`	created for an element with an ID of 1 or 2.
`['not', 1, 2]`	not created for an element with an ID of 1 or 2.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks created for an element with an ID of 1 #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .primaryOwnerId(1)
  .all() %}

# `relatedTo`

Narrows the query results to only Matrix blocks that are related to certain other elements.

See Relations (opens new window) for a full explanation of how to work with this parameter.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch all Matrix blocks that are related to myCategory #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .relatedTo(myCategory)
  .all() %}

# `search`

Narrows the query results to only Matrix blocks that match a search query.

See Searching (opens new window) for a full explanation of how to work with this parameter.

Twig
PHP

{# Get the search query from the 'q' query string param #}
{% set searchQuery = craft.app.request.getQueryParam('q') %}

{# Fetch all Matrix blocks that match the search query #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .search(searchQuery)
  .all() %}

# `site`

Determines which site(s) the Matrix blocks should be queried in.

The current site will be used by default.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches Matrix blocks…
`'foo'`	from the site with a handle of `foo`.
`['foo', 'bar']`	from a site with a handle of `foo` or `bar`.
`['not', 'foo', 'bar']`	not in a site with a handle of `foo` or `bar`.
a craft\models\Site (opens new window) object	from the site represented by the object.
`'*'`	from any site.

If multiple sites are specified, elements that belong to multiple sites will be returned multiple times. If you only want unique elements to be returned, use unique in conjunction with this.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks from the Foo site #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .site('foo')
  .all() %}

# `siteId`

Determines which site(s) the Matrix blocks should be queried in, per the site’s ID.

The current site will be used by default.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches Matrix blocks…
`1`	from the site with an ID of `1`.
`[1, 2]`	from a site with an ID of `1` or `2`.
`['not', 1, 2]`	not in a site with an ID of `1` or `2`.
`'*'`	from any site.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks from the site with an ID of 1 #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .siteId(1)
  .all() %}

# `siteSettingsId`

Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ IDs in the elements_sites table.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches Matrix blocks…
`1`	with an `elements_sites` ID of 1.
`'not 1'`	not with an `elements_sites` ID of 1.
`[1, 2]`	with an `elements_sites` ID of 1 or 2.
`['not', 1, 2]`	not with an `elements_sites` ID of 1 or 2.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch the Matrix block by its ID in the elements_sites table #}
{% set MatrixBlock = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .siteSettingsId(1)
  .one() %}

# `status`

Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ statuses.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches Matrix blocks…
`'enabled'` (default)	that are enabled.
`'disabled'`	that are disabled.
`['not', 'disabled']`	that are not disabled.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch disabled Matrix blocks #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .status('disabled')
  .all() %}

# `trashed`

Narrows the query results to only Matrix blocks that have been soft-deleted.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch trashed Matrix blocks #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .trashed()
  .all() %}

# `type`

Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ block types.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches Matrix blocks…
`'foo'`	of a type with a handle of `foo`.
`'not foo'`	not of a type with a handle of `foo`.
`['foo', 'bar']`	of a type with a handle of `foo` or `bar`.
`['not', 'foo', 'bar']`	not of a type with a handle of `foo` or `bar`.
an MatrixBlockType (opens new window) object	of a type represented by the object.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks with a Foo block type #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = myEntry.myMatrixField
  .type('foo')
  .all() %}

# `typeId`

Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ block types, per the types’ IDs.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches Matrix blocks…
`1`	of a type with an ID of 1.
`'not 1'`	not of a type with an ID of 1.
`[1, 2]`	of a type with an ID of 1 or 2.
`['not', 1, 2]`	not of a type with an ID of 1 or 2.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks of the block type with an ID of 1 #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = myEntry.myMatrixField
  .typeId(1)
  .all() %}

# `uid`

Narrows the query results based on the Matrix blocks’ UIDs.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch the Matrix block by its UID #}
{% set MatrixBlock = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .uid('xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx')
  .one() %}

# `unique`

Determines whether only elements with unique IDs should be returned by the query.

This should be used when querying elements from multiple sites at the same time, if “duplicate” results is not desired.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch unique Matrix blocks across all sites #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .site('*')
  .unique()
  .all() %}

# `with`

Causes the query to return matching Matrix blocks eager-loaded with related elements.

See Eager-Loading Elements (opens new window) for a full explanation of how to work with this parameter.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch Matrix blocks eager-loaded with the "Related" field’s relations #}
{% set MatrixBlocks = craft.matrixBlocks()
  .with(['related'])
  .all() %}

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Matrix Blocks

# Querying Matrix Blocks

# Example

# Parameters

# afterPopulate

# allowOwnerDrafts

# allowOwnerRevisions

# andRelatedTo

# asArray

# cache

# clearCachedResult

# dateCreated

# dateUpdated

# field

# fieldId

# fixedOrder

# id

# ignorePlaceholders

# inReverse

# limit

# offset

# orderBy

# owner

# ownerId

# preferSites

# prepareSubquery

# primaryOwner

# primaryOwnerId

# relatedTo

# search

# site

# siteId

# siteSettingsId

# status

# trashed

# type

# typeId

# uid

# unique

# with

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# `afterPopulate`

# `allowOwnerDrafts`

# `allowOwnerRevisions`

# `andRelatedTo`

# `asArray`

# `cache`

# `clearCachedResult`

# `dateCreated`

# `dateUpdated`

# `field`

# `fieldId`

# `fixedOrder`

# `id`

# `ignorePlaceholders`

# `inReverse`

# `limit`

# `offset`

# `orderBy`

# `owner`

# `ownerId`

# `preferSites`

# `prepareSubquery`

# `primaryOwner`

# `primaryOwnerId`

# `relatedTo`

# `search`

# `site`

# `siteId`

# `siteSettingsId`

# `status`

# `trashed`

# `type`

# `typeId`

# `uid`

# `unique`

# `with`