Form Alter

Web development, particularly Drupal development, stretches beyond mere creation of websites. It plunges into the realm of modifying existing forms on Drupal entities to suit specific requirements. This is done using a technique referred to as Form Alter.

The ‘Form Alter’ is a Drupal hook, and just like other hooks, it lies at the heart of Drupal’s philosophy. They allow Drupal developers to interact with, and modify, the behavior and output of Drupal’s core functionality. By leveraging the hook form alter, developers can manage customization of form attributes based on individual necessities. The form alter hook can be implemented in either a module or a theme.

While this might sound a tad overwhelming, it actually isn’t. Here, let’s walk through an example together. In the hypothetical situation, we want to modify the user login form to include a ‘Remember Me’ checkbox.

function MODULENAME_form_user_login_alter(&$form, &$form_state, $form_id) {
  $form['remember_me'] = array(
      '#type' => 'checkbox',
      '#title' => t('Remember me'),
      '#default_value' => user_cookie_save(array()),
      '#weight' => 100,
  );
}

In the above code, MODULENAME is the name of your module, and &form refers to the form that we’re altering. We have added a new form element ‘remember_me’ with type ‘checkbox’. The attribute ‘#default_value’ uses a function ‘user_cookie_save’ to save the functionality of this checkbox.

Beyond this example, Form Alter can be used to manipulate a variety of form aspects like adding, removing or rearranging form elements, changing default values, adding custom validation or submit functions, and more. All these serve to provide a more tailored experience to Drupal users.

An essential tip while working with Form Alter is maintaining strong communication lines with your design and project management teams. This is because any form alteration impacts site design and project outcomes. Regular updates can ensure all stakeholders stay abreast and any potential issues are promptly addressed.

Think of Form Alter as your unique way of communicating with Drupal forms: You instruct them, change them, and ensure they suit your specific needs, rendering Drupal’s flexibility and adaptability in full glory. Always remember, Form Alter is a testament to Drupal’s credo of ‘Get elegantly out of the way’, allowing you to sculpt the Drupal experience in ways limited only by your creativity.