TwistyPlugin

A "twisty" is an interface toggle control to show and hide content.

TwistyPlugin gives you several options to control the appearance of a twisty:

• use link text or buttons
• position an icon left or right
• remember the state at the next visit of the page
• start the Twisty open or closed
• start the Twisty open or closed for the first visit
• use a span or div for the content
• set a class for the content span or div

Twisty has a fallback mechanism in case JavaScript is not available: all content is displayed and the control buttons are hidden.

Usage examples

Triad

A Twisty consists of 3 elements:

1. Show button
2. Hide button
3. Collapsing content ('Toggle')

The typical TwistyPlugin triad will look like this (pseudo code):

%TWISTYSHOW{}% %TWISTYHIDE{}%
(there may be other things between buttons and content)
%TWISTYTOGGLE{}% my content %ENDTWISTYTOGGLE%

Shorthand

The Twisty triad is conveniently packed into shorthand %TWISTY{some parameters}% Collapsing content %ENDTWISTY%:

%TWISTY{}%
my twisty content
%ENDTWISTY%

Will generate:

You may have noticed that no parameters are passed to %TWISTY{}% but the show and hide links do have text! The default values are fetched from plugin settings TWISTYSHOWLINK and TWISTYHIDELINK, see Plugin Settings below.

Block or inline

The default display mode of Twisty is block, that is, the contents is displayed using a <div> element, displayed on the next line.

If you want to show the Twisty contents on the same line - inline - use mode="inline":

%TWISTY{mode="inline"}%
my twisty content
%ENDTWISTY%

Will generate:

More ...Less ... my twisty content

Twisty with icons

%TWISTY{
    showlink="Show..."
    hidelink="Hide"
    showimgleft="%ICONURLPATH{toggleopen-small}%"
    hideimgleft="%ICONURLPATH{toggleclose-small}%"
}%
my twisty content
%ENDTWISTY%

It will look like this:

To put icons at the right side, write

%TWISTY{
    showlink="Show"
    hidelink="Hide"
    showimgright="%ICONURLPATH{toggleopen-small}%"
    hideimgright="%ICONURLPATH{toggleclose-small}%"
}%
my twisty content
%ENDTWISTY%

Make it remember

To store the last state in a FOSWIKIPREF cookie, add the parameter remember="on".
To test this, reload the page after toggling.

WARNING: If you really want it to be remembered, best to provide an id with it, otherwise it might not work.

%TWISTY{
    showlink="Show..."
    hidelink="Hide"
    remember="on"
}%
my twisty content
%ENDTWISTY%

If a Twisty state has been stored in a FOSWIKIPREF cookie before, it can be cleared by using remember="off":

%TWISTY{
    showlink="Show..."
    hidelink="Hide"
    remember="off"
}%
my twisty content
%ENDTWISTY%

Note: Unless specified, Twisty ids are generated automatically based on web and topic names. If remember option is set, a counter that increments for each twisty is appended, otherwise a random value is, so AJAX calls will not kill JS, as IDs have to be unique.

%TWISTY{
    id="currentCustomerList"
    showlink="Show..."
    hidelink="Hide"
    remember="on"
}%
my customer list
%ENDTWISTY%

Note that id sets a site wide cookie. To create a unique id, add topic or web macros:

id="%WEB%_%TOPIC%_currentCustomerList"

Make it obey

To let the Twisty start with its content folded open, add parameter start="show".

%TWISTY{
    showlink="Show..."
    hidelink="Hide"
    start="show"
}%
my twisty content
%ENDTWISTY%

Likewise use start="hide" to start with hidden content.

%TWISTY{
    showlink="Show..."
    hidelink="Hide"
    start="hide"
}%
my twisty content
%ENDTWISTY%

Make it obey only the first time

To let the Twisty start with its content folded open the first time the visitor sees the Twisty, add the parameter firststart="show". If remember="on" is used, subsequential visits to the page will display the Twisty according the cookie setting.

%TWISTY{
    showlink="Show..."
    hidelink="Hide"
    firststart="show"
}%
my twisty content
%ENDTWISTY%

Other use: hide interface parts in case of no JavaScript

You can use Twisty to show interface elements that should only be visible with JavaScript enabled. For instance the textbox control buttons in the edit screen need JavaScript to work. If a visitor does not have JavaScript on it would not make sense to show these buttons.

Put the "JavaScript content" in an almost bare bones Twisty. Write showlink="" hidelink="" to not display any default link texts.

%TWISTY{
    link=""
    noscript="hide"
    start="show"
}%
<input type="submit" class="foswikiButton" value="You surely have !JavaScript" />
%ENDTWISTY%

Do not forget to set start="show" to show the Twisty content at all.

When JavaScript is off, the button should be invisible.

This code will show the button when JavaScript is off:

%TWISTY{
    link=""
    start="show"
}%
<input type="submit" class="foswikiButton" value="You might have !JavaScript" />
%ENDTWISTY%

Styling the Twisty

Use parameter class to style the content div or class:

%TWISTY{
    showlink="Show..."
    hidelink="Hide"
    class="foswikiHelp"
}%
my twisty content
%ENDTWISTY%

Generates:

Styling the Twisty link or button

Use parameter linkclass to style the twisty links:

%TWISTY{
    showlink="Show..."
    hidelink="Hide"
    linkclass="foswikiButton"
}%
my twisty content
%ENDTWISTY%

Generates:

All on, all off

You can toggle all Twisties on or off at once by putting a link or button on the page with class twistyExpandAll or twistyCollapseAll.

<button class="twistyExpandAll foswikiButton">Expand all</button>
<button class="twistyCollapseAll foswikiButton">Collapse all</button>

Creates these controls:

Expand all Collapse all

When you want to use links, write:

#VarTOGGLE

<a href="#TOGGLE" class="twistyExpandAll">Expand all</a>  <a href="#TOGGLE" class="twistyCollapseAll">Collapse all</a>

Expand all Collapse all

Twisties inside other elements

Twisties generate a <div> or a <span> so it's important to not divide the Twisty element across other elements such as lists. In order to use a twisty within a list, be sure that the twisty is closed before moving to the next list entry:

Incorrect	Correct	Example
* L1 * L2 %TWISTY{}% Some content %ENDTWISTY{}% * L3	* L1 * L2 %TWISTY{}% Some content %ENDTWISTY{} * L3	L1 L2 More ...Less ... Some content L3
	* L1 * L2 %TWISTY{mode="inline"}% Some content %ENDTWISTY{} * L3	L1 L2 More ...Less ... Some content L3

Special syntax: format tokens

If you use other macros inside TWISTY parameters chances are it will mess up the macro, or the rendered html. Use format tokens to 'delay' rendering of these variables until the Twisty parameters are parsed.

The format tokens are the same as with FormattedSearch:

Escape:	Expands To:
$n or $n()	New line. Use $n() if followed by alphanumeric character, e.g. write Foo$n()Bar instead of Foo$nBar
$nop or $nop()	Is a "no operation".
$quot	Double quote (")
$percnt	Percent sign (%)
$dollar	Dollar sign ($)

For example, to show an icon inside the link, do not write:

link="%Y%"

but use format tokens:

link="$percntY$percnt"

... to get:

Or a more complex example using SpreadSheetPlugin; do not write:

link="Count: (%CALC{"$GET(infoCount)"}%)"

but use format tokens:

link="Count: ($percntCALC{$quot$dollarGET(infoCount)$quot}$percnt)"

Generation of the twisty ID

If you do not define an id, the plugin autogenerates an ID based on web and topic names.

ID is then appended with either a counter that counts from 1 for each twisty if remember option is set, or a random number (useful for AJAX calls).

Syntax

TWISTY -- generate content block with interactive visibility controls

This renders the button as well as the toggled content section contained within this and the closing ENDTWISTY tag.

Parameters

Parameter	Description	Default
id	Used to link TWISTYBUTTON and TWISTYTOGGLE
link	Link label for both show and hide links
hidelink	Hide link label
showlink	Show link label
mode	"block" or "inline" Specify if the Twisty Toggle section will use a <div> or a <span> tag. Note that if the contents contains block elements such as div, mode should be block as well to create valid HTML markup.	<block>
showimgleft	Specify the url of an image that will be displayed with the show link at the left side of the link. You may use ICONURLPATH to display one of the DocumentGraphics icons. Alternatively use an image attached to the topic.
hideimgleft	Specify the url of an image that will be displayed with the hide link at the left side of the link. You may use ICONURLPATH to display one of the DocumentGraphics icons. Alternatively use an image attached to the topic.
showimgright	Specify the url of an image that will be displayed with the show link at the right side of the link. You may use ICONURLPATH to display one of the DocumentGraphics icons. Alternatively use an image attached to the topic.
hideimgright	Specify the url of an image that will be displayed with the hide link at the right side of the link. You may use ICONURLPATH to display one of the DocumentGraphics icons. Alternatively use an image attached to the topic.
remember	If "on", the Twisty state is remembered the next time the page is shown. If "off", the stored setting will be cleared. Note: when used, think carefully about a unique name (id) for the Twisty, otherwise the cookie that is set might affect other Twisties with the same name. Also note that only interaction is stored, not the state of the Twisty when left unclicked.
start	"hide" or "show" Initial state of the Twisty; this will override any setting stored in a cookie (see remember).
firststart	"hide" or "show" Initial state of the Twisty the first time the visitor gets to see the Twisty; this will NOT override cookie settings (see remember).
noscript	Make content hidden in case use does not have JavaScript on. Default content is shown in case JavaScript if off
class	CSS class name for Twisty element
linkclass	CSS class name for link
prefix	Text to display before the show/hide links
suffix	Text to display after the show/hide links

Additional parameters img, imgleft, imgright, hideimg, showimg are deprecated, use showimgleft, hideimgleft, showimgright or hideimgright.

ENDTWISTY -- complements an opening TWISTY tag to close a twisty

Closes an open twisty

TWISTYBUTTON -- Shorthand version for TWISTYSHOW & TWISTYHIDE

This is useful if both the show and the hide button take the same arguments.

Parameters

All parameters supported by TWISTY, except for

• noscript and class (only used for 'toggle' content)
• mode button mode defaults to "block"

Examples

%TWISTYBUTTON{
    id="myid"
    link="more"
  }%%TWISTYTOGGLE{
    id="myid"
  }%content%ENDTWISTYTOGGLE%

• Expands as:
  moremore
  content

Related

• ENDTWISTY -- complements an opening TWISTY tag to close a twisty
• ENDTWISTYTOGGLE -- Twisty closure
• TWISTY -- generate content block with interactive visibility controls
• TWISTYHIDE - Hide/close link
• TWISTYSHOW - Show/open link
• TWISTYTOGGLE -- Twisty Toggle contents section

TWISTYSHOW - Show/open link

Parameters

Parameter	Description	Default
id	Used to link TWISTYSHOW, TWISTYHIDE and TWISTYTOGGLE	required
link	Show link label
mode	"block" or "inline" Specify if the Twisty Show link will use a <div> or a <span> tag. Note that if the contents contains block elements such as div, mode should be block as well to create valid HTML markup.	<block>
img	Specify the url of an image that will be displayed at the right side of the link. You may use ICONURLPATH to display one of the DocumentGraphics icons. Alternatively use an image attached to the topic.
imgleft	Specify the url of an image that will be displayed at the left side of the link. You may use ICONURLPATH to display one of the DocumentGraphics icons. Alternatively use an image attached to the topic.
imgright	Specify the url of an image that will be displayed at the right side of the link. You may use ICONURLPATH to display one of the DocumentGraphics icons. Alternatively use an image attached to the topic.
remember	If "on", the Twisty state is remembered the next time the page is shown. If "off", the stored setting will be cleared. Note: when used, think carefully about a unique name (id) for the Twisty, otherwise the cookie that is set might affect other Twisties with the same name. Also note that only interaction is stored, not the state of the Twisty when left unclicked.
start	"hide" or "show" Initial state of the Twisty; this will override any setting stored in a cookie (see remember).
firststart	"hide" or "show" Initial state of the Twisty the first time the visitor gets to see the Twisty; this will NOT override cookie settings (see remember).

Examples

%TWISTYSHOW{id="demo" link=" Click to Unfold " imgleft="%ICONURLPATH{toggleopen}%"}%

TWISTYHIDE - Hide/close link

Parameters

Parameter	Description	Default
id	Used to link TWISTYSHOW, TWISTYHIDE and TWISTYTOGGLE	required
link	Hide link label
mode	"block" or "inline" Specify if the Twisty Hide link will use a <div> or a <span> tag. Note that if the contents contains block elements such as div, mode should be block as well to create valid HTML markup.	<block>
img	Specify the url of an image that will be displayed at the right side of the link. You may use ICONURLPATH to display one of the DocumentGraphics icons. Alternatively use an image attached to the topic.
remember	If "on", the Twisty state is remembered the next time the page is shown. If "off", the stored setting will be cleared. Note: when used, think carefully about a unique name (id) for the Twisty, otherwise the cookie that is set might affect other Twisties with the same name. Also note that only interaction is stored, not the state of the Twisty when left unclicked.
start	"hide" or "show" Initial state of the Twisty; this will override any setting stored in a cookie (see remember).
firststart	"hide" or "show" Initial state of the Twisty the first time the visitor gets to see the Twisty; this will NOT override cookie settings (see remember).

Examples

%TWISTYHIDE{id="demo" link=" Click to Fold " imgleft="%ICONURLPATH{toggleclose}%"}%

TWISTYTOGGLE -- Twisty Toggle contents section

Parameters

Parameter	Description	Default
id	Used to link TWISTYSHOW, TWISTYHIDE and TWISTYTOGGLE.	required
mode	"block" or "inline" Specify if the Twisty Toggle section will use a <div> or a <span> tag. Note that if the contents contains block elements such as div, mode should be block as well to create valid HTML markup.	<block>
class	CSS class name for content element
linkclass	CSS class name for link
remember	If "on", the Twisty state is remembered the next time the page is shown. If "off", the stored setting will be cleared. Note: when used, think carefully about a unique name (id) for the Twisty, otherwise the cookie that is set might affect other Twisties with the same name. Also note that only interaction is stored, not the state of the Twisty when left unclicked.
start	"hide" or "show" Initial state of the Twisty; this will override any setting stored in a cookie (see remember).
firststart	"hide" or "show" Initial state of the Twisty the first time the visitor gets to see the Twisty; this will NOT override cookie settings (see remember).
noscript	hide to make content hidden in case use does not have JavaScript on

Examples

%TWISTYTOGGLE{id="demo" mode="block" remember="on"}%My content%ENDTWISTYTOGGLE%

ENDTWISTYTOGGLE -- Twisty closure

Will end the most inner unclosed Twisty Toggle section, using the proper tag

Examples

%ENDTWISTYTOGGLE%

Notes for developers

CSS classes

Class name	Note
.twistyTrigger
.twistyContent
.twistyPlaceholder
.twistyRememberSetting	behavior class
.twistyForgetSetting	behavior class
.twistyStartHide	behavior class
.twistyStartShow	behavior class
.twistyInited1	behavior class: state is set to shown
.twistyInited0	behavior class: state is set to hidden

Plugin Settings

You can override some default settings in the plugin by setting the following preferences.

Preference	Meaning	Default
TWISTYPLUGIN_TWISTYSHOWLINK	For example: More ...	More ...
TWISTYPLUGIN_TWISTYHIDELINK	For example: Less ...	Less ...
TWISTYPLUGIN_TWISTYMODE	Either block or inline	block
TWISTYPLUGIN_TWISTYREMEMBER	Either on or off. If set to on all Twisty states will be stored in a FOSWIKIPREF cookie; if set to off the FOSWIKIPREF cookie will be cleared	not specified

Plugin Installation Instructions

You do not need to install anything in the browser to use this extension. The following instructions are for the administrator who installs the extension on the server.

Open configure, and open the "Extensions" section. "Extensions Operation and Maintenance" Tab -> "Install, Update or Remove extensions" Tab. Click the "Search for Extensions" button. Enter part of the extension name or description and press search. Select the desired extension(s) and click install. If an extension is already installed, it will not show up in the search results.

You can also install from the shell by running the extension installer as the web server user: (Be sure to run as the webserver user, not as root!)

cd /path/to/foswiki
perl tools/extension_installer <NameOfExtension> install

If you have any problems, or if the extension isn't available in configure, then you can still install manually from the command-line. See https://foswiki.org/Support/ManuallyInstallingExtensions for more help.

Change History

29 Jun 2023	3.00 added showcompleted and hidecompleted javascript event when the twisty opened/closed
13 Jun 2022	2.00 removed unused assets from package; made twisty modes more meaningfull: was div/span - now is block/inline
09 Jun 2022	1.65 better default labels for show and hide links
28 Sep 2020	1.64 removed dependency on deprecated livequery module
25 Apr 2016	1.63 Bump version due to minor documentation updates. Released with Foswiki 2.1.1
17 Jun 2014	1.62 Foswikitask:Item12597: Expand/Collapse all is acting as a toggle. Foswikitask:Item12694 Default to fast animation speed. Foswikitask:Item12583: Change to simple decimal version, Foswikitask:Item10986: Better documentation for twisties in lists.
15 Oct 2013	1.6.18 Foswikitask:Item12597: fixed collapse/expand all
28 Nov 2012	1.6.17 Foswikitask:Item12079: Scripts added to the wrong zone Foswikitask:Item11267: Convert to perl version strings.
18 Sep 2012	1.6.16 Foswikitask:Item11983: fixed script being added to the wrong zone
05 Dec 2011	1.6.15 Released with Foswiki 1.1.4 - minor changes
07 Jul 2011	1.6.14 Foswikitask:Item10946: fixed requesting of defunct/missing jquery.twisty.css
02 Jun 2011	1.6.13 Foswikitask:Item10827: clear pref completely when using remember="off". Effective from Foswiki 1.1.4 and higher.
10 Apr 2011	1.6.12 Foswikitask:Item10618: parenthesis (or other Regex characters) in topic name crashes Foswiki Foswikitask:Item10264: Change template-js-css logic from foswikiJs to foswikiNoJs Foswikitask:Item10506: Add noci to avoid checkin of files during installation.
15 Dec 2010	1.6.11 Foswikitask:Item10161: improved compatibility with jquery-1.4.3/4
06 Nov 2010	1.6.10 Foswikitask:Item9963: Revert usage of $percent back to $percnt
29 Oct 2010	1.6.9 Foswikitask:Item9918: fixed twisty animation on jquery-1.4.3
27 Oct 2010	1.6.8 Foswikitask:Item9904: fixed compatibility with IE
24 Oct 2010	1.6.7 Foswikitask:Item9815: Changed random IDs back to predictable IDs if remember option is set
11 Sep 2010	1.6.6 Foswikitask:Item9499: Recoded show/hide animation code for smooth twisties.
10 Sep 2010	1.6.5 Foswikitask:Item9515: Simplified code that shows/hides twisties.
05 Sep 2010	1.6.4 Foswikitask:Item9626: Put link class around link and image.
24 Aug 2010	1.6.3 Foswikitask:Item8573: Fix new dependency on JQueryPlugin
25 Aug 2010	1.6.2 Foswikitask:Item9515: Fix compatibility with browsers running without js (content should always be shown)
20 Aug 2010	1.6.1 Foswikitask:Item9499: Added preference variable to set show/hide transition animation speed (default to none)
15 Aug 2010	1.6.0 Foswikitask:Item9422: Implement as JQueryPlugin::Plugin; emit display: none style on hidden twisties to avoid relying on CSS/JS Foswikitask:Item9415: Documentation changes
27 Jul 2010	1.5.6 Foswiki:Tasks.Item9387: Fixed jQuery JS
13 Mar 2010	1.5.5 Fixed id generated in subwebs.
12 Feb 2010	1.5.4 Fixed jquery twisties, improved templates structure
02 Sep 2009	1.5.3 Add sequential number to the TWISTY id to allow more than one instance with that id on the page.
26 Aug 2009	1.5.2 Fix dependencies - jqueryPlugin and DojoToolkit were ported to foswiki a while ago.
03 Dec 2008	1.5.1 Added parameter linkclass. Foswiki version.
27 Nov 2008	1.5 Foswiki release; added option to use other Javascript libraries.
08 Oct 2008	1.4.11, 1.4.12 It is now possible to have a twisty on the same line without a linebreak.
03 Aug 2008	1.4.10 TWiki 4.2.1 release version.
13 Dec 2007	1.4.9 fix to the loading order of javascript files in head.
24 Nov 2007	1.4.6 - 1.4.8 Arthur Clemens - Added format tokens.
07 Oct 2007	1.4.5 Arthur Clemens - Fix html tag with show/hide controls.
25 Sep 2007	1.4.4 Arthur Clemens - Fix rendering of headers when prefix is used.
11 Jul 2007	1.4.3 Arthur Clemens - Fix invalid html when prefix and suffix is used.
23 Jun 2007	1.4.2 Arthur Clemens - Fixed bugs with parameters firststart and noscript (since version 1.4).
20 Jun 2007	1.4 Arthur Clemens - Updated to work without ugly inserted javascript 'init' calls. This will change nothing to the functionality, but it will produce cleaner HTML, while at the same time the twisty is still set immediately (not at page onload) and graceful fallback in case of no javascript is maintained.
19 Jun 2006	1.3 Arthur Clemens - Updated with TWiki 4 JavaScript files.
25 Oct 2006	1.2 New variables to set default values: TWISTYSHOWLINK, TWISTYHIDELINK, TWISTYMODE, TWISTYREMEMBER; property id is no longer required as this is automatically set (still recommended in some cases with remember="on"); property value remember="off" will clear a previously stored cookie; new properties prefix and suffix; JavaScript to collapse or expand all Twisties on the page.
27 Sep 2006	1.101 Fixes JavaScript handling when AllowInlineScript in configure is not set
11 Jun 2006	1.100 Added parameters start, firststart, noscript and class; complete JavaScript rewrite for speed
12 Sep 2005	1.000 First Version