Display different fields depending on field value in node template

Question

I have a field named field_event_type. When creating a node, you can select one of two options for this field from a drop-down list:

• birthday party
• Wedding

I want to be able to display different fields in my node depending on which type of event is selected. So in node--events.tpl.php, my node template, I wrote the following:

if ($element['#object']->field_event_type['und'][0]['value'] == 'birthday party' )
   {
      print render($content['field_some_field']);
   }

else
   {
      print render($content['field_some_other_field']);
   }

However, this does not seem to be working the way I intended it to, not only is it not displaying the additional field content in either event type, but I'm also getting an error in Drupal about an undefined variable. Is my code incorrect?

Answer 1

Given your use of the $element variable in a page.tpl.php file, I would suspect a typo or error in its use.

You could either continue to use the page.tpl.php but use $node instead, or use a field tpl instead and continue to use $element. Which you choose really depends on the complexity of the set up and where you want the modifications to lie

Answer 2

You may find it easier to use the Conditional Fields Module:

Conditional Fields allows you to manage sets of dependencies between fields. When a field is “dependent”, it will only be available for editing and displayed if the state of the “dependee” field matches the right condition. When editing a node (or any other entity type that supports fields, like users and categories), the dependent fields are dynamically modified with the States API. You can, for example, define a custom “Article teaser" field that is shown only if a "Has teaser" checkbox is checked.