Input of contextual filter values in Views content panes

Last updated May 4, 2013. Created by Itangalo on May 16, 2012.
Edited by naxoc, mbouchard58. Log in to edit this page.

The argument input setting at the pane settings group has a number of options. (See figure 13.15)

• No argument: This option collects no contextual filter value from the panel.
• Argument wildcard: This option will have the contextual filter return all results.
• From context: This is the most used setting and makes it possible to use information from contextual objects in the panel to build filter values. In a remarkably long list you can select (1) which type of contextual object should be required when embedding the view and (2) which data should be collected from the contextual object. Each filter input can also be checked as context is optional, making it possible to embed the view even if the specified type contextual object is not available in the panel. One of the most common options is to require a node object, and collect its ID as contextual filter value.
• From panel argument: If the panel's custom page has any path arguments, these may be used as contextual filter values in the view. Using from context will normally provide higher flexibility and precision.
• Fixed: This is used to provide a static, manually entered value for the contextual filter.
• Input on pane config: This allows you, as administrator, to manually enter a filter value in the pane configuration dialogue.

How can this be used?
A display listing the most recent content written by (with contextual filters) a specified user, could fetch a filter value from context to be sure the provided value is always a valid user ID.
A display listing articles tagged with (with contextual filters) a specified term could be embedded on a node display page where a tag is loaded as a contextual object, to display similar articles, as well as on a taxonomy term page.

Figure 13.15: The argument input setting allows the display to fetch contextual filter values from contextual objects on a custom page.