Globals

Globals store content that is available globally throughout your templates. They’re a convenient way to make non-Entry content easily editable via the control panel.

Craft organizes globals into global sets. Each global set has its own field layout using any of the existing fields or new fields.

To create a global set, go to Settings → Globals.

If you have at least one global set, Craft will add a new “Globals” item to the main control panel navigation. Clicking this will take you to a page that lists all your global sets in a sidebar, as well as all of the fields associated with the selected global set in the main content area.

Unlike entries, global sets don’t have the Live Preview feature, since they aren’t associated with any one particular URL.

# Global Sets in Templates

You can access your global sets from any template via their handles.

If you have a global set with the handle companyInfo and it has a field with the handle yearEstablished, you can access that field anywhere using this code:

{{ companyInfo.yearEstablished }}

For additional global set properties you can use besides your custom fields see craft\elements\GlobalSet (opens new window) for a full reference.

# Manually Loading Global Sets

In some special situations, like within email templates, global sets won’t be available by default. Any global set may still be loaded manually. The above example could be loaded with getSetByHandle():

Twig
PHP

{% set companyInfo = craft.app.globals().getSetByHandle('companyInfo') %}

More details are available in the Globals service class documentation (opens new window).

# Global Sets with Multiple Sites

If you run multiple sites with Craft, global sets are available in all sites. However, you can set the values in those sets on a per site basis, even leaving some fields blank, if desired.

To do that, edit the global set’s fields, and make sure that their “Translation Method” settings are set to “Translate for each site”.

To toggle between sites while viewing global sets, use the dropdown menu at the top left of the global sets page in the control panel.

# Querying Globals

You can fetch global sets in your templates or PHP code using global set queries.

Twig
PHP

{# Create a new global set query #}
{% set myGlobalSetQuery = craft.globalSets() %}

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

See Element Queries to learn about how element queries work.

# Example

We can load a global set from the primary site and display its content by doing the following:

Create a global set query with craft.globalSets().
Set the handle and siteId parameters on it.
Fetch the global set with .one().
Output its content.

{# Create a global set query with the 'handle' and 'siteId' parameters #}
{% set myGlobalSetQuery = craft.globalSets()
  .handle('footerCopy')
  .siteId(1) %}

{# Fetch the global set #}
{% set globalSet = myGlobalSetQuery.one() %}

{# Display the content #}
<p>{{ globalSet.copyrightInfo }}</p>

All global sets are already available as global variables to Twig templates. So you only need to fetch them through craft.globalSets() if you need to access their content for a different site than the current site.

# Parameters

Global set queries support the following parameters:

Param	Description
addOrderBy	Adds additional ORDER BY columns to the query.
afterPopulate	Performs any post-population processing on elements.
andRelatedTo	Narrows the query results to only global sets that are related to certain other elements.
anyStatus	Removes element filters based on their statuses.
asArray	Causes the query to return matching global sets as arrays of data, rather than GlobalSet (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 global sets’ creation dates.
dateUpdated	Narrows the query results based on the global sets’ last-updated dates.
fields	Returns the list of fields that should be returned by default by toArray() (opens new window) when no specific fields are specified.
fixedOrder	Causes the query results to be returned in the order specified by id.
handle	Narrows the query results based on the global sets’ handles.
id	Narrows the query results based on the global sets’ IDs.
ignorePlaceholders	Causes the query to return matching global sets 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 global sets that should be returned.
offset	Determines how many global sets should be skipped in the results.
orderBy	Determines the order that the global sets should be returned in. (If empty, defaults to `name ASC`.)
preferSites	If unique is set, this determines which site should be selected when querying multi-site elements.
relatedTo	Narrows the query results to only global sets that are related to certain other elements.
search	Narrows the query results to only global sets that match a search query.
site	Determines which site(s) the global sets should be queried in.
siteId	Determines which site(s) the global sets should be queried in, per the site’s ID.
siteSettingsId	Narrows the query results based on the global sets’ IDs in the `elements_sites` table.
trashed	Narrows the query results to only global sets that have been soft-deleted.
uid	Narrows the query results based on the global sets’ UIDs.
unique	Determines whether only elements with unique IDs should be returned by the query.
with	Causes the query to return matching global sets eager-loaded with related elements.

# `addOrderBy`

Adds additional ORDER BY columns to the query.

# `afterPopulate`

Performs any post-population processing on elements.

# `andRelatedTo`

Narrows the query results to only global sets 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 global sets that are related to myCategoryA and myCategoryB #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .relatedTo(myCategoryA)
  .andRelatedTo(myCategoryB)
  .all() %}

# `anyStatus`

Removes element filters based on their statuses.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch all global sets, regardless of status #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .anyStatus()
  .all() %}

# `asArray`

Causes the query to return matching global sets as arrays of data, rather than GlobalSet (opens new window) objects.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch global sets as arrays #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .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 global sets’ creation dates.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches global sets…
`'>= 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.

Twig
PHP

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

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

# `dateUpdated`

Narrows the query results based on the global sets’ last-updated dates.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches global sets…
`'>= 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.

Twig
PHP

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

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

# `fields`

Returns the list of fields that should be returned by default by toArray() (opens new window) when no specific fields are specified.

A field is a named element in the returned array by toArray() (opens new window). This method should return an array of field names or field definitions. If the former, the field name will be treated as an object property name whose value will be used as the field value. If the latter, the array key should be the field name while the array value should be the corresponding field definition which can be either an object property name or a PHP callable returning the corresponding field value. The signature of the callable should be:

function ($model, $field) {
    // return field value
}

For example, the following code declares four fields:

email: the field name is the same as the property name email;
firstName and lastName: the field names are firstName and lastName, and their values are obtained from the first_name and last_name properties;
fullName: the field name is fullName. Its value is obtained by concatenating first_name and last_name.

return [
    'email',
    'firstName' => 'first_name',
    'lastName' => 'last_name',
    'fullName' => function ($model) {
        return $model->first_name . ' ' . $model->last_name;
    },
];

# `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 global sets in a specific order #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .id([1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
  .fixedOrder()
  .all() %}

# `handle`

Narrows the query results based on the global sets’ handles.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches global sets…
`'foo'`	with a handle of `foo`.
`'not foo'`	not with a handle of `foo`.
`['foo', 'bar']`	with a handle of `foo` or `bar`.
`['not', 'foo', 'bar']`	not with a handle of `foo` or `bar`.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch the global set with a handle of 'foo' #}
{% set globalSet = craft.globalSets()
  .handle('foo')
  .one() %}

# `id`

Narrows the query results based on the global sets’ IDs.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches global sets…
`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 global set by its ID #}
{% set globalSet = craft.globalSets()
  .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 global sets 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 global sets in reverse #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .inReverse()
  .all() %}

# `limit`

Determines the number of global sets that should be returned.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch up to 10 global sets  #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .limit(10)
  .all() %}

# `offset`

Determines how many global sets should be skipped in the results.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch all global sets except for the first 3 #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .offset(3)
  .all() %}

# `orderBy`

Determines the order that the global sets should be returned in. (If empty, defaults to name ASC.)

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch all global sets in order of date created #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .orderBy('dateCreated ASC')
  .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 global sets from Site A, or Site B if they don’t exist in Site A #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .site('*')
  .unique()
  .preferSites(['a', 'b'])
  .all() %}

# `relatedTo`

Narrows the query results to only global sets 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 global sets that are related to myCategory #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .relatedTo(myCategory)
  .all() %}

# `search`

Narrows the query results to only global sets 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 global sets that match the search query #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .search(searchQuery)
  .all() %}

# `site`

Determines which site(s) the global sets should be queried in.

The current site will be used by default.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches global sets…
`'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 global sets from the Foo site #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .site('foo')
  .all() %}

# `siteId`

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

The current site will be used by default.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches global sets…
`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 global sets from the site with an ID of 1 #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .siteId(1)
  .all() %}

# `siteSettingsId`

Narrows the query results based on the global sets’ IDs in the elements_sites table.

Possible values include:

Value	Fetches global sets…
`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 global set by its ID in the elements_sites table #}
{% set globalSet = craft.globalSets()
  .siteSettingsId(1)
  .one() %}

# `trashed`

Narrows the query results to only global sets that have been soft-deleted.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch trashed global sets #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .trashed()
  .all() %}

# `uid`

Narrows the query results based on the global sets’ UIDs.

Twig
PHP

{# Fetch the global set by its UID #}
{% set globalSet = craft.globalSets()
  .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 global sets across all sites #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .site('*')
  .unique()
  .all() %}

# `with`

Causes the query to return matching global sets 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 global sets eager-loaded with the "Related" field’s relations #}
{% set globalSets = craft.globalSets()
  .with(['related'])
  .all() %}

Was this page helpful?

Parts of this page are generated or assembled by automations. While we greatly appreciate contributions to the documentation, reporting automated content issues will allow us to fix them at the source!

Globals

# Global Sets in Templates

# Manually Loading Global Sets

# Global Sets with Multiple Sites

# Querying Globals

# Example

# Parameters

# addOrderBy

# afterPopulate

# andRelatedTo

# anyStatus

# asArray

# cache

# clearCachedResult

# dateCreated

# dateUpdated

# fields

# fixedOrder

# handle

# id

# ignorePlaceholders

# inReverse

# limit

# offset

# orderBy

# preferSites

# relatedTo

# search

# site

# siteId

# siteSettingsId

# trashed

# uid

# unique

# with

Was this page helpful?

# `addOrderBy`

# `afterPopulate`

# `andRelatedTo`

# `anyStatus`

# `asArray`

# `cache`

# `clearCachedResult`

# `dateCreated`

# `dateUpdated`

# `fields`

# `fixedOrder`

# `handle`

# `id`

# `ignorePlaceholders`

# `inReverse`

# `limit`

# `offset`

# `orderBy`

# `preferSites`

# `relatedTo`

# `search`

# `site`

# `siteId`

# `siteSettingsId`

# `trashed`

# `uid`

# `unique`

# `with`