Allow to select reference method in link field type for internal links

Could a CR be written for this new change and setting please.

On a standard install
Applied patch
Create a basic page and article page
Verified the post_update hooks run without issue.
Added a link field to the Article content type and only allowed link reference to Basic pages
Created another Article page and searching for article page from before didn't show up but basic page did.

I am doing triage on the core RTBC queue.

The patch needs an update, setting to needs work.

The issue summary is straight forward with a proposed resolution. This is making changes to the UI so I am adding the Usability tag. There are no unanswered items in the comments. The patch has been manually tested, including the post_update hook. But all changes need a code review as well.

@a.dmitriiev, thank you for your first change record! It has all the sections that it should. Nice job!

Looking at the screenshots in the CR, the first one has 'Browse available tokens' which is not a string in core. The screenshots are nearly always made from a 'standard' install. Can someone update that? I also think it would be easier for the reader if the 'Field Settings' screenshots were a smaller. If needed, they could just include the 'Allowed link type' and the 'Allow link text' section. Oh, and the text would benefit from some improvements for grammar and readability.

I changed the status of #3341689: Port entity reference widget autocomplete settings to link field widget to duplicate, and now moving credit.

Oh, I meant to remove a tag. And I think it was supposed to be 'needs change record updates'.

I believe @quietone meant in #20 the tag should of been "needs change record updates" which appears you addressed in #21

But relooking at the patch it appears to be failing drupalCi, recommend turning into an MR for easier reviews.

Too many to list but all new functions should have a typehint return even if it's :void.

Deprecation can probably be bumped from 10.2 to 10.3

Feedback has been addressed.

Attaching a static patch from the latest changes in the MR (for composer patching purposes)

I'm triaging RTBC issues. I read the IS and the comments. I didn't find any unanswered questions.

I see that the issue summary has remaining tasks that I think are completed. But as I think about this some more it needs more input from UI folds. I am tagging for a UX review..

The MR needed a rebase badly. I took care of it.

I also updated the issue summary. There was no mention of the changes to the LinkWidget settings. I'm not 100% convinced they belong in this same issue, but since this was already RTBC twice I won't stop it.

Since this hasn't undergone a usability review I'm setting the status to Needs Review.

after checking out MR5993, i run ddev drush cr i get the following error:

PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught Error: Class "Doctrine\Common\Annotations\TokenParser" not found in /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Annotation/Doctrine/StaticReflectionParser.php:192
Stack trace:
#0 /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Annotation/Doctrine/StaticReflectionParser.php(329): Drupal\Component\Annotation\Doctrine\StaticReflectionParser->parse()
#1 /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Hook/HookCollectorPass.php(507): Drupal\Component\Annotation\Doctrine\StaticReflectionParser->getMethodAttributes()
#2 /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Hook/HookCollectorPass.php(402): Drupal\Core\Hook\HookCollectorPass->collectModuleHookImplementations()
#3 /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Hook/HookCollectorPass.php(138): Drupal\Core\Hook\HookCollectorPass::collectAllHookImplementations()
#4 /var/www/html/vendor/symfony/dependency-injection/Compiler/Compiler.php(73): Drupal\Core\Hook\HookCollectorPass->process()
#5 /var/www/html/vendor/symfony/dependency-injection/ContainerBuilder.php(826): Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\Compiler\Compiler->compile()
#6 /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DrupalKernel.php(1397): Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerBuilder->compile()
#7 /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DrupalKernel.php(916): Drupal\Core\DrupalKernel->compileContainer()
#8 /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DrupalKernel.php(507): Drupal\Core\DrupalKernel->initializeContainer()
#9 /var/www/html/drush/Commands/core_development/DevelopmentProjectCommands.php(90): Drupal\Core\DrupalKernel->boot()
#10 /var/www/html/drush/Commands/core_development/DevelopmentProjectCommands.php(68): Drush\Commands\core_development\DevelopmentProjectCommands->drupal_rebuild()
#11 [internal function]: Drush\Commands\core_development\DevelopmentProjectCommands->rebuild()
#12 /var/www/html/vendor/consolidation/annotated-command/src/CommandProcessor.php(276): call_user_func_array()
#13 /var/www/html/vendor/consolidation/annotated-command/src/CommandProcessor.php(212): Consolidation\AnnotatedCommand\CommandProcessor->runCommandCallback()
#14 /var/www/html/vendor/consolidation/annotated-command/src/CommandProcessor.php(175): Consolidation\AnnotatedCommand\CommandProcessor->validateRunAndAlter()
#15 /var/www/html/vendor/consolidation/annotated-command/src/AnnotatedCommand.php(387): Consolidation\AnnotatedCommand\CommandProcessor->process()
#16 /var/www/html/vendor/symfony/console/Command/Command.php(318): Consolidation\AnnotatedCommand\AnnotatedCommand->execute()
#17 /var/www/html/vendor/symfony/console/Application.php(1073): Symfony\Component\Console\Command\Command->run()
#18 /var/www/html/vendor/symfony/console/Application.php(356): Symfony\Component\Console\Application->doRunCommand()
#19 /var/www/html/vendor/symfony/console/Application.php(195): Symfony\Component\Console\Application->doRun()
#20 /var/www/html/vendor/drush/drush/src/Runtime/Runtime.php(110): Symfony\Component\Console\Application->run()
#21 /var/www/html/vendor/drush/drush/src/Runtime/Runtime.php(40): Drush\Runtime\Runtime->doRun()
#22 /var/www/html/vendor/drush/drush/drush.php(140): Drush\Runtime\Runtime->run()
#23 /var/www/html/vendor/bin/drush.php(119): include('...')
#24 {main}
  thrown in /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Annotation/Doctrine/StaticReflectionParser.php on line 192

Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Class "Doctrine\Common\Annotations\TokenParser" not found in /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Annotation/Doctrine/StaticReflectionParser.php:192
Stack trace:
#0 /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Annotation/Doctrine/StaticReflectionParser.php(329): Drupal\Component\Annotation\Doctrine\StaticReflectionParser->parse()
#1 /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Hook/HookCollectorPass.php(507): Drupal\Component\Annotation\Doctrine\StaticReflectionParser->getMethodAttributes()
#2 /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Hook/HookCollectorPass.php(402): Drupal\Core\Hook\HookCollectorPass->collectModuleHookImplementations()
#3 /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Hook/HookCollectorPass.php(138): Drupal\Core\Hook\HookCollectorPass::collectAllHookImplementations()
#4 /var/www/html/vendor/symfony/dependency-injection/Compiler/Compiler.php(73): Drupal\Core\Hook\HookCollectorPass->process()
#5 /var/www/html/vendor/symfony/dependency-injection/ContainerBuilder.php(826): Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\Compiler\Compiler->compile()
#6 /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DrupalKernel.php(1397): Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerBuilder->compile()
#7 /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DrupalKernel.php(916): Drupal\Core\DrupalKernel->compileContainer()
#8 /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DrupalKernel.php(507): Drupal\Core\DrupalKernel->initializeContainer()
#9 /var/www/html/drush/Commands/core_development/DevelopmentProjectCommands.php(90): Drupal\Core\DrupalKernel->boot()
#10 /var/www/html/drush/Commands/core_development/DevelopmentProjectCommands.php(68): Drush\Commands\core_development\DevelopmentProjectCommands->drupal_rebuild()
#11 [internal function]: Drush\Commands\core_development\DevelopmentProjectCommands->rebuild()
#12 /var/www/html/vendor/consolidation/annotated-command/src/CommandProcessor.php(276): call_user_func_array()
#13 /var/www/html/vendor/consolidation/annotated-command/src/CommandProcessor.php(212): Consolidation\AnnotatedCommand\CommandProcessor->runCommandCallback()
#14 /var/www/html/vendor/consolidation/annotated-command/src/CommandProcessor.php(175): Consolidation\AnnotatedCommand\CommandProcessor->validateRunAndAlter()
#15 /var/www/html/vendor/consolidation/annotated-command/src/AnnotatedCommand.php(387): Consolidation\AnnotatedCommand\CommandProcessor->process()
#16 /var/www/html/vendor/symfony/console/Command/Command.php(318): Consolidation\AnnotatedCommand\AnnotatedCommand->execute()
#17 /var/www/html/vendor/symfony/console/Application.php(1073): Symfony\Component\Console\Command\Command->run()
#18 /var/www/html/vendor/symfony/console/Application.php(356): Symfony\Component\Console\Application->doRunCommand()
#19 /var/www/html/vendor/symfony/console/Application.php(195): Symfony\Component\Console\Application->doRun()
#20 /var/www/html/vendor/drush/drush/src/Runtime/Runtime.php(110): Symfony\Component\Console\Application->run()
#21 /var/www/html/vendor/drush/drush/src/Runtime/Runtime.php(40): Drush\Runtime\Runtime->doRun()
#22 /var/www/html/vendor/drush/drush/drush.php(140): Drush\Runtime\Runtime->run()
#23 /var/www/html/vendor/bin/drush.php(119): include('...')
#24 {main}
  thrown in /var/www/html/repos/drupal/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Annotation/Doctrine/StaticReflectionParser.php on line 192
 [warning] Drush command terminated abnormally.
Failed to run drush cr: exit status 1

... on 11.x i dont get that error. i am on php 8.3 with ddev.

Update: the error happened also after i'Ve dropped the db and reinstalled the site. per @benjifisher recommendation i should have tried git merge 11.x or git rebase 11.x. i first tried the rebase but that had conflicts. I'Ve aborted the rebase and tried the merge and that went through. after the merge of the latest 11.x i was able to run drush cr without any errors. so i suppose the MR needs a rebase as well?

Usability review

We discussed this issue at #3555446: Drupal Usability Meeting 2025-11-14. That issue has a link to a recording of the meeting. I am giving issue credit here to the attendees at the usability meeting: @benjifisher, @rkoller, and @simohell.

There are a few usability issues we noticed while testing the current MR:

• It is not clear that the <details> element "Reference type" applies to internal links.
• The expanded <details> element separates the existing options. Experienced site builders are used to having those options next to each other.
• When adding a Link field, it is no longer possible to submit the form (accepting default values) because the required "Content types" option requires input.
• Changing the option in the "Reference method" <select> element triggers an AJAX reload, which scrolls to the top of the modal window.

The last point is out of scope for this issue, since it is an existing problem (for reference fields). But please check for an existing issue, and add a new one if you cannot find one. I am adding the issue tag for a followup issue.

The usability team suggests the following steps to fix the other issues:

1. Change the label on the <details> element to "Reference method for internal links".
2. Change the default value for the "Content types" checkboxes from none selected to all selected.
3. Make the <details> element collapsed by default.

We think that the new feature is something that most sites will not use, so we want to add it in a way that interrupts the existing workflow as little as possible. After (2), a site builder can submit the form, accepting defaults. As a result, there is no problem with (3).

If you want more feedback from the usability team, a good way to reach out is in the #ux channel in Slack.