Meta Laravel Package

Getting Started

Minimal Setup

1. Installation

   composer require chamber-orchestra/meta
   

   Add the bundle to config/bundles.php (Symfony) or register the service provider in config/app.php (Laravel via Symfony bridge):

   ChamberOrchestra\MetaBundle\MetaBundle::class => ['all' => true],
   

2. Doctrine Trait Integration Add the MetaTrait to your entity:

   use ChamberOrchestra\MetaBundle\Model\MetaTrait;
   
   class Page extends AbstractEntity
   {
       use MetaTrait;
       // ...
   }
   

3. Database Migration Run migrations to add the meta fields (meta_title, meta_description, etc.) to your table.

4. First Use Case Define meta fields in your entity:

   $page = new Page();
   $page->setMetaTitle('My SEO Title');
   $page->setMetaDescription('Optimized description for search engines');
   $page->setMetaKeywords(['keyword1', 'keyword2']);
   $page->setMetaRobots('index,follow');
   $page->setMetaOpenGraphImage('/path/to/image.jpg');
   

Implementation Patterns

Common Workflows

1. Dynamic Meta Generation Override getMetaTitle() in your entity to generate dynamic titles:

   public function getMetaTitle(): ?string
   {
       return "Default: {$this->title} | {$this->getSiteName()}";
   }
   

2. Form Integration (Symfony) Use MetaType in your form builder:

   $builder->add('meta', MetaType::class, [
       'mapped' => false,
       'fields' => ['title', 'description', 'keywords', 'robots', 'og_image'],
   ]);
   

3. Laravel-Specific Twist Create a MetaService to centralize meta logic:

   class MetaService {
       public function generateMetaTags(Page $page): array
       {
           return [
               'title' => $page->getMetaTitle(),
               'description' => $page->getMetaDescription(),
               // ...
           ];
       }
   }
   

4. Repository Filtering Filter entities by meta fields in Doctrine queries:

   $pages = $repo->findBy(['meta_title' => '%SEO%']);
   

5. Twig Integration (Symfony) Access meta fields in templates:

   <title>{{ page.metaTitle }}</title>
   <meta name="description" content="{{ page.metaDescription }}">
   

Gotchas and Tips

Pitfalls

1. Missing Trait Initialization Ensure MetaTrait is used after TimestampableTrait (if applicable) to avoid field conflicts.

2. Doctrine Lifecycle Hooks Override prePersist()/preUpdate() if you need to sanitize meta fields:

   public function prePersist()
   {
       $this->setMetaKeywords(array_map('strtolower', $this->getMetaKeywords()));
   }
   

3. Open Graph Image Paths Store absolute URLs (not relative paths) for metaOpenGraphImage to avoid 404s.

4. Robots Meta Quirks Default value is index,follow. Explicitly set to noindex if needed:

   $page->setMetaRobots('noindex');
   

Debugging Tips

• Check Database Schema Verify fields exist via:

  php bin/console doctrine:schema:validate
  

• Log Meta Fields Add a debug method to your entity:

  public function debugMeta(): string
  {
      return json_encode([
          'title' => $this->getMetaTitle(),
          'description' => $this->getMetaDescription(),
          // ...
      ]);
  }
  

Extension Points

1. Custom Meta Fields Extend the trait to add fields (e.g., twitter_card):

   use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping as ORM;
   
   #[ORM\Column(nullable: true)]
   private ?string $metaTwitterCard = null;
   
   public function getMetaTwitterCard(): ?string { return $this->metaTwitterCard; }
   public function setMetaTwitterCard(?string $card): self { $this->metaTwitterCard = $card; return $this; }
   

2. Validation Add Symfony Validator constraints:

   use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints as Assert;
   
   #[Assert\Length(max: 60)]
   private ?string $metaTitle = null;
   

3. Event Listeners Trigger events on meta changes (e.g., log updates):

   // config/services.yaml
   ChamberOrchestra\MetaBundle\EventListener\MetaUpdateListener:
       tags:
           - { name: doctrine.event_listener, event: preUpdate }