File method not work in Panel

The CMS Questions
1

Hello, dear Kirby developers. I’ve encountered a problem where the file method in the control panel isn’t working, as it used to in Kirby 3.

This method worked perfectly for Kirby 3:

<?php

Kirby::plugin('texnixe/methods', [
    'fileMethods' => [
        'videoposter' => function() {
            $filename = $this->name() . '.jpg';
            if($poster = $this->parent()->image($filename)) {
                return $poster;
            } else {
                return null;
            }
        }
    ]
]);

Unfortunately, in version 5, I encountered a problem where the video preview image isn’t displaying. To check what the method returns, I tried displaying the data in the info property like this:

            sections:
              files:
                headline: Video
                type: files
                layout: cards
                size: medium
                template: video
                info: "{{ file.videoposter }}<b>{{ file.language.upper }}</b>…"
                image:
                  query: file.videoposter

As a result, I see (for some reason) the img tag in the info property, but the image isn’t displaying as expected.

Screen 2025-11-14 163159
Screen 2025-11-14 163159506×359 7.53 KB

On the frontend in template, I use the following code:

$f->videoposter()->resize(800, 800)->url()

and everything works fine.

Can you tell me what I’m doing wrong? Am I missing something?

2

I checked this same code in Kirby 4, and it still doesn’t work

3

This is how it worked:

image:
    src: "{{ file.videoposter.url }}"

But why did the query property stop working in versions 4 and 5?

4

This is weird, I did a quick test and cannot reproduce your issue. However, I’m missing your video blueprint. And where do you upload your poster files? Please post all relevant blueprints.

5

Hello texnixe!

Hi texnixe

Here’s a plugin with a video poster method that also generates a preview for a video file. The file isn’t downloaded, but rather generated when a video is uploaded with the name videofilename.jpg:

<?php
Kirby::plugin('test/file-methods', [
    'fileMethods' => [
        'videoposter' => function() {
            $filename = $this->name() . '.jpg';
            if($poster = $this->parent()->image($filename)) {
                return $poster;
            } else {
                return null;
            }
        }
    ],
    'hooks' => [
        'file.create:after' => function ($file) {
            if($file->type() == 'video') {
                try {
                    $out = str_replace($file->extension(), 'jpg', $file->root());
                    $duration = get_diveo_duration($file->root());
                    create_preview($file->root(), $out, intdiv($duration, 2));
                } catch (Exception $e) {
                    throw new Exception($e->getMessage());
                }
                
            }
        }
    ],
]);
function create_preview($video_file, $output_filename, $second) {
    $return = null;
    $retval = null;
    $time = gmdate("H:i:s", $second);
    $isWindows = strtoupper(substr(PHP_OS, 0, 3)) === 'WIN';
    $video_file = str_replace('\\', '/', $video_file);
    $output_filename = str_replace('\\', '/', $output_filename);
    $video_file_esc = escapeshellarg($video_file);
    $output_esc = escapeshellarg($output_filename);
    $nullOutput = $isWindows ? ' > NUL 2>&1' : ' > /dev/null 2>&1';
    $cmd = "ffmpeg -i $video_file_esc -ss {$time}.000 -vframes 1 $output_esc$nullOutput";
    exec($cmd, $return, $retval);
    return $retval === 0;
}
function get_diveo_duration($video_file){
    $return = null;
    $retval = null;
    exec("ffprobe -v error -show_entries format=duration -of default=noprint_wrappers=1:nokey=1 \"{$video_file}\"", $return, $retval);
    
    return (int)$return[0];
}

And this is a Blueprint file for the parent page of the video files:

title: Folder (video)
icon: video

status:
  draft: true
  listed: true

tabs:
    main:
        label: Files and folders
        icon: file-video
        columns:
          - width: 1/1
            sections:
              folders:
                headline: Folders
                type: pages
                layout: cards
                size: medium
                empty: Empty
                template: 
                    - videoalbum
                    - album
                    - files
                image:
                  ratio: 16/9
          
          - width: 1/1
            sections:
              files:
                headline: Video files
                type: files
                layout: cards
                size: medium
                limit: 100
                sortBy: modified DESC
                template: video
                info: "{{ file.modified('Y-m-d H:i:s') }}<br/>{{ file.niceSize }}"
                image:
                  query: file.videoposter # It doesn't work.
                  src: "{{ file.videoposter.url }}" # It works
                  ratio: 16/9
                  cover: true

    settings:
        label: Settings
        icon: settings
        columns:
            - width: 3/4
              fields:
              fields:
                  meta: fields/folder.meta
                  mixed_content:
                      label: Mixed content
                      type: toggle
                      text: 
                        - "No"
                        - "Yes"
            - width: 1/4
              sections:
                  covers:
                      headline: Folder covers
                      type: files
                      layout: list
                      template: cover
                      info: "{{ file.modified('Y-m-d H:i:s') }} / {{ file.niceSize }}"
                      image:
                        ratio: 16/9
                        cover: true
                        size: small
                      translate: false