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Overview

A MessageTemplate provides you with the capability to define and customize both the structure and the behavior of the MessageBubble. It acts as a schema or design blueprint for the creation of a variety of MessageBubble widgets, allowing you to manage the appearance and interactions of MessageBubble within your application effectively and consistently.

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Structure

The MessageBubble structure can typically be broken down into the following widgets:
  1. Leading widget: This is where the sender’s avatar is displayed. It’s typically on the left of the MessageBubble for messages from others and on the right for messages from the current user.
  2. Header widget: This displays the sender’s name and is especially useful in group chats where multiple users are sending messages.
  3. Content widget: This is the core of the MessageBubble where the message content (text, images, videos, etc.) is displayed.
  4. Bottom widget: This widget can be used to extend the MessageBubble with additional elements, such as link previews or a ‘load more’ button for long messages. It’s typically placed beneath the Content widget.
  5. Footer widget: This is where the timestamp of the message and its delivery or read status are displayed. It’s located at the bottom of the MessageBubble.

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Properties

MessageTemplate provides you with methods that allow you to alter various properties of the MessageBubble. These properties include aspects such as the type and category of a message, the appearance and behavior of the header, content, and footer sections of the message bubble,
  1. Type Using type you can set the type of CometChatMessage, This will map your MessageTemplate to the corresponding CometChatMessage. You can set the MessageTemplate Type using the following code snippet. 
    CometChatMessageTemplate cometChatMessageTemplate = CometChatMessageTemplate(type: MessageTypeConstants.text);
  2. Category Using category you can set the category of a MessageTemplate. This will create a MessageTemplate with the specified category and link it with a CometChatMessage of the same category. Please refer to our guide on Message Categories for a deeper understanding of message categories. 
    CometChatMessageTemplate cometChatMessageTemplate = CometChatMessageTemplate(category: MessageCategoryConstants.custom);
  3. Header Widget The. headerView method allows you to assign a custom header widget to the MessageBubble. By default, it is configured to display the sender’s name. 
    cometChatMessageTemplate.headerView = (BaseMessage baseMessage, BuildContext buildContext, BubbleAlignment alignment) {
    return const Placeholder();
};
  4. Content Widget The contentView method allows you to assign a custom content widget to the MessageBubble. By default, it displays the Text Bubble, Image Bubble, File Bubble, Audio Bubble, or Video Bubble, depending on the message type. 
    cometChatMessageTemplate.contentView = (BaseMessage baseMessage, BuildContext buildContext, BubbleAlignment alignment, {AdditionalConfigurations? additionalConfigurations}) {
    return const Placeholder();
};
  5. Footer Widget The footerView method allows you to assign a custom Footer widget to the MessageBubble. By default, it displays the receipt and timestamp. 
    cometChatMessageTemplate.footerView = (BaseMessage baseMessage, BuildContext buildContext, BubbleAlignment alignment) {
    return const Placeholder();
};
  6. Bottom Widget The bottomView method allows you to assign a custom Bottom widget to the MessageBubble.By defuault is has buttons such as link previews or a ‘load more’ button for long messages. 
    cometChatMessageTemplate.bottomView = (BaseMessage baseMessage, BuildContext buildContext, BubbleAlignment alignment) {
    return const Placeholder();
};
  7. Bubble Widget The bubbleView method allows you to assign a custom Bubble widget to the MessageBubble. By default, headerView, contentView, and footerView together form a message bubble. 
    cometChatMessageTemplate.bubbleView = (BaseMessage baseMessage, BuildContext buildContext, BubbleAlignment alignment) {
    return const Placeholder();
};
  8. Options The options lets you set the list of actions that a user can perform on a message. This includes actions like reacting to, editing, or deleting a message. 
    cometChatMessageTemplate.options = (User loggedInUser, BaseMessage messageObject, BuildContext context, Group? group) {
    return <CometChatMessageOption>[];
};

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Customization

Let’s dive into how you can use the properties of MessageTemplate to customize an existing template or add a new one to the MessageList Widget.

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Header widget

The headerView method of MessageTemplate allows you to add custom widgets to the header of your message bubbles. Here is the complete example for reference: 
CometChatMessages(
  group: group, // Group object
  messageListConfiguration: MessageListConfiguration(
    templates: [
      CometChatMessageTemplate(
        type: MessageTypeConstants.text, // Define the template type
        category: MessageCategoryConstants.message, // Define the template category
        headerView: (BaseMessage baseMessage, BuildContext buildContext, BubbleAlignment alignment) {
          return const Text("You_Header_Widget"); // Replace this placeholder Widget with your custom Widget
        },
      ),
    ],
  ),
)
Image

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Content widget

The contentView method of MessageTemplate allows you to add a custom widget to the content of your message bubbles. Here is the complete example for reference: 
CometChatMessages(
  group: group, // Group object
  messageListConfiguration: MessageListConfiguration(
    templates: [
      CometChatMessageTemplate(
        type: MessageTypeConstants.text, // Define the template type
        category: MessageCategoryConstants.message, // Define the template category
        contentView: (BaseMessage baseMessage, BuildContext buildContext, BubbleAlignment alignment, {AdditionalConfigurations? additionalConfigurations}) {
          return Container(
            margin: EdgeInsets.all(10),
            decoration: BoxDecoration(
              color: Color(0xFFE4EBF5),
              borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(10),
            ),
            child: Text((baseMessage as TextMessage).text),
          ); // Replace this placeholder Widget with your custom Widget
        },
      ),
    ],
  ),
)
Image

​
Bottom Widget

The bottomView method of MessageTemplate allows you to add a custom button widget to your message bubbles. Here is the complete example for reference: 
CometChatMessages(
  group: group, // Group object
  messageListConfiguration: MessageListConfiguration(
    templates: [
      CometChatMessageTemplate(
        type: MessageTypeConstants.text, // Define the template type
        category: MessageCategoryConstants.message, // Define the template category
        bottomView: (BaseMessage baseMessage, BuildContext buildContext, BubbleAlignment alignment, {AdditionalConfigurations? additionalConfigurations}) {
          return Container(
            padding: const EdgeInsets.all(10),
            margin: const EdgeInsets.all(10),
            decoration: BoxDecoration(
              color: Colors.yellow,
              borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(10),
            ),
            child: const Text("Your_Bottom_Widget"),
          ); // Replace this placeholder Widget with your custom Widget
        },
      ),
    ],
  ),
)
Image
The footerView method of MessageTemplate allows you to add a footer widget to your message bubbles. Here is the complete example for reference: 
CometChatMessages(
  group: group, // Group object
  messageListConfiguration: MessageListConfiguration(
    templates: [
      CometChatMessageTemplate(
        type: MessageTypeConstants.text, // Define the template type
        category: MessageCategoryConstants.message, // Define the template category
        footerView: (BaseMessage baseMessage, BuildContext buildContext, BubbleAlignment alignment, {AdditionalConfigurations? additionalConfigurations}) {
          return Container(
            padding: const EdgeInsets.all(10),
            margin: const EdgeInsets.all(10),
            decoration: BoxDecoration(
              color: Colors.yellow,
              borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(10),
            ),
            child: const Text("Your_Bottom_Widget"),
          ); // Replace this placeholder Widget with your custom Widget
        },
      ),
    ],
  ),
)
Image

​
Bubble Widget

The bubbleView method of MessageTemplate allows you to add a bubble widget to your message bubbles. Here is the complete example for reference: 
CometChatMessages(
  group: group, // Group object
  messageListConfiguration: MessageListConfiguration(
    templates: [
      CometChatMessageTemplate(
        type: MessageTypeConstants.text, // Define the template type
        category: MessageCategoryConstants.message, // Define the template category
        bubbleView: (BaseMessage baseMessage, BuildContext buildContext, BubbleAlignment alignment, {AdditionalConfigurations? additionalConfigurations}) {
          return Container(
            width: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width/1.2,
            padding: const EdgeInsets.all(10),
            margin: const EdgeInsets.only(top: 10, bottom: 10),
            decoration: BoxDecoration(
              color: Colors.yellow,
              borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(10),
            ),
            child: Flexible(
                child: Text.rich(
                  TextSpan(
                    style: const TextStyle(
                      fontSize: 16,
                      color: Colors.black,
                    ),
                    children: <TextSpan>[
                      TextSpan(
                        text: (baseMessage as TextMessage).sender!.name,
                        style: const TextStyle(
                          fontWeight: FontWeight.bold,
                          color: Color(0xFF6851D6)
                        ),
                      ),
                      const TextSpan(text: ": "),
                      TextSpan(
                        text: (baseMessage).text,
                        style: const TextStyle(
                          fontSize: 16,
                          color: Colors.black,
                        ),
                      ),
                    ],
                  ),
                )
            )
          ); // Replace this placeholder Widget with your custom Widget
        },
      ),
    ],
  ),
)
Image

​
Options List

The options method in the MessageTemplate allows you to customize the options that appear in the action sheet when a message is long-pressed. By default, CometChat UI Kit provides a set of options like “Reply”, “Forward”, “Edit”, and “Delete”. However, if you wish to override or modify these options, you can use the options method and pass a list of CometChatMessageOption. This list of options will replace the default set. Here is the complete example for reference: 
CometChatMessages(
  group: group, // Group object
  messageListConfiguration: MessageListConfiguration(
    templates: [
      CometChatMessageTemplate(
        type: MessageTypeConstants.text, // Define the template type
        category: MessageCategoryConstants.message, // Define the template category
        options: (User loggedInUser, BaseMessage messageObject, BuildContext context, Group? group) {
          return <CometChatMessageOption>[
            CometChatMessageOption(
              id: 'opt1',
              title: "Option 1",
              icon: "assets/img/envelope.png",
              onClick: (BaseMessage message, CometChatMessageListControllerProtocol state) {
                // TODO("Not yet implemented")
              },
            ),
            CometChatMessageOption(
              id: 'opt1',
              title: "Option 2",
              icon: "assets/img/envelope.png",
              onClick: (BaseMessage message, CometChatMessageListControllerProtocol state) {
                // TODO("Not yet implemented")
              },
            ),
            CometChatMessageOption(
              id: 'opt1',
              title: "Option 3",
              icon: "assets/img/envelope.png",
              onClick: (BaseMessage message, CometChatMessageListControllerProtocol state) {
                // TODO("Not yet implemented")
              },
            ),
            CometChatMessageOption(
              id: 'opt1',
              title: "Option 4",
              icon: "assets/img/envelope.png",
              onClick: (BaseMessage message, CometChatMessageListControllerProtocol state) {
                // TODO("Not yet implemented")
              },
            ),
          ];
        },
      ),
    ],
  ),
)
Image

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New Templates

You can create an entirely new template for custom messages is one of the powerful features of CometChat’s MessageTemplate. Here is the complete example for reference: 
CometChatMessages(
  user: user, // User object
  group: group, // Group object
  messageListConfiguration: MessageListConfiguration(
    messagesRequestBuilder: MessagesRequestBuilder()
      ..limit = 30
      ..types = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageTypes() + ["location"] // Add the custom type here
      ..categories = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getAllMessageCategories(),
    templates: [
      CometChatMessageTemplate(
        type: "location", // Define the template type
        category: MessageCategoryConstants.custom, // Define the template category
        bubbleView: (BaseMessage baseMessage, BuildContext buildContext, BubbleAlignment alignment, {AdditionalConfigurations? additionalConfigurations}) {
          return Container(
            width: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width/2.5,
            padding: const EdgeInsets.all(10),
            margin: const EdgeInsets.only(top: 10, bottom: 10),
            decoration: BoxDecoration(
              color: Colors.yellow,
              borderRadius: BorderRadius.circular(10),
            ),
            child: Flexible(
                child: Column(
                  children: [
                    Icon(
                      Icons.location_on_outlined,
                      color: Colors.black,
                      size: 100,
                    ),
                    SizedBox(height: 10,),
                    Text((baseMessage as CustomMessage).customData!['address'] as String, style: const TextStyle(
                      fontSize: 16,
                      color: Colors.black,
                    ))
                  ],
                )
            ),
          ); // Replace this placeholder Widget with your custom Widget
        },
      ),
    ],
  ),
)
Image