Clean Up HTML Forms with Blade's @checked and @selected Directives

Replace cumbersome ternary operators in HTML form inputs with Laravel's @checked and @selected Blade directives.

Conditionally adding checked or selected attributes to checkboxes, radio buttons, and select dropdowns usually requires repetitive inline PHP or ternary expressions:

<!-- Old verbose syntax -->
<input type="checkbox" name="active" value="1" {{ old('active', $user->is_active) ? 'checked' : '' }}>

<option value="pro" {{ old('plan', $user->plan) === 'pro' ? 'selected' : '' }}>Pro</option>

Laravel provides @checked and @selected to express this cleanly.

Using @checked for Checkboxes and Radio Buttons

<input 
    type="checkbox" 
    name="newsletter" 
    value="1" 
    @checked(old('newsletter', $user->subscribed_to_newsletter)) 
/>

If the evaluated expression is truthy, Laravel outputs checked="checked". If falsy, nothing is rendered.

Using @selected for Dropdown Options

<select name="status">
    <option value="draft" @selected(old('status', $post->status) === 'draft')>Draft</option>
    <option value="published" @selected(old('status', $post->status) === 'published')>Published</option>
    <option value="archived" @selected(old('status', $post->status) === 'archived')>Archived</option>
</select>

Also: @disabled and @readonly

Laravel also provides @disabled and @readonly directives:

<button type="submit" @disabled($cart->isEmpty())>
    Checkout
</button>

Summary

• Eliminates verbose ternary operators in HTML templates.
• Automatically handles boolean truth-testing and outputs appropriate HTML attributes.
• Works across checkboxes (@checked), select menus (@selected), and buttons (@disabled).