Integration Patterns

When to Use

When combining BEF with other Drupal modules — Views AJAX, Facets, Search API, Select2, or Chosen.

Decision: BEF + Views AJAX

Aspect	Behavior
Auto-submit	Works with AJAX — submits via AJAX instead of page reload
Links widget	Automatically adds `bef-links-use-ajax` class when View has AJAX enabled
Sliders	Work with AJAX — slider values trigger AJAX submit
Focus restoration	After AJAX refresh, BEF refocuses the last-triggered element

Enable: Views UI → Advanced → Use AJAX: Yes. BEF detects this automatically.

BEF explicitly supports Drupal\facets_exposed_filters\Plugin\views\filter\FacetsFilter in its isApplicable() logic. The Facets Exposed Filters sub-module bridges Facets with Views exposed forms, and BEF can then render those as checkboxes, links, etc.

Decision: BEF + Search API

BEF supports Drupal\search_api\Plugin\views\filter\SearchApiFulltext — fulltext search filters from Search API work with BEF widgets. Other Search API filters that extend standard Views filter classes also work.

Decision: BEF + Select2 / Chosen

Auto-submit JS explicitly excludes .select2-search__field and .chosen-search-input from triggering auto-submit. This prevents double-submission when these libraries fire change events during their own initialization.

Decision: Integration Modules

Module	Integration
Select2	Additional widget options for exposed filters
Selective BEF	Show only filter options that have results
Configurable Views Filter Block	Expose filters in configurable blocks
Views Dependent Filters	Show/hide filters based on other filter values
Token	Token replacement in filter descriptions

Common Mistakes

BEF + Facets without facets_exposed_filters — Facets uses its own rendering system. To use BEF with Facets, you need the facets_exposed_filters sub-module as a bridge.
Auto-submit + Select2 conflict — Older versions of Select2 may trigger change events that confuse auto-submit. Update to latest versions.
AJAX + exposed form as block — When the exposed form is a block and the View uses AJAX, the form and results may be in different DOM regions. AJAX commands target the View's wrapper, which works, but layout jumps can occur.