MultiFieldPanel and InlinePanel help_text no longer renders in 4.0

Issue Summary

In Wagtail 4.0, the help_text argument in the MultiFieldPanel is no longer rendered, whereas it was rendered in 2.x and 3.0.x.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Start fresh Wagtail installations for 4.0 and 3.0.2 as per the instructions at Getting Started. For each:
2. Merge in the application at https://github.com/dkirkham/wagtail-ui-testpage
3. Add 'testpage' to INSTALLED_APPS in settings/base.py
4. Migrate and runserver
5. Login to the Wagtail admin interface
6. Create a child Testpage of the home page
7. Go to the Event Details tab
8. Observe the Orderables Header multifield.

In 3.0.2, the help_text content appears at the right when hovering over the multifield:

In 4.0, the help_text is not rendered:

The help_text is carried through the 4.0 code and is available in the template context.

• I have confirmed that this issue can be reproduced as described on a fresh Wagtail project: (yes)

Comments

This issue could be considered a bug, a documentation bug or a feature request.

At the moment, I’m illustrating a difference in functional behaviour, in that the help_text that was visible in 3.0.2 is no longer visible. If this was the design intent with the new UI, then it is a documentation bug in that it should have been commented in the Upgrade Considerations part of the 4.0 release notes.

In my initial Slack support discussion thread (here) it was suggested that the solution might be to use a HelpPanel. This may be a reasonable and more flexible solution – given the reason I originally used the MultiFieldPanel was mainly to get the red banners. If the UI team think this is the best solution, then that should be documented. But to maintain the original function, it might still make sense to at least render the help_text if it is provided.

Incidently, the InlinePanel label that is rendered in the 4.0, as part of the InlinePanel and above the button that instantiates each new Orderable form, may be superfluous. This should also be considered by the UI team.

Technical details

• Python version: Testing with 3.9, but probably irrelevant
• Django version: Testing with default versions for each wagtail release, but probably irrelevant
• Wagtail version: As per the instructions - 3.0.2 and 4.0
• Browser version: Screenshots with Firefox 103, but probably irrelevant

[dkirkham]

@thibaudcolas no worries, looks like the changes were much more comprehensive than I had in mind. I’ll give the changes a test in my own project when I get a chance.

[thibaudcolas]

@dkirkham sorry I was away and only seeing your message now! We proceeded with the fix for InlinePanel + adding support for help_text everywhere else it used to work.

This will be fixed in the upcoming v4.1 (scheduled for 01/11/2022) and v4.0.3 (no set date) releases.