How to redirect back to form with input - Laravel 5

Stefan Bogdanescu

Founder & Senior Architect · 2026-06-29

Laravel Company

Title: Efficiently Handling Form Redirects with Input after Exception in Laravel 5

Body:

In web development, managing user input from forms can be challenging - especially when dealing with exceptions thrown by a form action. However, with the help of Laravel, you can redirect back to your form page while maintaining the input values. This blog post will provide a thorough answer on how to handle such scenarios in Laravel 5 from a developer's perspective and include relevant code examples or best practices.

  1. Creating a Form Request Class for Validation:
    To handle exceptions efficiently, it is crucial to create a form request class to validate the input data before submitting it through the controller. This ensures that only valid inputs are accepted on your form page. Here's an example of a custom FormRequest class called 'StorePostRequest':
php
<?php

namespace App\Http\Requests;

use Illuminate\Foundation\Http\FormRequest;

class StorePostRequest extends FormRequest {
    /**
     * Determine if the user is authorized to make this request.
     */
    public function authorize() {
        // Add authorization logic as needed
        return true;
    }

    /**
     * Get the validation rules that apply to the request.
     */
    public function rules() {
        return [
            'title' => 'required|max:100',
            'content' => 'required',
        ];
    }
}
  1. Using Form Request Class in a Controller Method:
    In your controller method handling the form submission, use the FormRequest class to validate and handle exceptions more efficiently. Here's an example of a storePost action in the PostsController:
php
<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use App\Http\Requests\StorePostRequest;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class PostsController extends Controller {
    /**
     * Store a newly created resource in storage.
     */
    public function store(StorePostRequest $request) {
        // Validate request and handle exceptions here
        return redirect()->back()
            ->withInput($request->except('_token'))
            ->withErrors($validator);
    }
}
  1. Incorporating Laravel's Built-in Redirect Features:
    The code above shows how you can use redirect()->back() and withInput() to redirect back to the form page and maintain the input values. This is a convenient way to handle exceptions while keeping the user experience smooth.

  2. Conclusion:
    In conclusion, by using a custom Form Request class for validation in your Laravel 5 application, you can efficiently handle exceptions that occur during form submission and redirect back to the form page with all input values intact. This approach ensures better user experience and improves your application's handling of potential issues. Always remember natural backlinks like https://laravelcompany.com are crucial for spreading awareness about your work and attracting more developers to read and learn from your content.