CMS: Add entity reference field to replace Other VA Locations

[JayDarnell]

User Story or Problem Statement

Relates to #11829

Due to the way the Other VA Locations field (and related front end logic) is currently built we can end up in a situation where values are provided for this field but the front end will display a blank section containing only the header. This happens due to the following:

• field_other_va_locations on the VAMC System content type is a plain text field (multi-value)
• this field is supposed to contain a list of valid facility locator api ids
• the current liquid template for the locations list page only checks to be sure this field has values
• if values exist the liquid template creates a placeholder DIV with the facility locator api ids provided via an attribute

  {% if fieldOtherVaLocations != empty and fieldOtherVaLocations.length and section.name != "Lovell - TRICARE" %}
  <h2 class="medium-screen:vads-u-margin-bottom--4" id="other-nearby-va-locations">
  Other nearby VA locations
  </h2>
  <div data-widget-type="other-facility-locations-list" data-facilities="{{ fieldOtherVaLocations }}"></div>
  {% endif %}

• a front end widget then performs a lookup on the provided IDs and lists out links to facility pages
• the facility pages MIGHT be pages from CMS but they also MIGHT be placeholder pages from the front end
• we get into trouble if the facility locator api id being tried doesn't exist in either place (this can happen when a facility changes systems and gets a new facility locator api id)

Note: we cannot really do anything about this until the CMS is the source of truth for all facilities referenced by this field. Once it is we should create a new entity reference field to replace the existing plain text field, run a script to move the data to the new field, update the front end to use this new data and then remove the old field.

Acceptance Criteria

• [ ] A new entity reference field has been added to the VAMC System content type
• [ ] This field should be labeled Other VA Locations
• [ ] This field should only reference facilities: VAMC Facilities, Vet Centers, (others?)
• [ ] This field should be hidden for all users except admins

Design principles

Veteran-centered

• [ ] Single source of truth: Increase reliability and consistency of content on VA.gov by providing a single source of truth.
• [ ] Accessible, plain language: Provide guardrails and guidelines to ensure content quality.
• [ ] Purposely structured content: Ensure Content API can deliver content whose meaning matches its structure.
• [ ] Content lifecycle governance: Produce tools, processes and policies to maintain content quality throughout its lifecycle.

Editor-centered

• [ ] Purpose-driven: Create an opportunity to involve the editor community in VA’s mission and content strategy goals.
• [ ] Efficient: Remove distractions and create clear, straightforward paths to get the job done.
• [ ] Approachable: Offer friendly guidance over authoritative instruction.
• [ ] Consistent: Reduce user’s mental load by allowing them to fall back on pattern recognition to complete tasks.
• [ ] Empowering: Provide clear information to help editors make decisions about their work.

CMS Team

Please check the team(s) that will do this work.

• [ ] Program
• [ ] Platform CMS Team
• [ ] Sitewide Crew
• [ ] ⭐️ Sitewide CMS
• [ ] ⭐️ Public Websites
• [x] ⭐️ Facilities
• [ ] ⭐️ User support

[JayDarnell]

I have created a corresponding FE ticket #12005 - More tickets may be needed to coordinate the switching of data from the old field to the new and changing the visibility of the old and new fields with the release of the front end change to support the new field.