I'm trying to build a template system in CodeIgniter like wordpress. Does anyone have some links or tips to share with me on this matter?
I would like to create several functions that I can call from those php template pages like in wordpress. For example to display the comments from an item or loop through something, or even a tag_could.
the views folder would containt the different template folders & files.
and yes there is smarty, but no I don't want to use it.
Have a look at my Template library. It supports modules, themes, partials and layouts so you can create one main layout for each theme then have modular views if you wish.
While you are not a fan of Smarty, you might be interested in trying Dwoo. They are both very similar but Dwoo has the advantage of not sucking major donkey balls, which is Smarty's main downfall. I have written an extension for the CodeIgniter Parser library to get it to use Dwoo, which integrates perfectly with my Template library.
Between the two you can make pretty powerful, theme-able MVC applications.
Check out
http://www.williamsconcepts.com/ci/codeigniter/libraries/template/index.html
Template is right for you if:
You feel like using views can be clunky, especially when "embedding" views.
You don't like calling header, footer, and other global views from every Controller method.
You prefer having one "master template" that can be changed for any controller in order to meet unique application design needs.
You don't want to drastically alter the way you interface controllers and views.
You like clear, thorough documentation on par with CodeIgniter's User Guide.
Related
I have an application build with Symfony 3.3 and Twig that will be distributed to more customers. I'm using parameters.yml to customize its behavior and it seems to work well.
Where I have an issue is with twig templates: although the customers will use most of the templates as they are, they'll need to customize some parts like CSS styles, general layout and do occasional design overrides.
The options I have identified are:
Have a full set of templates for each customer. The issue is that the upgrades will be a nightmare as we have to patch each template and account for differences
Customize templates via YML files. The problem is that it gets too complicated soon and the number of parameters is potentially huge
Deliver a set of templates in app/Resources/views and allow the customer to override any of the templates by creating another file with the same name in another folder
Deliver a set of templates in AppBundle/Resources/views and let customers override them in app/Resources/views
Create the application as a Symfony bundle (ie. MyAppBundle) and deploy the application to each customer by including the MyAppBundle via composer. I like this solution a lot, but I do not know whether it is possible to implement is easily.
Do you have any suggestion on how to approach this problem?
I think the best way in your case is to think about the main parts and the customer parts and then build blocks and overwrite all parts that are relevant for the customer for example the CSS or anything else. If you know that there are special part you can build macros for example.
With the Block concept you can predefine the template but the customer has the ability to overwrite that part you've defined with it's own.
With Twig you have a lot of possibilities to solve such a problem.
Drupal 8 use that Theming concept.
https://www.chapterthree.com/blog/twig-concepts-drupal-8-themes-part-ii
Perhaps you can take a look how they have solved that and you can find a good solution for your problem.
I would like to build a CMS/backend in PHP for my websites to manage different things like photos, albums, news and in general creating dynamic content.
For example I would like to make a website where the owner can create a list of all his products with different attributes (text, images etc).
I know I could make my own CMS with an admin panel and I will have all the problems like users manage, CRUD functions for objects etc.
What I'm looking for is something between a CMS (like drupal or Wordpress) and Yii or Zend Framework.
I don't want to use this (CMS) to build frontend pages in total, like how drupal and wordpress do, because when i will create the frontend i just want to include my cms and use his functions like include_once(cms.php) and then use objects created by this CMS like echo $object->title etc.
What is the best and fastest way to create this?
I like how drupal creates content types where you can choose how to build this content like insert an image field or a text field etc but I think I can't just include Drupal in my frontend and use echo $object->title and also I like how Yii creates modules with CRUD functions.
What do you suggest?
Should I start from Yii or Zend and then use this as an admin panel or should I start from drupal and then try to include and use its functions in "external" pages?
IMHO Fastest way is to get a working system and try to manipulate to make act like you want, add code to your needs. this way you don't have to worry about some common tasks but there is a little learning of how that system works part.
but if you have time, you can always start from the ground up and make your own, just add what you need is making a faster system, but there is a difference between a system that has small team of developers (or you alone), and a system that has large number of users and a community of developers behind it.
for starters I would suggest to work on a reliable system, and build on top of that.
I was wondering if someone with Drupal experience could advice what are the best practices in the following situations. I think they are all common tasks for any website that you build.
Display a custom HTML of a certain content type at front-page (e.g., only the link and title).
Should I build a module only for this?
Customize the login form HMTL, including inputs, labels etc, to something very different from the default login block.
Again, another module?
Format the node view of some content types; for example: showing additional fields values. I have some Joomla experience and with it, it's very easy to override the template on your theme.
But with Drupal, it seems HTML is hard-coded on PHP files and there are very few thing that uses templates. Or am I missing something?
You should create a view (from Views module), and for this create display 'block'. This block you can use later on your site. Within your view settings you can choose what and how you will display.
It depends what you would like to put there. If you put just some static text, change theme could be a solution. But still, a bit smelly. What you should do, is to create a module use hook_form_FORM_ID_alter and add both - field to your form, and code to use values which user added.
Change templates for this content type in your custom theme; or use Panels module - here you have nice introduction; or use Display Suite module - which do pretty much the some work as creating a template
html is in php files, but where else can it go? Drupal also has it template overwrite system. The customization of the theme can be usually done using that alone.
As for your questions (there are also other alternative)
load the content type in view/block, display in list format on home page.
create your own theme for css changes. create custom tpl.php for
layout, and div naming etc.
same as above.
It doesn't hurt to create a new module, but generally it's not necessary unless you are going for something like a muti-step form.
You can use both Views & Panels in order to achieve what you've mentioned above.
For instance, Panels gives you the option to override the home page with your own content. This content can be organized with Views.
From drupal.org:
"The Views module provides a flexible method for Drupal site designers to control how lists and tables of content (nodes in Views 1, almost anything in Views 2) are presented."
"The Panels module allows a site administrator to create customized layouts for multiple uses. At its core it is a drag and drop content manager that lets you visually design a layout and place content within that layout."
(I've posted this on the drupal forum too btw)
I'm converting the company websites to use Drupal, or at least trying to check that its going to be the best way forward. I have a background in PHP development, and I'm currently using the CakePHP framwork. I've built this site (not my design) and I can see how to replicate most of the functionality using Drupal, most likely using the CCK module.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yk6u8mt
As you can see from the homepage:
A user chooses a country.
The country is passed using an ajax call to a script that decides which phone is best based on 'in country' network coverage.
A div is shown recommending the visitor the best phone for that country.
I'm wondering how to go about this in Drupal, I'm definitely not after a step by step guide, I just want to know if this kind of thing is possible with Drupal, and what approach to use.
If someone can help that would be superb. Thanks.
Okay, so you've got a path you're defining in hook_menu, which is where your form is being presented - or else you've got it set up as a webform in a node, that could work too.
Either way, in your form you're going to be using AHAH - check out http://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/developer--topics--forms_api_reference.html/6#ahah and http://drupal.org/node/348475 .
Basically, you're going to define another path in hook_menu that's of type MENU_CALLBACK, and which will receive the country as input, and then will return the div that you'll display on the screen.
One core example of AHAH that may be useful to you is where you're entering a password and it lets you know if the password is secure enough - check that out.
Edit: There's also some good examples at http://drupal.org/project/examples.
I would look into using CCK and views. you can set up filters for the views. If filters don't work, you have the ability to include php code. I have also successfully added jquery code in the header of a view through which I was then able to have my view filtered by what is typed in a text box.
Coming from CakePHP using Drupal is a pain in the a** - even more for developers.
It's application structure might be designed to ease extensibility but this only means you have a system to enable your own plugins and themes.
While modules are basically the M+C-part the themes are the V-part of an MVC-application. The problem is that this seperation is not very strict in Drupal - in fact you have to break it sometimes in order to make things work (e.g. you have to include a theme_mymodule_myfunction() into your module as default output which you then can override with your theme using mytheme_mymodule_myfunction() ) And don't even bother looking for classes ( see http://drupal.org/node/547518 ).
Also there is no real link from a module to a theme. On many occations this is a good thing as you can switch modules and themes seperatly without creating a problem. For application builders coming from CakePHP (or any other framework) you often feel a lack of "wholesomeness" - you create parts for a base software and have to live with it's drawbacks.
IMHO I wouldn't recommend this step. Drupal is fine if you have to manage a website and might add a few modules to add neccessary value (image gallery etc.) but I definetly don't recommend it as a base for a customized web-app.
I am new to Drupal and I am figuring out a set of steps for developing a Web Application. I planned:
1) Develop the application without any template or graphic effect. Just create your nodes, your views, integrate some plugins and so on. Goal: to have a website up and running from a functional point of view
2) Customize plugins: if some functionality is missing, customize plugins or develop on your own
3) Choose Theme and Customize it
4) Insert graphic effects (ex. JQuery)
5) Fine tuning
I am learning Drupal so I haven't any experience. Am I figuring out correctly ?
There are different approaches. This is how I work:
Define the goal of the site
Define functions
Define menu / pages
Deleveop theme / templates. Either from scratch or themes you downlowd.
Replace dummy text with Drupal code to show content. Here you functions comes in to place.
Remebmer that a node i Druapl, is basicalle your content / your text when you write articles.
When I tried to learn Drupal, I summarized some content here : http://stiengfoto.wordpress.com/category/development/drupal/
If you never have used CMS before, find some tutorials and start with the very most basic things.
Drupal i a great piece of machinery, but it might not be the best choice as a web app framework. It depends what you want to do really, but usually web apps is a lot of custom code / logic. Here Drupal's complexity might become a hindrance for you.
If I was going to build a site or application I would probably do something like this.
Find all the modules that I need. This can involve
Finding the contrib modules that I absolutely need.
Figuring out if I should use a contrib module + alterations or build my own module.
Searching for modules that can solve a problem, looking for solutions to problems that seem common etc.
Do the actual development, and create the features needed.
This include functional jQuery like AJAX.
Theming - this can in some extend be done while developing.
First step is usually to find a good base theme for your design, like Zen.
Then you need to implement the design.
Add jQuery where needed for flashy effects
Test and bugfix.
This should be done while developing, but when all looks good, be sure to give it all some good testing to make sure that it doesn't fail anywhere.