One of the greatest tools I have in my library set is Template Lite . Template lite is a light-weight version of another template engine known as Smarty. Once you start using template lite you will be pleasantly surprised by how powerful yet modular it is.
My whole point of this blog is to talk about modifiers. A modifier enables you to pass some php modifying code into a template lite variable.
Example:
{$mytlitevariable|ucfirst }
//This would capitalize the first letter of the variable.
What doesn't work
It is important to note that you cannot necessarily use this on all modify type php functions. Some php functions do not pass the main variable into the first option.
Using str_replace would not work as the passed variable is the third option in the command. {$mytlitevariable|str_replace:black:brown }
//is the equivalent to
str_replace($mytlitevariable,"black","brown")
//which will not work. You will have to use it via php:
{php} echo str_replace("black","brown",$mytlitevariable) {/php}
Modifiers Stacking
Modifier stacking allows you to make multiple changes to a variable by passing multiple modifiers to the template lite variable.
Example: {$myvar|ucfirst|truncate:40:"..."}
Creating your own Modifiers
Don't be afraid to create your own modifiers. When ever I run into something that I can't do I add it into template lite.
//Example: This is the source code for the indent modifier.
//Once you create the modifier and save it in the plugins folder with the name
//modifier.indent.php.
{$myvar|indent}
//Note there are 2 extra arguments you can use with it as well.
function tpl_modifier_indent($string,$chars=4,$char=" ")
{
return preg_replace('!^!m',str_repeat($char,$chars),$string);
}
This is the start of my experimentation with blogs. I am constantly forgetting how to do things with template lite and other things. I plan on adding these tips and tricks to my blog so I have one place to search for the info. Feel free to comment as I realize I don't know it all but am willing to share my experiences along the way.
