Theme preprocess functions: an introduction

DrupalCampNYCDecember 10th, 2011

Carl Wiedemann

tCarl WiedemannI live here in NYC...

Carl Wiedemann...originally from Denver

RIP

c4rl

...on various channels

Preprocess in Theory

Theme Dilemmas

7!7!7!7!

What do we do if this is insufficient?

<div class="content"> <?php print $content; ?></div>

How can we create more useful content?

<div class="content"> <?php print $my_content; ?></div>

<div class="<?php print $my_classes; ?>"> <?php print $my_content; ?></div>

How can we keep our theme contextual?

How can we create more useful content?

Preprocess

Preprocessmakes content

flexible

<?php print $my_content; ?>

Preprocessmakes theming

dynamic

class="<?php print $my_classes; ?>"

Preprocesskeeps templates

clean

if else foreach while switch =

So, when does preprocess

happen?

...Server receives requestRequest

Raw data

Processing

Return data

Database

ModulesRequest

Raw data

Processing

Return data

Database

ModulesRequest

Formatted data

HTML!

Theme

Raw data

Processing

Return data

Database

ModulesRequest

Formatted data

HTML!

Theme

Raw data

Processing

Return data

Database

ModulesRequest

Formatted data

HTML!

Theme

Preprocess in Practice

Firebug (or similar)

develdrush

Demo

includes/theme.incsites/all/themes/jupiter/template.php

jupiter_preprocess_page()dpm() dd()

jupiter_preprocess_node()

Exploring

Demo

Manually creating$submitted

$myvar

Demo

Specifying additional templates

Demo

Contextual CSS

Demo

Working with CCK

Working with fields

7!7!7!7!

Don't forget :)

Every template has a preprocessor!

Don't forget :)

file-name.tpl.php

jupiter_preprocess_file_name()

Oh yeah

Sexier examples

Demo

Views inbox

Demo

Cheap JSON API

Disclaimer :)

Important things to remember:

dpm() delaysDon't overload dpm()!

Clear cache when adding new tpl files and adding functions to template.php

Use check_markup() and check_plain() on data that may be unsafe

Questions?

Anyone? Anyone?

Thanks

Thanks to Matt Tucker (ultimateboy) for inspiring this talk Demo Photography Credits"Baseballs"http://www.flickr.com/photos/randomacts/2277808469/

"Basketball"http://www.flickr.com/photos/chillihead/3150447792/

"UNF Baseball vs. Florida Gulf Coast University"http://www.flickr.com/photos/8363028@N08/3368813471/

"Thor vs. Superman (49/365)"http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/4369073183/

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Theme preprocess functions: an introduction

DrupalCampNYCDecember 10th, 2011