XOOPS Template System

The XOOPS Template System is built on the powerful Smarty template engine, providing a flexible and extensible way to separate presentation logic from business logic. It manages themes, template rendering, variable assignment, and dynamic content generation.

Template Architecture

graph TD
    A[XoopsTpl] -->|extends| B[Smarty]
    A -->|manages| C[Themes]
    A -->|manages| D[Template Variables]
    A -->|handles| E[Block Rendering]

    C -->|contains| F[Templates]
    C -->|contains| G[CSS/JS]
    C -->|contains| H[Images]

    I[Theme Manager] -->|loads| C
    I -->|applies| J[Active Theme]
    I -->|configures| K[Template Paths]

    L[Block System] -->|uses| A
    M[Module Templates] -->|uses| A
    N[Admin Templates] -->|uses| A

XoopsTpl Class

The main template engine class that extends Smarty.

Class Overview

namespace Xoops\Core;

class XoopsTpl extends Smarty
{
    protected array $vars = [];
    protected string $currentTheme = '';
    protected array $blocks = [];
    protected bool $isAdmin = false;
}

Extending Smarty

use Xoops\Core\XoopsTpl;

class XoopsTpl extends Smarty
{
    private static ?XoopsTpl $instance = null;

    private function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct();
        $this->configureDirectories();
        $this->registerPlugins();
    }

    public static function getInstance(): XoopsTpl
    {
        if (!isset(self::$instance)) {
            self::$instance = new self();
        }
        return self::$instance;
    }
}

Core Methods

getInstance

Gets the singleton template instance.

public static function getInstance(): XoopsTpl

Returns: XoopsTpl - Singleton instance

Example:

$xoopsTpl = XoopsTpl::getInstance();

assign

Assigns a variable to the template.

public function assign(
    string|array $tplVar,
    mixed $value = null
): void

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
$tplVar	string|array	Variable name or associative array
$value	mixed	Variable value

Example:

$xoopsTpl->assign('page_title', 'Welcome');
$xoopsTpl->assign('user_name', 'John Doe');

// Multiple assignments
$xoopsTpl->assign([
    'items' => $items,
    'total_count' => count($items),
    'show_pagination' => true
]);

appendAssign

Appends values to template array variables.

public function appendAssign(
    string $tplVar,
    mixed $value
): void

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
$tplVar	string	Variable name
$value	mixed	Value to append

Example:

$xoopsTpl->assign('breadcrumbs', ['Home']);
$xoopsTpl->appendAssign('breadcrumbs', 'Blog');
$xoopsTpl->appendAssign('breadcrumbs', 'Posts');
// breadcrumbs = ['Home', 'Blog', 'Posts']

getAssignedVars

Gets all assigned template variables.

public function getAssignedVars(): array

Returns: array - Assigned variables

Example:

$vars = $xoopsTpl->getAssignedVars();
foreach ($vars as $name => $value) {
    echo "$name = " . var_export($value, true) . "\n";
}

display

Renders a template and outputs to browser.

public function display(
    string $resource,
    string|array $cache_id = null,
    string $compile_id = null,
    object $parent = null
): void

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
$resource	string	Template file path
$cache_id	string|array	Cache identifier
$compile_id	string	Compile identifier
$parent	object	Parent template object

Example:

$xoopsTpl->assign('page_title', 'Home');
$xoopsTpl->display('user:index.tpl');

// With absolute path
$xoopsTpl->display(XOOPS_ROOT_PATH . '/templates/user/index.tpl');

fetch

Renders a template and returns as string.

public function fetch(
    string $resource,
    string|array $cache_id = null,
    string $compile_id = null,
    object $parent = null
): string

Returns: string - Rendered template content

Example:

$xoopsTpl->assign('message', 'Hello World');
$html = $xoopsTpl->fetch('user:message.tpl');
echo $html;

// Use for email templates
$emailContent = $xoopsTpl->fetch('mail:notification.tpl');
mail($to, $subject, $emailContent);

loadTheme

Loads a specific theme.

public function loadTheme(string $themeName): bool

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
$themeName	string	Theme directory name

Returns: bool - True on success

Example:

if ($xoopsTpl->loadTheme('bluemoon')) {
    echo "Theme loaded successfully";
}

getCurrentTheme

Gets the name of the currently active theme.

public function getCurrentTheme(): string

Returns: string - Theme name

Example:

$currentTheme = $xoopsTpl->getCurrentTheme();
echo "Active theme: $currentTheme";

setOutputFilter

Adds an output filter to process template output.

public function setOutputFilter(string $function): void

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
$function	string	Filter function name

Example:

// Remove whitespace from output
$xoopsTpl->setOutputFilter('trim');

// Custom filter
function my_output_filter($output) {
    // Minify HTML
    $output = preg_replace('/\s+/', ' ', $output);
    return trim($output);
}
$xoopsTpl->setOutputFilter('my_output_filter');

registerPlugin

Registers a custom Smarty plugin.

public function registerPlugin(
    string $type,
    string $name,
    callable $callback
): void

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
$type	string	Plugin type (modifier, block, function)
$name	string	Plugin name
$callback	callable	Callback function

Example:

// Register custom modifier
$xoopsTpl->registerPlugin('modifier', 'markdown', function($text) {
    return markdown_parse($text);
});

// Use in template: {$content|markdown}

// Register custom block tag
$xoopsTpl->registerPlugin('block', 'permission', function($params, $content, $smarty, &$repeat) {
    if ($repeat) return;

    // Check permission
    if (has_permission($params['name'])) {
        return $content;
    }
    return '';
});

// Use in template: {permission name="admin"}...{/permission}

Theme System

Theme Structure

Standard XOOPS theme directory structure:

bluemoon/
├── style.css              # Main stylesheet
├── admin.css              # Admin stylesheet
├── theme.html             # Main page template
├── admin.html             # Admin page template
├── blocks/                # Block templates
│   ├── block_left.tpl
│   └── block_right.tpl
├── modules/               # Module templates
│   ├── publisher/
│   │   ├── index.tpl
│   │   └── item.tpl
│   └── news/
│       └── index.tpl
├── images/                # Theme images
│   ├── logo.png
│   └── banner.png
├── js/                    # Theme JavaScript
│   └── script.js
└── readme.txt             # Theme documentation

Theme Manager Class

namespace Xoops\Core\Theme;

class ThemeManager
{
    protected array $themes = [];
    protected string $activeTheme = '';
    protected string $themeDirectory = '';

    public function getActiveTheme(): string {}
    public function setActiveTheme(string $theme): bool {}
    public function getThemeList(): array {}
    public function themeExists(string $name): bool {}
}

Template Variables

Standard Global Variables

XOOPS automatically assigns several global template variables:

Variable	Type	Description
$xoops_url	string	XOOPS installation URL
$xoops_user	XoopsUser|null	Current user object
$xoops_uname	string	Current username
$xoops_isadmin	bool	User is admin
$xoops_banner	string	Banner HTML
$xoops_notification	string	Notification markup
$xoops_version	string	XOOPS version

Block-Specific Variables

When rendering blocks:

Variable	Type	Description
$block	array	Block information
$block.title	string	Block title
$block.content	string	Block content
$block.id	int	Block ID
$block.module	string	Module name

Module Template Variables

Modules typically assign:

Variable	Type	Description
$module_name	string	Module display name
$module_dir	string	Module directory
$xoops_module_header	string	Module CSS/JS

Smarty Configuration

Common Smarty Modifiers

Modifier	Description	Example
capitalize	Capitalize first letter	{$title|capitalize}
count_characters	Character count	{$text|count_characters}
date_format	Format timestamp	{$timestamp|date_format:'%Y-%m-%d'}
escape	Escape special chars	{$html|escape:'html'}
nl2br	Convert newlines to <br>	{$text|nl2br}
strip_tags	Remove HTML tags	{$content|strip_tags}
truncate	Limit string length	{$text|truncate:100}
upper	Convert to uppercase	{$name|upper}
lower	Convert to lowercase	{$name|lower}

Control Structures

{* If statement *}
{if $user->isAdmin()}
    <p>Admin content</p>
{else}
    <p>User content</p>
{/if}

{* For loop *}
{foreach $items as $item}
    <div class="item">{$item.title}</div>
{/foreach}

{* For loop with counter *}
{foreach $items as $item name=item_loop}
    {$smarty.foreach.item_loop.iteration}: {$item.title}
{/foreach}

{* While loop *}
{while $condition}
    <!-- content -->
{/while}

{* Switch statement *}
{switch $status}
    {case 'draft'}<span class="draft">Draft</span>{break}
    {case 'published'}<span class="published">Published</span>{break}
    {default}<span class="unknown">Unknown</span>
{/switch}

Complete Template Example

PHP Code

<?php
/**
 * Module Article List Page
 */

include __DIR__ . '/include/common.inc.php';

$xoopsTpl = XoopsTpl::getInstance();

// Check if module is active
$module = xoops_getModuleByDirname('articles');
if (!$module) {
    redirect_header(XOOPS_URL, 3, 'Module not found');
}

// Get item handler
$itemHandler = xoops_getModuleHandler('item', 'articles');

// Get pagination parameters
$page = !empty($_GET['page']) ? (int)$_GET['page'] : 1;
$perPage = $module->getConfig('items_per_page') ?: 10;
$offset = ($page - 1) * $perPage;

// Build criteria
$criteria = new CriteriaCompo();
$criteria->add(new Criteria('status', 1));
$criteria->setSort('published', 'DESC');
$criteria->setLimit($perPage);
$criteria->setStart($offset);

// Fetch items
$items = $itemHandler->getObjects($criteria);
$total = $itemHandler->getCount(new Criteria('status', 1));

// Calculate pagination
$pages = ceil($total / $perPage);

// Assign template variables
$xoopsTpl->assign([
    'module_name' => $module->getName(),
    'items' => $items,
    'total_items' => $total,
    'current_page' => $page,
    'total_pages' => $pages,
    'items_per_page' => $perPage,
    'show_pagination' => $pages > 1
]);

// Add breadcrumbs
$xoopsTpl->assign('xoops_breadcrumbs', [
    ['url' => XOOPS_URL, 'title' => 'Home'],
    ['url' => $module->getUrl(), 'title' => $module->getName()],
    ['title' => 'Articles']
]);

// Display template
$xoopsTpl->display($module->getPath() . '/templates/user/list.tpl');

Template File (list.tpl)

<div id="articles-list">
    <h1>{$module_name|escape}</h1>

    {if $items}
        <div class="articles-container">
            {foreach $items as $item}
                <article class="article-item">
                    <header>
                        <h2>
                            <a href="{$item.url|escape}">
                                {$item.title|escape}
                            </a>
                        </h2>
                        <div class="meta">
                            <span class="author">By {$item.author|escape}</span>
                            <span class="date">
                                {$item.published|date_format:'%B %d, %Y'}
                            </span>
                        </div>
                    </header>

                    <div class="content">
                        <p>{$item.summary|truncate:150}</p>
                    </div>

                    <footer>
                        <a href="{$item.url|escape}" class="read-more">
                            Read More »
                        </a>
                    </footer>
                </article>
            {/foreach}
        </div>

        {* Pagination *}
        {if $show_pagination}
            <nav class="pagination">
                {if $current_page > 1}
                    <a href="?page=1" class="first">« First</a>
                    <a href="?page={$current_page - 1}" class="prev">‹ Previous</a>
                {/if}

                {for $i=1 to $total_pages}
                    {if $i == $current_page}
                        <span class="current">{$i}</span>
                    {else}
                        <a href="?page={$i}">{$i}</a>
                    {/if}
                {/for}

                {if $current_page < $total_pages}
                    <a href="?page={$current_page + 1}" class="next">Next ›</a>
                    <a href="?page={$total_pages}" class="last">Last »</a>
                {/if}
            </nav>
        {/if}
    {else}
        <p class="no-items">No articles found.</p>
    {/if}
</div>

Custom Smarty Functions

Creating a Custom Block Function

<?php
/**
 * Custom Smarty block function for permission checking
 */

function smarty_block_permission($params, $content, $smarty, &$repeat)
{
    if ($repeat) return;

    if (!isset($params['name'])) {
        return 'Permission name required';
    }

    $permName = $params['name'];
    $user = $GLOBALS['xoopsUser'];

    // Check if user has permission
    if ($user && $user->isAdmin()) {
        return $content;
    }

    if ($user && check_user_permission($user->uid(), $permName)) {
        return $content;
    }

    return '';
}

Register and use:

$xoopsTpl->registerPlugin('block', 'permission', 'smarty_block_permission');

Template:

{permission name="edit_articles"}
    <button>Edit Article</button>
{/permission}

Best Practices

1. Escape User Content - Always use |escape for user-generated content
2. Use Template Paths - Reference templates relative to theme
3. Separate Logic from Presentation - Keep complex logic in PHP
4. Cache Templates - Enable template caching in production
5. Use Modifiers Correctly - Apply appropriate filters for context
6. Organize Blocks - Place block templates in dedicated directory
7. Document Variables - Document all template variables in PHP

Related Documentation

• ../Module/Module-System - Module system and hooks
• ../Kernel/Kernel-Classes - Kernel and configuration
• ../Core/XoopsObject - Base object class

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See also: Smarty Documentation | XOOPS Template API