PHP Simple dynamic breadcrumb

Question

Hello,

I think this script is of big interest to any noob around here :) including me :)

What I want to create is a little code that I can use in any file and will generate a breadcrumb like this:

If the file is called "website.com/templates/index.php" the breadcrumb should show:

Website.com > Templates

^^ link ^^plain text

If the file is called "website.com/templates/template_some_name.php" the breadcrumb should show:

Website.com > Templates > Template Some Name

^^ link ^^link ^^plain text

I am grateful for any reply, thanks!

Answer 1

Hmm, from the examples you gave it seems like "$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']" and the explode() function could help you. You could use explode to break up the URL following the domain name into an array, separating it at each forward-slash.

As a very basic example, something like this could be implemented:

$crumbs = explode("/",$_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"]);
foreach($crumbs as $crumb){
    echo ucfirst(str_replace(array(".php","_"),array(""," "),$crumb) . ' ');
}

Answer 2

use parse_url and then output the result in a loop:

$urlinfo = parse_url($the_url);
echo makelink($urlinfo['hostname']);
foreach($breadcrumb in $urlinfo['path']) {
  echo makelink($breadcrumb);
}

function makelink($str) {
  return '<a href="'.urlencode($str).'" title="'.htmlspecialchars($str).'">'.htmlspecialchars($str).'</a>';
}

(pseudocode)

Answer 3

This may be overkill for a simple breadcrumb, but it's worth a shot. I remember having this issue a long time ago when I first started, but I never really solved it. That is, until I just decided to write this up now. :)

I have documented as best I can inline, at the bottom are 3 possible use cases. Enjoy! (feel free to ask any questions you may have)

<?php

// This function will take $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] and build a breadcrumb based on the user's current path
function breadcrumbs($separator = ' &raquo; ', $home = 'Home') {
    // This gets the REQUEST_URI (/path/to/file.php), splits the string (using '/') into an array, and then filters out any empty values
    $path = array_filter(explode('/', parse_url($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], PHP_URL_PATH)));

    // This will build our "base URL" ... Also accounts for HTTPS :)
    $base = ($_SERVER['HTTPS'] ? 'https' : 'http') . '://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . '/';

    // Initialize a temporary array with our breadcrumbs. (starting with our home page, which I'm assuming will be the base URL)
    $breadcrumbs = Array("<a href=\"$base\">$home</a>");

    // Find out the index for the last value in our path array
    $last = end(array_keys($path));

    // Build the rest of the breadcrumbs
    foreach ($path AS $x => $crumb) {
        // Our "title" is the text that will be displayed (strip out .php and turn '_' into a space)
        $title = ucwords(str_replace(Array('.php', '_'), Array('', ' '), $crumb));

        // If we are not on the last index, then display an <a> tag
        if ($x != $last)
            $breadcrumbs[] = "<a href=\"$base$crumb\">$title</a>";
        // Otherwise, just display the title (minus)
        else
            $breadcrumbs[] = $title;
    }

    // Build our temporary array (pieces of bread) into one big string :)
    return implode($separator, $breadcrumbs);
}

?>

<p><?= breadcrumbs() ?></p>
<p><?= breadcrumbs(' > ') ?></p>
<p><?= breadcrumbs(' ^^ ', 'Index') ?></p>