Simple dynamic breadcrumb

Question

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

Answer 1

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>

Answer 2

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 3

Here is a great simple dynamic breadcrumb (tweak as needed):

    <?php 
    $docroot = "/zen/index5.php";
    $path =($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']);
    $names = explode("/", $path); 
    $trimnames = array_slice($names, 1, -1);
    $length = count($trimnames)-1;
    $fixme = array(".php","-","myname");
    $fixes = array(""," ","My<strong>Name</strong>");
    echo '<div id="breadwrap"><ol id="breadcrumb">';
    $url = "";
    for ($i = 0; $i <= $length;$i++){
    $url .= $trimnames[$i]."/";
        if($i>0 && $i!=$length){
            echo '<li><a href="/'.$url.'">'.ucfirst(str_replace($fixme,$fixes,$trimnames[$i]) . ' ').'</a></li>';
    }
    elseif ($i == $length){
        echo '<li class="current">'.ucfirst(str_replace($fixme,$fixes,$trimnames[$i]) . ' ').'</li>';       
    }
    else{
        echo $trimnames[$i]='<li><a href='.$docroot.' id="bread-home"><span>&nbsp;</span></a></li>';
    }
}
echo '</ol>';
?>