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Introduction:

Who am I?

Rowan Sentesy

Self-taught (mostly)

~12 years EE experience

Entrepreneur

Freelance

Now: developer with Hop Studios

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Introduction: Overview

What we’re going to talk about:

What is Parse Order?
Hop’s EE6 Parse Order PDF
Parse order problems
PHP in Templates
Examples
Q&A

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EE Templating

Powerful
Elegant
Easy to get quick results
Simple things are .. simple!
Complexity

Snippets
Addons
Variables
Caching

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What is Parse Order?

{stuff} => <html>..</html>

Parse & Render

Tags are rendered, can be used later in the process.

Order is important

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Let’s see what EE has to say...

The Template Engine

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Can we change parse order?

Yes … Kind-of …

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Example 1 - Default (Outward)

<h1>Default (outward)</h1>

{exp:rss_parser url="https://ellislab.com/blog/rss-feed" limit="5"}

<ul>

{feed_items}

<li><a href="{item_link}">{item_title}</a><br />

{exp:word_limit total="35"}

{item_content}

{/exp:word_limit}

</li>

{/feed_items}

</ul>

{/exp:rss_parser}

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Example 2 - Inward

<h1>Inward</h1>

{exp:rss_parser url="https://ellislab.com/blog/rss-feed" limit="5" parse="inward" }

<ul>

{feed_items}

<li><a href="{item_link}">{item_title}</a><br />

{exp:word_limit total="35"}

{item_content}

{/exp:word_limit}

</li>

{/feed_items}

</ul>

{/exp:rss_parser}

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Example 3 (bonus)

<h1>Outward with :limit</h1>

{exp:rss_parser url="https://ellislab.com/blog/rss-feed" limit="5"}

<ul>

{feed_items}

<li><a href="{item_link}">{item_title}</a><br />

{item_content:limit characters="210"}

</li>

{/feed_items}

</ul>

{/exp:rss_parser}

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Extension Hook Priority

Two hooks for template parsing:

template_fetch_template
template_post_parse

priority - an extension hook could have many extensions being called, so there needs to be priority. 1 => First, 10 => common default, 99+ => Last.

Think: z-index for timing.

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The Big Ones �(my list)

Module & plugin tags
Variables (single, pair)
Conditional tags
Site Template Variables
Template Partials

The variables formerly known as ‘snippets’

Template Layout tags
Embeds
PHP Code

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Thanks to Low

Kudos to @Low for this EE 2 Parse order document!

Back in 2010, Low created this document.

Lodewijk Schutte (aka @Low)

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Introducing the …

EE Parse Order

Quick Reference Guide

hopstudios.com/parse_order

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Common problems with Parse Order

Variable name collision was a problem when nesting {exp:}tag pairs!

{count} {total_results} {no_results} �would sometimes show unexpected results

Over the years this has become less of an issue, thanks to prefixing!

var_prefix (i.e. Matrix)
EE Relationships & Grid - full field name prefixing�{relationship_field:my_relationship status="open"}...

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Prefixing: A Quick look

Generally, this works very well.

It is rare to encounter issues with this since Relationships & Grid were introduced by EE.

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Use PHP in templates

Don’t do it!

Experienced developer
Use an existing Add-on
Use an embed
Security
Performance
Complexity
Maintainability
Time/Budget

Do it!

Beginner or new to EE
Can’t solve with add-on
Can’t solve with embed
Security
Performance
Simple to moderately complex
Time/Budget

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PHP not in EE (without add-on)

PHP to provide info about

System, server, or client
Functionality or data
CURL
Connect to another db

Example: file directory listing

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PHP Parse Stage

Parse stage: Input

Do some PHP feed results into EE module.

<?php

/* Set an array */

$entry_ids = [1,2,3,4,5];

{exp:channel:entries entry_id="<?=implode("|",$entry_ids)?>"}

<h1>{title}</h1>

{/exp:channel:entries}

Parse stage: Output

Use EE module to build php variable/array.

<?php

$data = [];

{exp:channel:entries limit="100"}

<?php

$data[] = [{entry_id},'{title}'];

{/exp:channel:entries}

<?php

echo "<pre>";

print_r($data);

echo "</pre>";

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Problem:

List & Total

Consider this example

How would you solve for…�Price total (numeric)�Emails (list)

Type it in the chat.

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Try without PHP

(First try)

Requires: Stash, MX Calc

Parsing not working
MX Calc was not working with Stash

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Try without PHP�(Second try)

Requires: Embed, Stash, Tally

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Try with PHP

Requires: PHP (output)

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List & Total: Conclusions

Which do you like the best?

Embeds, addons can be used

Can be fiddly & confusing

PHP example is simplest, cleanest code (IMHO)

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But First...

Summary

What is Parse Order?
Hop’s EE6 Parse Order PDF
Old Parse order problems
PHP in Templates
Examples

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Q&A

Ask in the Q&A tab,

or follow the instructions provided by EE Conference team...

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Thank you!

Thanks to the EE Team: �Tom, Brian, Andy (and others!)

Reach out:�rowan@hopstudios.com

EE Slack:�@Rowan Sentesy

Twitter:�@hopstudios

Parse Order PDF:

hopstudios.com/parse_order