PHP Based Formatting

PHP Based Formatting for Custom Fields adds an incredible amount of flexibility to what you can do with the output of custom fields. With some basic knowledge of php programming you can start creating conditionals in no time to modify the behavior of any field based on different variables.

Available PHP Classes and Variables

$CustomFields	The JReviews CustomFields theme helper which lets you use the same methods described in How to customize the layout of custom fields in Theme_files.
$User	The Joomla User object contains information about the current logged in user.
$DB	The Joomla Database object allows you to query the database.
$Access	The JReviews Access class lets you quickly find out if a user has access to perform certain actions or determine if the user belongs to a specific user group.
$name	The custom field name.
$entry	The complete listing or review array depending on the location of the field.
$field	The array for the current custom field.
$fields	The array of all custom fields available for the entry.
$value	A string or array with the current field values. Multiple option fields like checkboxes and multiple select will be arrays, while other fields will be strings. For fields without options (text, decimal, integer, etc.) the $value matches the $text variable below.
$text	A string or array with the current field values. Multiple option fields like checkboxes and multiple select will be arrays, while other fields will be strings.
$image	A string or array with the current field option image name if one was assigned.
$output	An array with the current output for the field.

Examples

• Don't include php tags in the code.
• Always 'return' the output instead of using 'echo'.

Displaying the default output without changes

This is the most basic output. It doesn't change the default output of the field

return $output;

Hiding the field

return false;

Displaying a message for guests and the real output to logged in users

if($Access->isGuest()) {
   return "You must be logged in to view this field";
}
else {
   return $output;
}

Another way to accomplish the same thing:

if($User->id == 0) {
   return "You must be logged in to view this field";
}
else {
   return $output;
}

Display different images in banner field depending on selected value in select list

The following code goes in the PHP Based Formatting of the banner field.

$city = $CustomField->fieldValue('jr_city',$entry);
switch($city) {
   case 'san-francisco':
      $banner = "sanfrancisco.jpg";
   break;
   case 'new-york':
      $banner = "newyork.jpg";
   break;
   default: // All other cities display the banner normally
       return $output;
   break;
}
 
$banner = '/media/banners' . $banner;
 
return "<img src=".$banner." />";