[Resolved] php changing web page

vttv

The newbie notice here...ok I tried searching this but since I'm am not exatcly sure of the terms that I should be looking for I'm not coming up with what I want.

To make this simple, I have a web site that I want to be able to change a portion of the web page without having to reload the header, sidebar, footer and so on. Here is what I have so far for the index:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<title>My Website</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
<body>
<div style="height:50px;border:1px solid #000;margin-bottom:10px">

</div>

<div style="float:left;width:15%;border:1px solid #000">
<ul style="margin-left:10px;list-style-type:none">
<li><a href="index.php">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="index.php?page=about">About</a></li>

 <li><a href="index.php?page=contact">Contact</a></li>

</ul>
</div>

 <!-- content here -->
 </div>

</div>
</body>
</html>

Now there are other php pages of course, such as about, contact, and more but for simplicity I am starting small. Now to change the pages I know I need to use this code:

<?php

default page

$default = 'home.php';

set document root path

$base = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'];

list of all site pages + the id they will be called by

$pages = array('about' => 'about.php','contact' => 'contact.php');

if(array_key_exists($GET['page'], $pages))
{
foreach($pages as $pageid => $pagename) {
if($GET['page'] == $pageid && file_exists($base.$pagename))
{
/ if somebody's making a request for ?page=xxx and
the page exists in the $pages array, we display it
checking first it also exists as a page on the server /
include $base.$pagename;
}
} // end foreach
}
else {
/ if the page isn't listed in $pages, or there's no ?page=xxx request
we show the default page, again we'll also just make sure it exists as a file
on the server /
if(file_exists($base.$default)) include $base.$default;
}

My problem is I do not know where to exactly put this code to get it to work. I thought that I would have to place it within the index.php page. If you notice in my index.php text that I put first I have a  section where I thought that it should go. However, it is not working.

Anyone willing to help me out so I figure this out?

Thanks,
VTTV

krs1

What exactly isn't working? Are you getting any error messages/ no output? When you view the source do you see any of your php code?

The quick thing that i notice is:

if(file_exists($base.$default)) include $base.$default; 
}

Should be:

if(file_exists($base.$default)){
include $base.$default; 
} 
}

*please use

 or [code=php] tags!

Skull

The quick thing that i notice is:

if(file_exists($base.$default)) include $base.$default; 
}

Should be:

if(file_exists($base.$default)){
include $base.$default; 
} 
}

doesn't have to be, the first method still works fine and is just a shorter way of writing it

vttv

Sorry about not using the code.

Here is an example of the above code in use:

http://visionthang.mine.nu/CT/index.php

If you click on about it should come back and say, "This is my about page, it's about me.". If you click on contact it should come back and say, "This is my contact page, for contacting me.". And the home link has text as well. But as you can see from the web page click on the links brings nothing back. This is why I am confused. Am I putting all of the code in the right spot?

Thanks,
VTTV

bradgrafelman

Add some debug lines:

<?php 

# default page 
$default = 'home.php'; 

# set document root path 
$base = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT']; 

# list of all site pages + the id they will be called by 
$pages = array('about' => 'about.php','contact' => 'contact.php'); 

if(array_key_exists($_GET['page'], $pages)) 
{ 
echo '<!--Page ID is in the array-->';
foreach($pages as $pageid => $pagename) { 
if($_GET['page'] == $pageid && file_exists($base.$pagename)) 
{ 
/* if somebody's making a request for ?page=xxx and 
the page exists in the $pages array, we display it 
checking first it also exists as a page on the server */ 
include $base.$pagename; 
echo '<!--Included: '.$base.$pagename.'-->';
} 
} // end foreach 
} 
else { 
/* if the page isn't listed in $pages, or there's no ?page=xxx request 
we show the default page, again we'll also just make sure it exists as a file 
on the server */ 
if(file_exists($base.$default)) include $base.$default; 
} 

?>

After you do that, either post a link or paste the hidden HTML tags that the script outputs so we can see just what's going on.

vttv

how do you put in debug lines?

Thanks,
VTTV

bradgrafelman

By debug lines I just meant lines that echo out certain parts of your script. Copy and paste the PHP code I posted above, as I've inserted a couple of debug lines.

Then post a link to the script on your server.

vttv

well I'm not sure I am doing this right but here is the link to the page with your code...

http://visionthang.mine.nu/CT/index.php

bradgrafelman

Alright.. try this code.

 <?php  

# default page 
$default = 'home.php';  

# set document root path 
$base = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'];  

# list of all site pages + the id they will be called by 
$pages = array('about' => 'about.php','contact' => 'contact.php');  

if(array_key_exists($_GET['page'], $pages))  

{  

echo '<!--Page ID is in the array-->'; 
foreach($pages as $pageid => $pagename) {  

if($_GET['page'] == $pageid && file_exists($base.$pagename))  

{  

/* if somebody's making a request for ?page=xxx and 
the page exists in the $pages array, we display it 
checking first it also exists as a page on the server */  

include $base.$pagename;  

echo '<!--Included: '.$base.$pagename.'-->'; 
} 
echo '<!--pageid: '.$pageid.' && "'.$base.$pagename.'" exists: ' . file_exists($base.$pagename).'-->';
} // end foreach 
}  

else {  

/* if the page isn't listed in $pages, or there's no ?page=xxx request 
we show the default page, again we'll also just make sure it exists as a file 
on the server */  

if(file_exists($base.$default)) include $base.$default;  

}  

?>

vttv

That's not doing anything as well...am I missing something? I am just pasting the code within the index.php file. Should I not be doing that??

http://visionthang.mine.nu/CT/index.php

bradgrafelman

Yeah, it's working fine; it's echoing hidden debug statements in the HTML source.

Your problem lies in the path you're using. At present, it's trying to call "/Volumes/Squirrel/VT Webabout.php". Naturally, this won't do the trick. Either hardcode a default path, or check out your use of "$_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'];"

Also, you need to add a trailing slash if you're going to use that global:

$base = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/';

So like I said, either hardcode a base path or find a different method of grabbing it.

vttv

Thank you! I changed the "document root" to the actual path and now its working like a charm!

Thanks,
VTTV