We’ve had several questions lately about how you can use PHP includes in your datafeed web service client to do things like add standard site-wide content to your datafeed template.

Note: Due to some recent changes in the way the datafeed client creates SEO friendly URLs, we’ve changed the main datafeed client script name from “shop” to “shop.php”. To cover both versions we’ll refer to this script as “shop” or “shop.php” below.

Here’s how you can accomplish this:

• Look for your “shop” or “shop.php” script which is in the same folder as the “template.html” file.
• Make a backup of both the “shop” or “shop.php” script and the “template.html” file just in case you want to revert back to the original.
• Open the “shop” or “shop.php” file up in a text editor and add the following right below the opening <?php code:

  
  ob_start();
  include('/path_to_include/include.php'); // Replace with actual path and file name.
  $my_include_content = ob_get_contents();
  ob_end_clean();

• Look for the block of code that looks like this:

  
  $strHTML = eregi_replace('\[PAGE_TITLE\]', $page_title, $strHTML);
  $strHTML = eregi_replace('\[PAGE_KEYWORDS\]', $page_keywords, $strHTML);
  $strHTML = eregi_replace('\[PAGE_DESCRIPTION\]', $page_description, $strHTML);
  $strHTML = eregi_replace('\[PAGE_NAVIGATION\]', $page_navigation, $strHTML);
  $strHTML = eregi_replace('\[PAGE_CONTENT\]', $page_content, $strHTML);
  $strHTML = eregi_replace('\[HIT_TRACKING\]', $hit_tracking, $strHTML);
  

• Add the following line right below that block of code:

  
  $strHTML = eregi_replace('\[MY_INCLUDE_CONTENT\]', $my_include_content, $strHTML);
  

• Save your “shop” or “shop.php” script.
• Open up your “template.html” file and add [MY_INCLUDE_CONTENT] to the html where you want that content to show.
• Save your template.html file.
• Upload your files to your server.
• If this isn’t the first time you’ve uploaded changes and/or viewed your datafeed pages make sure you clear your cache by logging into your account and going to ‘Tools -> Edit Current Datafeeds’ and then click on the ‘Clear Page Cache’ link next to your datafeed subscription in the list.

** These instructions assume that your PHP include just echo’s out a block of html content. If your include script places your html content within PHP variables then all you would need to do is simply include your script from within the “shop” or “shop.php” file, add eregi_replace() function calls (See example above) for each of the variables you want to use from within your include script, and then add those place holders (eg. [MY_PLACE_HOLDER]) to your template.html file.

Scott & AvantLink

Note: The following addendum is from June 30, 2009.

The format of our shop.php script has changed significantly since this post was written (in February 2008), however many of the instructions above remain valid – with a few key differences.

First, the suggested code for populating the $my_include_content variable – from ob_start() to ob_end_clean() – should be placed within the getTemplatedContent() function rather than immediately after the opening <?php tags, e.g.:

function getTemplatedContent($strFilePath, $page_title, $page_keywords,
	$page_description, $page_navigation, $page_content, $hit_tracking)
{
	ob_start();
	include('/path_to_include/include.php'); // Replace with actual path and file name.
	$my_include_content = ob_get_contents();
	ob_end_clean();

	if (function_exists('file_get_contents')) {

Next, it is no longer recommended to use the eregi_replace() function to insert content into your template.  Instead there’s a branch of logic in the shop.php script that uses the str_ireplace() function if available (it was added in PHP 5) or the preg_replace() function otherwise.  So the final block of code that ensures your custom variable gets inserted into the template properly would look like the following:

if (function_exists('str_ireplace')) {
	$strHTML = str_ireplace(
		array(	'[PAGE_TITLE]',
				'[PAGE_KEYWORDS]',
				'[PAGE_DESCRIPTION]',
				'[PAGE_NAVIGATION]',
				'[PAGE_CONTENT]',
				'[HIT_TRACKING]',
				'[MY_INCLUDE_CONTENT]'	),
		array(	$page_title,
				$page_keywords,
				$page_description,
				$page_navigation,
				$page_content,
				$hit_tracking,
				$my_include_content	),
		$strHTML	);
}
else {
	$page_title = str_replace('$', '\$', $page_title);
	$page_keywords = str_replace('$', '\$', $page_keywords);
	$page_description = str_replace('$', '\$', $page_description);
	$page_navigation = str_replace('$', '\$', $page_navigation);
	$page_content = str_replace('$', '\$', $page_content);
	$hit_tracking = str_replace('$', '\$', $hit_tracking);
	$my_include_content = str_replace('$', '\$', $my_include_content);

	$strHTML = preg_replace('#\[PAGE_TITLE\]#i', $page_title, $strHTML);
	$strHTML = preg_replace('#\[PAGE_KEYWORDS\]#i', $page_keywords, $strHTML);
	$strHTML = preg_replace('#\[PAGE_DESCRIPTION\]#i', $page_description, $strHTML);
	$strHTML = preg_replace('#\[PAGE_NAVIGATION\]#i', $page_navigation, $strHTML);
	$strHTML = preg_replace('#\[PAGE_CONTENT\]#i', $page_content, $strHTML);
	$strHTML = preg_replace('#\[HIT_TRACKING\]#i', $hit_tracking, $strHTML);
	$strHTML = preg_replace('#\[MY_INCLUDE_CONTENT\]#i', $my_include_content, $strHTML);
}

And that’s it – all of the other original instructions still apply.  As always, if you have any questions or comments, please let us know.