Navigation using PHP - HELP !

Hi,

I've put my navigation in a php script so i only have to update it once when the site is up and running, but I want it to recognise which page its on and show a different background image/font for that page in the Navigation.

site is at http://www.mattvalentine.co.uk/norcross/index.php

i know if it wasn't in the php i could just add a class to whichever page it was on at that point but want to keep my code tidy and save time in the future.

PLEASE HELP ! First attempt at PHP !

ta

 

i'd suggest to keep SEO in mind and make map array (with google friendly navigation), to load subcontent within your pages.

http://www.mattvalentine.co.uk/norcross/?q=my-content

 

Use this piece of code in the php file, where links are saved (and is included inside other site files, I use same trick).

if($_SERVER['PHP_SELF']=="some_file_name.php")
{
$background="img1.jpg";
}
elseif(...)
{
...
}
...

If guess, you got my point. If you need more clarification, PM me.

 

A twist on this that will save you coding space if you have a lot of pages is:

$background = str_replace("php", "jpg", $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']);
$background = str_replace("/", "", $background);

PHP:

The second part may or may not be necessary, depending on how you're doing it.

Now just save your backgrounds as page_name.jpg and badabing.

 

The easiest way is just to define a page variable at the top of the page. E.g

<?php
$page = "Home";
include("header.php");
?>

Code (markup):

Then, in the header file, check if the page is equal to the page variable and add a class if it is. You should put all your menu items in an array to make things easier.

E.g

$menu_items = array(
    "Home" => "link to home",
    "About" => "link to about"
)

foreach($menu_items as $name=>$link){
    if($page == $name){
        // this is the item for the current page
    }
    else {
        // regular item
    }
}

Code (markup):