How do I dynamically populate the <title> tag in a PHP page?

Question

My code looks like:

index.php:

<html>....  
    <title>My page</title>

....

<?php
    switch ($_GET['id']){  
        case "tips":  
            include("tips.php");  
            $title = "Tips";
...

How do I get the title varible to the html title tag?

All pages pass through index.php.

Sampson · Accepted Answer · 2009-07-20 17:44:42Z

10

Do your PHP before your HTML output.

<?php

  switch ($_GET["id"]) {
    case "tips":
      $title = "Tips";
      $page  = "tips.php";
  }

?>
<html>
 <head>
  <title><?php print $title; ?></title>
 </head>
 <body>
  <?php include($page); ?>
 </body>
</html>

edited Jul 20, 2009 at 17:44

answered Jul 20, 2009 at 17:33

Sampson

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5 Comments

Johan Over a year ago

No, I start with the html head. First line of PHP comes after <body>

Mike Dinescu Over a year ago

@Johan, Johnathan's answer was a statement, not a question. He was pointing out what you SHOULD do not whether you were doing it..

Sampson Over a year ago

@Johan, always perform logic like this before you print any HTML. That way, when you get to your HTML it isn't cluttered with PHP. Notice how much cleaner my HTML is than yours this is ideal. Hope this helps.

Peter Boughton Over a year ago

Don't forget the DOCTYPE to prevent quirks mode!

Sampson Over a year ago

@Peter, that's true, but beyond the scope of this example :)

ceejayoz · Accepted Answer · 2009-07-20 17:40:36Z

2

You can also do this with output buffering and a little string replacement.

<?php ob_start('ob_process'); ?>
<html>....  
    <title>{{{TITLE}}}</title>

....

<?php

switch ($_GET['id']){  
  case "tips":  
    include("tips.php");  
    $title = "Tips";
    break;
}

function ob_process($buffer) {
  global $title;
  $buffer = str_replace('{{{TITLE}}}', $title, $buffer);
  return $buffer;
}

answered Jul 20, 2009 at 17:40

ceejayoz

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5 Comments

Sampson Over a year ago

Global variables? Output Buffering? This is over-complicating the situation.

ceejayoz Over a year ago

It's an option. None of the solutions are ideal - he'd be better off using a proper framework or something that handles all this.

Sampson Over a year ago

How is my solution not ideal? I agree that he should use a framework, but if he isn't capable yet, performing logic apart from markup is ideal. Or am I missing something?

ceejayoz Over a year ago

Your situation isn't ideal because switch statements including PHP files went out when PHP-Nuke did. It works, but it's hardly pretty.

ceejayoz Over a year ago

Incidentally, this solution also separates logic from markup.

Ahmet Kakıcı · Accepted Answer · 2009-07-20 17:34:18Z

0

< title > <?php echo $title; ?> < /title >

answered Jul 20, 2009 at 17:34

Ahmet Kakıcı

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3 Comments

Sampson Over a year ago

$title isn't declared until after the example outputs the title tags. Your answer is partly correct, but is missing some clarity on fixing the chronology of variable-declaration.

Ahmet Kakıcı Over a year ago

i thougt that he declares before using :)

Sampson Over a year ago

No, that would be the best thing, but he unfortunately didn't do that. He doesn't declare it until the end of his example, yet he wants to use it at the beginning.

Narayan Raman · Accepted Answer · 2009-07-20 17:38:35Z

0

If you cannot use what Ahmet KAKICI suggests, add a script tag which sets document.title

<html>....  
    <title>My page</title>

....

<?php
    switch ($_GET['id']){  
        case "tips":  
            include("tips.php");  
            $title = "Tips";
...
?>
<script>top.document.title="<?php=$title?>"</script>

My PHP is rusty, just wanted to suggest document.title

answered Jul 20, 2009 at 17:38

Narayan Raman

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3 Comments

Sampson Over a year ago

I think that will hurt you when it comes to search-engine optimization.

Narayan Raman Over a year ago

Agree. That is why it says "If you cannot use what Ahmet KAKICI suggests"!

Narayan Raman Over a year ago

@Jonathan Cool you clarified :)) I did think you did. Cheers.

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