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Tutorial: Frontend Views

Now we add the frontend — a summary view that lists published holidays, and a detail view that shows a single holiday. This involves registering parameters, creating frontend actions, and building templates.

Step 1: Register Frontend Parameters

Add the InitializeFrontend() and InitializeAdmin() methods to your Holidays.module.php class:

public function InitializeFrontend()
{
    $this->RegisterModulePlugin();
    $this->SetParameterType('hid', CLEAN_INT);
    $this->SetParameterType('pagelimit', CLEAN_INT);
    $this->SetParameterType('detailpage', CLEAN_STRING);
}

public function InitializeAdmin()
{
    $this->CreateParameter('hid', null, $this->Lang('param_hid'));
    $this->CreateParameter('pagelimit', 1000, $this->Lang('param_pagelimit'));
    $this->CreateParameter('detailpage', null, $this->Lang('param_detailpage'));
}

RegisterModulePlugin() lets content editors use the shorthand {Holidays} tag instead of {cms_module module=Holidays}.

SetParameterType() registers each parameter with its expected type. Unregistered parameters are silently stripped from frontend requests.

Step 2: The Default Frontend Action

Create action.default.php — the summary view:

<?php
if (!defined('CMS_VERSION')) exit;

$limit = isset($params['pagelimit']) ? (int) $params['pagelimit'] : 1000;
$limit = max(1, $limit);

$detailpage = $returnid;
if (isset($params['detailpage'])) {
    $hm = CmsApp::get_instance()->GetHierarchyManager();
    $node = $hm->sureGetNodeByAlias($params['detailpage']);
    if (is_object($node)) $detailpage = $node->get_tag('id');
}

$query = new HolidayQuery(['published' => 1, 'limit' => $limit]);
$holidays = $query->GetMatches();

$tpl = $smarty->CreateTemplate(
    $this->GetTemplateResource('default.tpl'), null, null, $smarty
);
$tpl->assign('holidays', $holidays);
$tpl->assign('detailpage', $detailpage);
$tpl->display();

What this does:

• Reads the pagelimit parameter (defaults to 1000).
• Resolves the detailpage parameter — converts a page alias to a numeric page ID using the Hierarchy Manager. If not specified, detail links point to the current page.
• Queries only published holidays.
• Passes the holidays and detail page ID to the template.

Step 3: The Summary Template

Create templates/default.tpl:

<div class="holiday-list">
  {foreach $holidays as $holiday}
    <div class="holiday-item">
      <a href="{cms_action_url action=detail hid=$holiday->id returnid=$detailpage}">
        {$holiday->name|escape}
      </a>
      &mdash;
      <span class="date">{$holiday->the_date|date_format:'%x'}</span>
    </div>
  {foreachelse}
    <p>{$mod->Lang('sorry_noholidays')}</p>
  {/foreach}
</div>

Step 4: The Detail Action

Create action.detail.php:

<?php
if (!defined('CMS_VERSION')) exit;
if (!isset($params['hid'])) return;

$holiday = HolidayItem::load_by_id((int) $params['hid']);

$tpl = $smarty->CreateTemplate(
    $this->GetTemplateResource('detail.tpl'), null, null, $smarty
);
$tpl->assign('holiday', $holiday);
$tpl->display();

Step 5: The Detail Template

Create templates/detail.tpl:

{if $holiday}
  <article class="holiday-detail">
    <h2>{$holiday->name|escape}</h2>
    <p class="date">{$holiday->the_date|date_format:'%x'}</p>
    <div class="description">
      {$holiday->description}
    </div>
  </article>
{else}
  <p>{$mod->Lang('error_notfound')}</p>
{/if}

Step 6: Add Lang Strings

Add to lang/en_US.php:

$lang['sorry_noholidays'] = 'Sorry, we could not find any holidays that match the specified criteria';
$lang['error_notfound'] = 'The Holiday specified could not be displayed';
$lang['param_hid'] = 'Applicable only to the detail action, this parameter accepts the integer id of a holiday to display';
$lang['param_pagelimit'] = 'Applicable only to the default action, this parameter limits the number of holidays displayed';
$lang['param_detailpage'] = 'Applicable only to the default action, this parameter allows specifying an alternate page alias on which to display the detail results';

Step 7: Call the Module from a Page

1. Create a new content page in CMSMS.
2. On the Options tab, check "Disable WYSIWYG editor on this page".
3. In the content area, enter:

{Holidays pagelimit=10}

Visit the page on the frontend. You should see a list of your published holidays with links to detail views.

Status Check

The module now has both admin and frontend functionality:

• Admin: add, edit, delete, list holidays.
• Frontend: summary view with links to detail views.
• The detailpage parameter lets you display details on a different page.
• The pagelimit parameter controls how many holidays are shown.

modules/Holidays/
├── Holidays.module.php
├── action.default.php
├── action.defaultadmin.php
├── action.delete_holiday.php
├── action.detail.php
├── action.edit_holiday.php
├── method.install.php
├── method.uninstall.php
├── lang/
│   └── en_US.php
├── lib/
│   ├── class.HolidayItem.php
│   └── class.HolidayQuery.php
└── templates/
    ├── default.tpl
    ├── defaultadmin.tpl
    ├── detail.tpl
    └── edit_holiday.tpl

Next, we'll add SEO-friendly URLs. Continue to {cms_selflink dir='next' text='Pretty URLs and Routes'}.