Extension Usage

Extensions

Extensions provide a convenient way of turning custom PHP code into statements of the template language. Besides the fact that extensions are always called by their full name including their namespace, the syntax is the same as for regular functions and filters.

<# Generic extension. #>
<@ Vendor/Extension { options } @>
<# Custom filter. #>
@{ variable | Vendor/Filter }

Installing Extensions

Extensions are distributed as packages and can be installed using the package manager in the dashboard. Packages that are not published can also simply be copied into the packages directory of your installation. After installation, an extension is available in all templates of all themes.

Generic Extensions

Generic extensions are used like functions. Options are passed as a relaxed JSON object and can contain variables and filters. Whatever is returned by the extension is rendered in place of the statement.

<@ Vendor/Gallery {
  glob: @{ galleryFiles | def ('*.jpg') },
  width: 400,
  class: 'gallery'
} @>

Custom Filters

Custom filters are used like any built-in filter and can also be chained with other filters. Parameters are passed in parentheses.

@{ title | Vendor/Slugify | strtoupper }
@{ text | Vendor/Truncate (100, '...') }

Precedence

When a statement is called, Automad first looks for a matching snippet, built-in function or custom function before trying to load an extension. Since extension names always contain a namespace, conflicts with other statements are practically impossible.

Inheritance Recurisve Navigations
Extensions
Extensions provide a convenient way of extending Automad's core functionality with custom PHP code, while still offering the clean syntax of the template language. Extensions are distributed as packages and can be used across all themes of a site. There are two types of extensions: generic extensions and custom filters.
Generic Extensions
In case you are missing an advanced feature while developing themes using the template language, you can implement that functionality as a generic extension written in plain PHP. Generic extensions have full access to all content and core features and can be used in any template of any theme.
Custom Filters
Automad already provides a set of filters to modify the value of a variable. However, in some cases it may be necessary to use a custom function to process the content of a variable. Custom filters are written in plain PHP and their setup is very similar to the structure of a generic extension.