What are .tpl files? PHP, web design

Question

Someone wants me to redesign a site run in PHP (VideoCMS). But when I asked him to send me the source he has given me *.tpl files instead of *.php. There is some code inside them:

{include file='header.tpl' p="article"}

<br />
<table width="886" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
  <tr>
    <td width="150" valign="top">
    <div id="reg_box">
    <h3 class="captions">{$lang.articles}</h3>
        <div id="list_cats">
        <ul>
            {$article_categories}
        </ul>
        </div>
    </div>
    <br />
    <div id="reg_box">
    <h3 class="captions">{$lang.members}</h3>
    {if $logged_in == '1'}
    {include file='loggedin_body.tpl'}
    {else}
    {include file='login_body.tpl'}
    {/if}

or

{include file='header.tpl' p="index"}

{php} $_SESSION['isFair'] = "Yes"; {/php}

What's the interpreter of the code? How can I redesign this site?

score 110 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 27 '09 at 11:54

110

That looks like Smarty to me. Smarty is a template parser written in PHP.

You can read up on how to use Smarty in the documentation.

If you can't get access to the CMS's source: To view the templates in your browser, just look at what variables Smarty is using and create a PHP file that populates the used variables with dummy data.

If I remember correctly, once Smarty is set up, you can use:

$smarty->assign('nameofvar', 'some data');

to set the variables.

answered Nov 27 '09 at 11:54

Chris Clarke

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`.tpl` is NOT only the extension for smarty files. Many other parsers and in fact custom solutions use `.tpl` Also if custom, you can place PHP inside the `.tpl` files too. OpenCart is a good example of this and vBulletin, where inside the `.tpl` you have have PHP inside it. That is why many servers such as NGINX come pre-built with preventing people from viewing the `.tpl` files. – TheBlackBenzKid Jan 06 '15 at 10:15

score 27 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 27 '09 at 11:50

27

Templates. I think that is Smarty syntax.

answered Nov 27 '09 at 11:50

Quentin

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score 19 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 10 '20 at 10:54

19

.tpl is the extension for Smarty files. It means "template".

Tip: if you are using NetBeans and you want a correct syntax highlighting for those files:

Go to menu Options → Tools
Under Miscellaneous, select the Files tab
Click new file extension, enter tpl.
In Associated File Type (MIME), select HTML Files (text/html)
Click OK

edited Dec 10 '20 at 10:54

Peter Mortensen

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answered Sep 05 '11 at 21:18

Benjamin Crouzier

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`.tpl` is not only the extension for smarty files. Many other parsers and in fact custom solutions use `.tpl` – TheBlackBenzKid Jan 06 '15 at 10:14

score 13 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 27 '09 at 11:52

13

Number 3 hit on Google for "tpl file" (even though it's one of those annoying "Fix TPL errors now", "Scan TPL files with our virus scanner", sell-you-everything-under-the-sun-with-flashy-ugly-ads-when-all-you-wanted-was-the-file-description sites) is:

Used by PHP web development and PHP web applications as a template file. Mostly used by Smarty template engine. Template is a common text file (like .html file) and contains user defined variables that are replaced by user defined output content when PHP web application parsing a template file.

answered Nov 27 '09 at 11:52

paxdiablo

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actually searching "tpl file" and clicking on the third result is want brought me to this question... – MoralCode Jul 15 '15 at 18:33
2

When answering a question, it is better to include the link directly instead of relying on Google SERP, which varies from browser to browser depending on user settings and location as well. In addition to this, it is not guaranteed that the result will always be on the same rank. This post is from the year 2009, where as I have seen this in 2017. Today it is of little use. – Mohammed Akhtar Zuberi Jul 25 '17 at 16:11
2

@Mohammed, I didn't rely on Google always returning the same thing. The whole reason for me copying the text into this answer is so that the answer would still be valid even if Google disappeared off the face of the planet. – paxdiablo Jul 26 '17 at 12:02

score 6 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 27 '09 at 11:55

The files are using some sort of template engine in which curly braces indicate variables being generated by that templating engine, the files creating such variables must be present elsewhere with the more or less same name as the tpl file name. Here are some of templates engine mostly used.

Smarty

Savant

Tinybutstrong

etc

With smarty being widely used.

score 4 · Answer 6 · edited Dec 10 '20 at 10:58

4

In this specific case it is Smarty, but it could also be Jinja2 templates. They usually also have a .tpl extension.

edited Dec 10 '20 at 10:58

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jun 21 '18 at 15:38

Checo R

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score 3 · Answer 7 · answered Nov 27 '09 at 11:52

3

Those look like Smarty templates. There should be some additional PHP scripts which actually instantiate the Smarty engine and give it the data it can use for the replaceable elements.

answered Nov 27 '09 at 11:52

Paul Dixon

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score 3 · Answer 8 · edited Dec 10 '20 at 10:57

3

.tpl shows there is a smarty! Smarty is a template language to split out PHP code from HTML code. Which gives us to the ability to do design stuff on a page which has not included PHP code.

edited Dec 10 '20 at 10:57

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jul 14 '14 at 10:55

user2908225

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score 3 · Answer 9 · edited Dec 10 '20 at 10:50

3

You have to learn Smarty syntax. That's a template system.

edited Dec 10 '20 at 10:50

Peter Mortensen

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answered Aug 22 '10 at 05:18

Afridi

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serv-inc · Answer 10 · 2019-09-09T13:39:06.903

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Other possibilities for .tpl: HTML::SimpleTemplate, example:

Hello $name

, and Template Toolkit, example:

Hello [% world %]!

edited Sep 09 '19 at 13:39

answered Sep 09 '19 at 12:45

serv-inc

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What are .tpl files? PHP, web design

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