Joomla! 1.7 Hello World Module Evolved

So you want to write some modules for Joomla! 1.7 I suppose. Well the good news is that this is a part of Joomla that still simple to work with. I've made this mod_helloworld a bit more complex than the example presented on other sites since I introduce one of the most useful elements in Joomla, the parameters as well as view selection.

Update: The file is available for download once again, http://cdn.herlitz.nu/blog/mod_helloworld_1_7.zip

Whats in it?

Some files...

You can set this up in the admin interface

And this will be displayed

Code

helper.php

<?php
/**
 * Helper class for Hello World 1.7 skeleton module
 * @author Trikks, 
 */
class modHelloWorldHelper {

    /** 
 * Retrieves the hello message * 
 * @param array $params An object containing the module parameters 
 * @access public 
 */
    function getHello($params) {
        return 'Hello World!';
    }

}
?>

mod_helloworld.php

<?php
/** 
* Entry Point for Hello World 1.7 skeleton module 
* @author Trikks,  
*/

defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' ); // no direct access allowed

// Include the syndicate functions only once
require_once dirname(__FILE__).DS.'helper.php'; // get helper files

$hello = modHelloWorldHelper::getHello($params);
require JModuleHelper::getLayoutPath('mod_helloworld', $params->get('layout', 'default'));
?>

mod_helloworld.xml

The settings file, note the parameters in the config section. These parameters are the ones showing in the backend. You fetch them in the views by typing

$params->get('param_name')

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<extension type="module" version="1.7" client="site" method="upgrade">
    <name>mod_helloworld</name>
    <author>Joomla! Project</author>
    <creationDate>October 2011</creationDate>
    <copyright>Copyleft</copyright>
    <license>GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE.txt</license>
    <authorUrl></authorUrl>
    <version>1.7.0</version>
    <description>Trikks simple hello world module.</description>
    <files>
        <filename module="mod_helloworld">mod_helloworld.php</filename>
        <filename>mod_helloworld.xml</filename>
        <filename>index.html</filename>
        <filename>helper.php</filename>
        <filename>tmpl/default.php</filename>
        <filename>tmpl/index.html</filename>
    </files>
    <config>
        <fields name="params">
            <fieldset name="basic">
                <field name="mod_helloworld_text" type="text" label="A textfield" description="Enter any text"/>
                <field name="mod_helloworld_list" type="list" label="A dropdown" description="Use for custom dropdowns" default="1">
                    <option value="1">JYes</option>
                    <option value="0">JNo</option>
                </field>
                <field name="mod_helloworld_radio" type="radio" label="Radiobuttons" description="Use radiobuttons for explicit selections" default="1">
                    <option value="0">JNo</option>
                    <option value="1">JYes</option>
                </field>
                <field name="layout" type="modulelayout" label="JFIELD_ALT_LAYOUT_LABEL" description="JFIELD_ALT_MODULE_LAYOUT_DESC"/>
                <field name="mod_helloworld_image" type="media" label="Mediaselector" description="Select media"/>
            </fieldset>
        </fields>
    </config>
</extension>

tmpl/default.php

The default view of this module

<?php
// This is the default output file
defined('_JEXEC') or die;

// Echo from getHello method
echo "<p style='font-weight: bold;'>$hello</p>";

// Echo params
echo "<p>";
echo $params->get('mod_helloworld_text') . " | ";
echo $params->get('mod_helloworld_list') . " | ";
echo $params->get('mod_helloworld_radio') . " | ";
echo $params->get('mod_helloworld_image');
echo "</p>";
?>

tmpl/notdefault.php

Simply an additional view which will render a different result in the frontend

<?php
// This is an optional output file
defined('_JEXEC') or die;

// Echo from getHello method
echo "<p style='font-weight: bold;'>$hello</p>";
echo "<p style='font-style: italic;'>- O Hai!</p>";

// Echo params
echo "<p>";
echo $params->get('mod_helloworld_text') . " | ";
echo $params->get('mod_helloworld_list') . " | ";
echo $params->get('mod_helloworld_radio') . " | ";
echo $params->get('mod_helloworld_image');
echo "</p>";
?>