Templates and Custom PHP Logic

If you want to include custom PHP logic in your customized templates, we recommend using hooks.

We deprecated support for Smarty's legacy tags in WHMCS 6.0 and plan to permanently remove support in WHMCS 9.0. You must disable and remove them. For more information, see Eliminating Legacy Smarty Tags.

Hook Points

Hook points for every page of the Client Area allow you to define system theme and order form template variables. For a full list, see our Client Area Interface Hooks Reference.

Example Hook File

The following example demonstrates using a hook on the Client Area View Ticket page:

<?php
/**
 * Hook sample for defining additional template variables
 *
 * @param array $vars Existing defined template variables
 *
 * @return array
 */
function hook_template_variables_example($vars)
{
    $extraTemplateVariables = array();
  
    // set a fixed value
    $extraTemplateVariables['fixedValue'] = 'abc';
  
    // fetch clients data if available
    $clientsData = isset($vars['clientsdetails']) ? $vars['clientsdetails'] : null;
  
    // determine if client is logged in
    if (is_array($clientsData) && isset($clientsData['id'])) {
        $userId = $clientsData['id'];
        // perform calculation here
        $extraTemplateVariables['userSpecificValue'] = '123';
        $extraTemplateVariables['anotherUserOnlyValue'] = '456';
    }
  
    // return array of template variables to define
    return $extraTemplateVariables;
}
  
add_hook('ClientAreaPageViewTicket', 1, 'hook_template_variables_example');

The hook code above defines the additional system theme and order form template {$fixedValue} variable and, in the case of an authenticated user, the {$userSpecificValue} and {$anotherUserOnlyValue} variables.

You can them use them in the associated system theme and order form template file (in this case, viewticket.tpl):

<p>The fixed value is {$fixedValue}.</p>
  
{if $userSpecificValue && $anotherUserOnlyValue}
    <p>I also have this {$userSpecificValue} and {$anotherUserOnlyValue} to show you.</p>
{/if}