Is it best to use preg_replace to add things to urls? Currently I am trying to get a youtube video and change replace it with the code [video] link [/video], for example using preg_replace:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zgp_G5o6Oc
and changing it to
[video]www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zgp_G5o6Oc[/video]
So should I use preg_replace() or is there a better/easier method?
Assuming you have the URL isolated in a variable, just do this:
$taggedUrl = sprintf("[video]%s[/video]", $url);
Or:
$taggedUrl = "[video]" . $url . "[/video]";
Or:
$taggedUrl = "[video]{$url}[/video]";
But, if you need to find the URL inside other text, preg_replace() would be appropriate:
preg_replace('/((?:https?:\/\/)?www\.youtube\.com\/watch\?v=\w+)/', '[video]\1[/video]', $inputString);
For example:
php > $inputString = "osme regewgqg affbefqeif rgqbig www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zgp_G5o6Oc sgwe\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZrRpG_o6Oc wbqergq http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zgp_G5o6Oc gegrqe";
php > var_dump($inputString);
string(176) "osme regewgqg affbefqeif rgqbig www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zgp_G5o6Oc sgwe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZrRpG_o6Oc wbqergq http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zgp_G5o6Oc gegrqe"
php > var_dump(preg_replace('/((?:https?:\/\/)?www\.youtube\.com\/watch\?v=\w+)/', '[video]\1[/video]', $inputString));
string(221) "osme regewgqg affbefqeif rgqbig [video]www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zgp_G5o6Oc[/video] sgwe
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZrRpG_o6Oc[/video] wbqergq [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zgp_G5o6Oc[/video] gegrqe"
php >
To explain the regex used:
/.../ # Marks the start and end of the expression.
(...) # Captures the entire match as \1
(?:...)? # ?: Makes a non-capturing group.
# We put it in parenthesis to group this part of the expression.
# The ? at the end makes the whole group optional
# (so that http:// or https:// is not required at all, but matched if present)
https? # Match either 'http' or 'https'.
\w+ # Matches one or more 'word characters' (0-9, a-z, A-Z, _)
$sptr = "www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zgp_G5o6Oc";then only$str = '[video]' . $str.'[video]';