Notifier plugin for CakePHP

This plugin allows you to integrate a simple notification system into your application.

Installation

You can install this plugin into your CakePHP application using composer.

The recommended way to install this plugin as composer package is:

    composer require bakkerij/notifier

Now load the plugin via the following command:

    bin/cake plugin load -b Bakkerij/Notifier

After loading the plugin you need to migrate the tables for the plugin using:

    bin/cake migrations migrate -p Bakkerij/Notifier

Sending notifications

Templates

Before sending any notification, we need to register a template. An example about how to add templates:

    $notificationManager->addTemplate('newBlog', [
        'title' => 'New blog by :username',
        'body' => ':username has posted a new blog named :name'
    ]);

When adding a new template, you have to add a title and a body. Both are able to contain variables like :username and :name. Later on we will tell more about these variables.

Notify

Now we will be able to send a new notification using our newBlog template.

    $notificationManager->notify([
        'users' => [1, 2],
        'recipientLists' => ['administrators'],
        'template' => 'newBlog',
        'vars' => [
            'username' => 'Bob Mulder',
            'name' => 'My great new blogpost'
        ]
    ]);

Note: You are also able to send notifications via the component: $this->Notifier->notify().

With the notify method we sent a new notification. A list of all attributes:

• users - This is an integer or array filled with id's of users to notify. So, when you want to notify user 261 and 373, add [261, 373].
• recipientLists - This is a string or array with lists of recipients. Further on you can find more about RecipientLists.
• template - The template you added, for example newBlog.
• vars - Variables to use. In the template newBlog we used the variables username and name. These variables can be defined here.

Recipient Lists

To send notifications to large groups you are able to use RecipientLists. You can register them with:

    $notificationManager->addRecipientList('administrators', [1,2,3,4]);

Now we have created a list of recipients called administrators.

This can be used later on when we send a new notification:

    $notificationManager->notify([
        'recipientLists' => ['administrators'],
    ]);

Now, the users 1, 2, 3 and 4 will receive a notification.

Retrieving notifications

Lists

You can easily retrieve notifications via the getNotifications method. Some examples:

    // getting a list of all notifications of the current logged in user
    $this->Notifier->getNotifications();

    // getting a list of all notifications of the user with id 2
    $this->Notifier->getNotifications(2);
    
    // getting a list of all unread notifications
    $this->Notifier->allNotificationList(2, true);

    // getting a list of all read notifications
    $this->Notifier->allNotificationList(2, false);

Counts

Getting counts of read/unread notifications can be done via the countNotifications method. Some examples:

    // getting a number of all notifications of the current logged in user
    $this->Notifier->countNotifications();

    // getting a number of all notifications of the user with id 2
    $this->Notifier->countNotifications(2);
    
    // getting a number of all unread notifications
    $this->Notifier->countNotificationList(2, true);

    // getting a number of all read notifications
    $this->Notifier->countNotificationList(2, false);

Mark as read

To mark notifications as read, you can use the markAsRead method. Some examples:

    // mark a single notification as read
    $this->Notifier->markAsRead(500;

    // mark all notifications of the given user as read
    $this->Notifier->markAsRead(null, 2);

Notification Entity

The following getters can be used at your notifications entity:

• title - The generated title including the variables.
• body - The generated body including the variables.
• unread - Boolean if the notification is not read yet.
• read - Boolean if the notification is read yet.

Example:

    // returns true or false
    $entity->get('unread');
    
    // returns the full output like 'Bob Mulder has posted a new blog named My Great New Post'
    $entity->get('body');

Passing to view

You can do something like this to use the notification list in your view:

    $this->set('notifications', $this->Notifier->getNotifications());

Notification Manager

The NotificationManager is the Manager of the plugin. You can get an instance with:

    NotificationManager::instance();

The NotificationManager has the following namespace: Bakkerij\Notifier\Utility\NotificationManager.

The manager has the following methods available:

• notify
• addRecipientList
• getRecipientList
• addTemplate
• getTemplate

Notifier Component

The Bakkerij/Notifier.Notifier component can be used in Controllers:

    public function initialize()
    {
        parent::initialize();
        $this->loadComponent('Bakkerij/Notifier.Notifier');
    }

The component has the following methods available:

• getNotifications
• countNotifications
• markAsRead
• notify

Keep in touch

If you need some help or got ideas for this plugin, feel free to chat at Gitter.

Pull Requests are always more than welcome!