Laravel Breadcrumbs

A simple Laravel-style way to create breadcrumbs.

Compatibility Chart

Laravel Breadcrumbs	Laravel	PHP
3.0.2+	5.0 – 5.4	5.4+
3.0.1	5.0 – 5.3	5.4+
3.0.0	5.0 – 5.2	5.4+
2.x	4.0 – 4.2	5.3+

Getting Started

1. Install Laravel Breadcrumbs

Install with Composer

Run this at the command line:

composer require davejamesmiller/laravel-breadcrumbs:3.x

This will both update composer.json and install the package into the vendor/ directory.

Add to `config/app.php`

Add the service provider to providers:

'providers' => [
    // ...
    DaveJamesMiller\Breadcrumbs\ServiceProvider::class,
],

And add the facade to aliases:

'aliases' => [
    // ...
    'Breadcrumbs' => DaveJamesMiller\Breadcrumbs\Facade::class,
],

2. Define your breadcrumbs

Create a file called routes/breadcrumbs.php that looks like this:

<?php

// Home
Breadcrumbs::register('home', function($breadcrumbs)
{
    $breadcrumbs->push('Home', route('home'));
});

// Home > About
Breadcrumbs::register('about', function($breadcrumbs)
{
    $breadcrumbs->parent('home');
    $breadcrumbs->push('About', route('about'));
});

// Home > Blog
Breadcrumbs::register('blog', function($breadcrumbs)
{
    $breadcrumbs->parent('home');
    $breadcrumbs->push('Blog', route('blog'));
});

// Home > Blog > [Category]
Breadcrumbs::register('category', function($breadcrumbs, $category)
{
    $breadcrumbs->parent('blog');
    $breadcrumbs->push($category->title, route('category', $category->id));
});

// Home > Blog > [Category] > [Page]
Breadcrumbs::register('page', function($breadcrumbs, $page)
{
    $breadcrumbs->parent('category', $page->category);
    $breadcrumbs->push($page->title, route('page', $page->id));
});

See the Defining Breadcrumbs section for more details.

3. Choose a template

By default a Bootstrap-compatible ordered list will be rendered, so if you're using Bootstrap 3 you can skip this step.

First initialise the config file by running this command:

php artisan vendor:publish

Then open config/breadcrumbs.php and edit this line:

'view' => 'breadcrumbs::bootstrap3',

The possible values are:

Bootstrap 3: breadcrumbs::bootstrap3
Bootstrap 2: breadcrumbs::bootstrap2
The path to a custom view: e.g. _partials/breadcrumbs

See the Custom Templates section for more details.

4. Output the breadcrumbs

Finally, call Breadcrumbs::render() in the view template for each page, passing it the name of the breadcrumb to use and any additional parameters – for example:

{!! Breadcrumbs::render('home') !!}

{!! Breadcrumbs::render('category', $category) !!}

See the Outputting Breadcrumbs section for other output options, and see Route-Bound Breadcrumbs for a way to link breadcrumb names to route names automatically.

Defining Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs will usually correspond to actions or types of page. For each breadcrumb you specify a name, the breadcrumb title and the URL to link it to. Since these are likely to change dynamically, you do this in a closure, and you pass any variables you need into the closure.

The following examples should make it clear:

Static pages

The most simple breadcrumb is probably going to be your homepage, which will look something like this:

Breadcrumbs::register('home', function($breadcrumbs) {
    $breadcrumbs->push('Home', route('home'));
});

As you can see, you simply call $breadcrumbs->push($title, $url) inside the closure.

For generating the URL, you can use any of the standard Laravel URL-generation methods, including:

url('path/to/route') (URL::to())
secure_url('path/to/route')
route('routename') or route('routename', 'param') or route('routename', ['param1', 'param2']) (URL::route())
action('controller@action') (URL::action())
Or just pass a string URL ('http://www.example.com/')

This example would be rendered like this:

Home

Parent links

This is another static page, but this has a parent link before it:

Breadcrumbs::register('blog', function($breadcrumbs) {
    $breadcrumbs->parent('home');
    $breadcrumbs->push('Blog', route('blog'));
});

It works by calling the closure for the home breadcrumb defined above.

It would be rendered like this:

Home / Blog

Note that the default template does not create a link for the last breadcrumb (the one for the current page), even when a URL is specified. You can override this by creating your own template – see Custom Templates for more details.

Dynamic titles and links

This is a dynamically generated page pulled from the database:

Breadcrumbs::register('page', function($breadcrumbs, $page) {
    $breadcrumbs->parent('blog');
    $breadcrumbs->push($page->title, route('page', $page->id));
});

The $page variable would simply be passed in from the view:

{!! Breadcrumbs::render('page', $page) !!}

It would be rendered like this:

Home / Blog / Page Title

Tip: You can pass multiple parameters if necessary.

Nested categories

Finally if you have nested categories or other special requirements, you can call $breadcrumbs->push() multiple times:

Breadcrumbs::register('category', function($breadcrumbs, $category) {
    $breadcrumbs->parent('blog');

    foreach ($category->ancestors as $ancestor) {
        $breadcrumbs->push($ancestor->title, route('category', $ancestor->id));
    }

    $breadcrumbs->push($category->title, route('category', $category->id));
});

Alternatively you could make a recursive function such as this:

Breadcrumbs::register('category', function($breadcrumbs, $category) {
    if ($category->parent)
        $breadcrumbs->parent('category', $category->parent);
    else
        $breadcrumbs->parent('blog');

    $breadcrumbs->push($category->title, route('category', $category->slug));
});

Both would be rendered like this:

Home / Blog / Grandparent Category / Parent Category / Category Title

Custom Templates

Create a view

To customise the HTML, create your own view file (e.g. resources/views/_partials/breadcrumbs.blade.php) like this:

@if ($breadcrumbs)
    <ul class="breadcrumb">
        @foreach ($breadcrumbs as $breadcrumb)
            @if (!$breadcrumb->last)
                <li><a href="{{ $breadcrumb->url }}">{{ $breadcrumb->title }}</a></li>
            @else
                <li class="active">{{ $breadcrumb->title }}</li>
            @endif
        @endforeach
    </ul>
@endif

(See the views/ directory for the built-in templates.)

View data

The view will receive an array called $breadcrumbs.

Each breadcrumb is an object with the following keys:

title – The breadcrumb title (see :doc:defining)
url – The breadcrumb URL (see :doc:defining), or null if none was given
first – true for the first breadcrumb (top level), false otherwise
last – true for the last breadcrumb (current page), false otherwise
Plus additional keys for each item in $data (see Custom data)

Update the config

Then update your config file (config/breadcrumbs.php) with the custom view name, e.g.:

// resources/views/_partials/breadcrumbs.blade.php
'view' => '_partials/breadcrumbs',

Outputting Breadcrumbs

Call Breadcrumbs::render() in the view template for each page, passing it the name of the breadcrumb to use and any additional parameters.

With Blade

In the page (e.g. resources/views/home.blade.php):

{!! Breadcrumbs::render('home') !!}

Or with a parameter:

{!! Breadcrumbs::render('category', $category) !!}

With Blade layouts and @section

In the page (e.g. resources/views/home.blade.php):

@extends('layout.name')

@section('breadcrumbs', Breadcrumbs::render('home'))

In the layout (e.g. resources/views/app.blade.php):

@yield('breadcrumbs')

Pure PHP (without Blade)

In the page (e.g. resources/views/home.php):

<?= Breadcrumbs::render('home') ?>

Or use the long-hand syntax if you prefer:

<?php echo Breadcrumbs::render('home') ?>

Route-Bound Breadcrumbs

In normal usage you must call Breadcrumbs::render($name, $params...) to render the breadcrumbs on every page. If you prefer, you can name your breadcrumbs the same as your routes and avoid this duplication.

Setup

Name your routes

Make sure each of your routes has a name. For example (routes/web.php):

// Home
Route::get('/', 'HomeController@index')->name('home');

// Home > [Page]
Route::get('/page/{id}', 'PageController@show')->name('page');

For more details see Named Routes in the Laravel documentation.

Name your breadcrumbs to match

For each route, create a breadcrumb with the same name. For example (routes/breadcrumbs.php):

// Home
Breadcrumbs::register('home', function($breadcrumbs) {
    $breadcrumbs->push('Home', route('home'));
});

// Home > [Page]
Breadcrumbs::register('page', function($breadcrumbs, $id)
{
    $page = Page::findOrFail($id);
    $breadcrumbs->parent('home');
    $breadcrumbs->push($page->title, route('page', $page->id));
});

Output breadcrumbs in your layout

Call Breadcrumbs::render() with no parameters in your layout file (e.g. resources/views/app.blade.php):

{!! Breadcrumbs::render() !!}

This will automatically output breadcrumbs corresponding to the current route.

It will throw an exception if the breadcrumb doesn't exist, to remind you to create one. To prevent this behaviour, change it to:

{!! Breadcrumbs::renderIfExists() !!}

Route model binding

Laravel Breadcrumbs uses the same model binding as the controller. For example:

// routes/web.php
Route::model('page', 'Page');
Route::get('/page/{page}', ['uses' => 'PageController@show', 'as' => 'page']);

// app/Http/Controllers/PageController.php
class PageController extends Controller
{
    public function show($page)
    {
        return view('page/show', ['page' => $page]);
    }
}

// routes/breadcrumbs.php
Breadcrumbs::register('page', function($breadcrumbs, $page)
{
    $breadcrumbs->parent('home');
    $breadcrumbs->push($page->title, route('page', $page->id));
});

This makes your code less verbose and more efficient by only loading the page from the database once.

For more details see Route Model Binding in the Laravel documentation.

Resourceful controllers

Laravel automatically creates route names for resourceful controllers, e.g. photo.index, which you can use when defining your breadcrumbs. For example:

// routes/web.php
Route::resource('photo', 'PhotoController');

$ php artisan route:list
+--------+----------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------+------------+
| Domain | Method   | URI                | Name          | Action                  | Middleware |
+--------+----------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------+------------+
|        | GET|HEAD | photo              | photo.index   | PhotoController@index   |            |
|        | GET|HEAD | photo/create       | photo.create  | PhotoController@create  |            |
|        | POST     | photo              | photo.store   | PhotoController@store   |            |
|        | GET|HEAD | photo/{photo}      | photo.show    | PhotoController@show    |            |
|        | GET|HEAD | photo/{photo}/edit | photo.edit    | PhotoController@edit    |            |
|        | PUT      | photo/{photo}      | photo.update  | PhotoController@update  |            |
|        | PATCH    | photo/{photo}      |               | PhotoController@update  |            |
|        | DELETE   | photo/{photo}      | photo.destroy | PhotoController@destroy |            |
+--------+----------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------+------------+

// routes/breadcrumbs.php

// Photos
Breadcrumbs::register('photo.index', function($breadcrumbs)
{
    $breadcrumbs->parent('home');
    $breadcrumbs->push('Photos', route('photo.index'));
});

// Photos > Upload Photo
Breadcrumbs::register('photo.create', function($breadcrumbs)
{
    $breadcrumbs->parent('photo.index');
    $breadcrumbs->push('Upload Photo', route('photo.create'));
});

// Photos > [Photo Name]
Breadcrumbs::register('photo.show', function($breadcrumbs, $photo)
{
    $breadcrumbs->parent('photo.index');
    $breadcrumbs->push($photo->title, route('photo.show', $photo->id));
});

// Photos > [Photo Name] > Edit Photo
Breadcrumbs::register('photo.edit', function($breadcrumbs, $photo)
{
    $breadcrumbs->parent('photo.show', $photo);
    $breadcrumbs->push('Edit Photo', route('photo.edit', $photo->id));
});

For more details see Resource Controllers in the Laravel documentation.

Implicit controllers

To use implicit controllers, you must specify names for each route. For example:

// routes/web.php
Route::controller('auth', 'Auth\AuthController', [
    'getRegister' => 'auth.register',
    'getLogin'    => 'auth.login',
]);

(You don't need to provide route names for actions that redirect and never display a view – e.g. most POST views.)

For more details see Implicit Controllers in the Laravel documentation.

Advanced Usage

Breadcrumbs with no URL

The second parameter to push() is optional, so if you want a breadcrumb with no URL you can do so:

$breadcrumbs->push('Sample');

The $breadcrumb->url value will be null.

The default Twitter Bootstrap templates provided render this with a CSS class of "active", the same as the last breadcrumb, because otherwise they default to black text not grey which doesn't look right.

Custom data

The push() method accepts an optional third parameter, $data – an array of arbitrary data to be passed to the breadcrumb, which you can use in your custom template. For example, if you wanted each breadcrumb to have an icon, you could do:

$breadcrumbs->push('Home', '/', ['icon' => 'home.png']);

The $data array's entries will be merged into the breadcrumb as properties, so you would access the icon as $breadcrumb->icon in your template, like this:

<li><a href="{{ $breadcrumb->url }}">
    <img src="/images/icons/{{ $breadcrumb->icon }}">
    {{ $breadcrumb->title }}
</a></li>

Do not use the following keys in your data array, as they will be overwritten: title, url, first, last.

Defining breadcrumbs in a different file

If you don't want to use routes/breadcrumbs.php (or app/Http/breadcrumbs.php in Laravel 5.2 and below), you can create a custom service provider to use instead of DaveJamesMiller\Breadcrumbs\ServiceProvider and override the registerBreadcrumbs() method:

<?php

namespace App\Providers;

use DaveJamesMiller\Breadcrumbs\ServiceProvider;

class BreadcrumbsServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
{
    public function registerBreadcrumbs()
    {
        require base_path('path/to/breadcrumbs.php');
    }
}

If you are creating your own package, simply load them from your service provider's boot() method:

class MyServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
{
    public function register() {}

    public function boot()
    {
        if (class_exists('Breadcrumbs'))
            require __DIR__ . '/breadcrumbs.php';
    }
}

Switching views dynamically

You can change the view at runtime by calling:

Breadcrumbs::setView('view.name');

Or you can call Breadcrumbs::generate() and then load the view manually:

@include('_partials/breadcrumbs2', ['breadcrumbs' => Breadcrumbs::generate('category', $category)])

Overriding the "current" route

If you call Breadcrumbs::render() or Breadcrumbs::generate() with no parameters, it will use the current route name and parameters by default (as returned by Laravel's Route::current() method).

You can override this by calling Breadcrumbs::setCurrentRoute($name, $param1, $param2...) or Breadcrumbs::setCurrentRouteArray($name, $params).

Passing an array of parameters

If the breadcrumb requires multiple parameters, you would normally pass them like this:

Breadcrumbs::render('name', $param1, $param2, $param3);
Breadcrumbs::generate('name', $param1, $param2, $param3);
$breadcrumbs->parent('name', $param1, $param2, $param3);

If you want to pass an array of parameters instead you can use these methods:

Breadcrumbs::renderArray('name', $params);
Breadcrumbs::generateArray('name', $params);
$breadcrumbs->parentArray('name', $params);

Checking if a breadcrumb exists

By default an exception will be thrown if the breadcrumb doesn't exist, so you know to add it. If you want suppress this you can call the following methods instead:

Breadcrumbs::renderIfExists() (returns an empty string)
Breadcrumbs::renderIfExistsArray() (returns an empty string) (was renderArrayIfExists before 3.0.0)
Breadcrumbs::generateIfExists() (returns an empty array)
Breadcrumbs::generateIfExistsArray() (returns an empty array) (was generateArrayIfExists before 3.0.0)

Alternatively you can call Breadcrumbs::exists('name'), which returns a boolean.

API Reference

`Breadcrumbs` Facade

Method	Returns	Added in
`Breadcrumbs::register($name, $callback)`	(none)	1.0.0
`Breadcrumbs::exists()`	boolean	2.2.0
`Breadcrumbs::exists($name)`	boolean	2.2.0
`Breadcrumbs::generate()`	array	2.2.3
`Breadcrumbs::generate($name)`	array	1.0.0
`Breadcrumbs::generate($name, $param1, ...)`	array	1.0.0
`Breadcrumbs::generateArray($name, $params)`	array	2.0.0
`Breadcrumbs::generateIfExists()`	array	2.2.0
`Breadcrumbs::generateIfExists($name)`	array	2.2.0
`Breadcrumbs::generateIfExists($name, $param1, ...)`	array	2.2.0
`Breadcrumbs::generateIfExistsArray($name, $params)`	array	3.0.0
`Breadcrumbs::render()`	string	2.2.0
`Breadcrumbs::render($name)`	string	1.0.0
`Breadcrumbs::render($name, $param1, ...)`	string	1.0.0
`Breadcrumbs::renderArray($name, $params)`	string	2.0.0
`Breadcrumbs::renderIfExists()`	string	2.2.0
`Breadcrumbs::renderIfExists($name)`	string	2.2.0
`Breadcrumbs::renderIfExists($name, $param1, ...)`	string	2.2.0
`Breadcrumbs::renderIfExistsArray($name, $params)`	string	3.0.0
`Breadcrumbs::setCurrentRoute($name)`	(none)	2.2.0
`Breadcrumbs::setCurrentRoute($name, $param1, ...)`	(none)	2.2.0
`Breadcrumbs::setCurrentRouteArray($name, $params)`	(none)	2.2.0
`Breadcrumbs::clearCurrentRoute()`	(none)	2.2.0
`Breadcrumbs::setView($view)`	(none)	1.0.0

Source

Defining breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs::register('name', function($breadcrumbs, $page) {
    // ...
});

Method	Returns	Added in
`$breadcrumbs->push($title)`	(none)	1.0.0
`$breadcrumbs->push($title, $url)`	(none)	1.0.0
`$breadcrumbs->push($title, $url, $data)`	(none)	2.3.0
`$breadcrumbs->parent($name)`	(none)	1.0.0
`$breadcrumbs->parent($name, $param1, ...)`	(none)	1.0.0
`$breadcrumbs->parentArray($name, $params)`	(none)	2.0.0

Source

In the view (template)

$breadcrumbs (array), contains:

Variable	Type	Added in
`$breadcrumb->title`	string	1.0.0
`$breadcrumb->url`	string / null	1.0.0
`$breadcrumb->first`	boolean	1.0.0
`$breadcrumb->last`	boolean	1.0.0
`$breadcrumb->custom_attribute_name`	mixed	2.3.0

Changelog

Laravel Breadcrumbs uses Semantic Versioning.

v3.0.3 (24 Jun 2017)

Fix exception when using renderIfExists() (and related methods) with an unnamed route (#133)
Convert docs back to Markdown

v3.0.2 (30 Jan 2017)

Laravel 5.4 support

v3.0.1 (28 Aug 2016)

Laravel 5.3 support

Upgrading from Laravel 5.2 to 5.3

Upgrade Laravel Breadcrumbs to 3.0.1 (or above)
Move app/Http/breadcrumbs.php to routes/breadcrumbs.php (optional but recommended)

v3.0.0 (8 Feb 2015)

Add Laravel 5 support (#62)
Change view namespace from laravel-breadcrumbs:: to breadcrumbs::
Change Bootstrap 3 template from <ul> to <ol> to match the documentation
Move documentation from GitHub (Markdown) to Read The Docs (reStructuredText/Sphinx)
Greatly improve unit & integration tests (largely thanks to Testbench)
Fix issue that prevented non-deferred service providers referencing Breadcrumbs by making Breadcrumbs non-deferred also (#39)
Rename generateArrayIfExists() to generateIfExistsArray()
Rename renderArrayIfExists() to renderIfExistsArray()
Remove $breadcrumbs->get() and $breadcrumbs->set() methods from Generator class (they were never used nor documented)
Remove Breadcrumbs::getView()
Switch from PSR-0 to PSR-4 file naming

Upgrading from 2.x to 3.x

Upgrade to Laravel 5
Move app/breadcrumbs.php to app/Http/breadcrumbs.php
Move app/config/packages/davejamesmiller/laravel-breadcrumbs/config.php to config/breadcrumbs.php (if used)

The following changes are optional because there are shims in place:

In the config file, replace laravel-breadcrumbs:: with breadcrumbs::
Replace any calls to Breadcrumbs::generateArrayIfExists() with Breadcrumbs::generateIfExistsArray()
Replace any calls to Breadcrumbs::renderArrayIfExists() with Breadcrumbs::renderIfExistsArray()

Note: Laravel 4 and PHP 5.3 are no longer supported – please continue to use the 2.x branch if you use them.

v2.x

Changelog for 2.x and below

Technical Support

Sorry, I don't offer free technical support for my open source packages. If you can't get Laravel Breadcrumbs working in your application, I suggest you try posting a question on Stack Overflow. For paid support / consultancy please email me.

Bug Reports

Please note this is free software so I don't guarantee to fix any bugs – I will investigate if/when I have the time and motivation to do so. Don't be afraid to go into the Laravel Breadcrumbs code (vendor/davejamesmiller/laravel-breadcrumbs/src/), use var_dump() to see what's happening and fix your own problems! For paid support / consultancy please email me.

Contributing

Bug fixes: Please fix it and open a pull request. Bonus points if you add a unit test to make sure it doesn't happen again!

New features: Only high value features with a clear use case and well-considered API will be accepted. They must be documented and include unit tests. I suggest you open an issue to discuss the idea first.

Documentation: If you think the documentation can be improved in any way, please do edit this file and make a pull request.

Developing inside a real application

The easiest way to work on Laravel Breadcrumbs inside a real Laravel application is to tell Composer to install from source (Git) using the --prefer-source flag:

cd /path/to/repo
rm -rf vendor/davejamesmiller/laravel-breadcrumbs
composer install --prefer-source

Then:

cd vendor/davejamesmiller/laravel-breadcrumbs
git checkout -t origin/master
git checkout -b YOUR_BRANCH
# Make changes and commit them
git remote add YOUR_USERNAME [email protected]:YOUR_USERNAME/laravel-breadcrumbs
git push -u YOUR_USERNAME YOUR_BRANCH

Alternatively there is a test app that you can use.

Unit tests

To run the unit tests, simply run:

cd /path/to/laravel-breadcrumbs
composer update
scripts/test.sh

Code coverage

To check code coverage, you will also need Xdebug installed. Run:

scripts/test-coverage.sh

Then open test-coverage/index.html to view the results. Be aware of the edge cases in PHPUnit that can make it not-quite-accurate.

Using your fork in a project

To use your own fork in a project, update the composer.json in your main project as follows:

{
    "repositories": [
        {
            "type": "vcs",
            "url": "https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/laravel-breadcrumbs.git"
        }
    ],
    "require": {
        "davejamesmiller/laravel-breadcrumbs": "dev-YOUR_BRANCH"
    }
}

Replace YOUR_USERNAME with your GitHub username and YOUR_BRANCH with the branch name (e.g. develop). This tells Composer to use your repository instead of the default one.

License

MIT License

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

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config		config
scripts		scripts
src		src
tests		tests
views		views
.editorconfig		.editorconfig
.gitignore		.gitignore
README.md		README.md
RELEASE-CHECKLIST.md		RELEASE-CHECKLIST.md
composer.json		composer.json
phpunit.xml		phpunit.xml

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