PHP to convert string to slug

Question

What is the best way to convert a string of text to a slug? Meaning:

alpha allowed, convert to lowercase
numbers are allowed
spaces should be eliminated, not converted to dash ("-")
accented characters replaced by equivalent standard alpha
no other characters allowed, should be stripped out

I have found plenty of code online, but it all tends to convert spaces to dashes, which I do not want to do.

I am also interested optionally in varying the conversion, wherein:

ampersand ("&") should be replaced by the string "and"

And also a variant wherein:

Don't bother converting accented characters to equivalent standard alpha

so youwantyoururltolooklikethis instead of the cleaner looking you-want-your-url-to-look-like-this? Also, accented characters replaced by equivalent standard alpha but Don't bother converting accented characters. Which? — Jonathan Kuhn
– Jonathan Kuhn, Commented Nov 16, 2016 at 21:04
Pick a solution that's close to what you want, then modify it to add your special requirements. — Barmar
– Barmar, Commented Nov 16, 2016 at 21:06
You could simply remove all the dashes from the result of a standard slug generator. — Barmar
– Barmar, Commented Nov 16, 2016 at 21:07
There are libraries like github.com/cocur/slugify or github.com/ausi/slug-generator that allow you to customize the character translations and the delimiter. — ausi
– ausi, Commented Oct 30, 2017 at 22:17

cmorrissey · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-16 21:27:06Z

28

Here is a modified function that I originally found here (http://cubiq.org/the-perfect-php-clean-url-generator). you can pass '' as the delimiter to not use '-'.

public static function createSlug($str, $delimiter = '-'){

    $slug = strtolower(trim(preg_replace('/[\s-]+/', $delimiter, preg_replace('/[^A-Za-z0-9-]+/', $delimiter, preg_replace('/[&]/', 'and', preg_replace('/[\']/', '', iconv('UTF-8', 'ASCII//TRANSLIT', $str))))), $delimiter));
    return $slug;

}

edited Nov 16, 2016 at 21:27

answered Nov 16, 2016 at 20:54

cmorrissey

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1 Comment

mickmackusa Over a year ago

This is not an elegant snippet. preg_replace() can receive an array of finds/replacements, so nesting calls within calls unnecessarily bloats the line. & and ' don't need to be wrapped in braces -- there is no benefit to using a character class for the single symbol.

Sjoerd Linders · Accepted Answer · 2018-12-12 12:04:22Z

4

Previous one is good solution. But unfortunately it cuts off specific letters like ć or ż. If you want to keep them, then:

public static function createSlug($str, $delimiter = '-'){

    $unwanted_array = ['ś'=>'s', 'ą' => 'a', 'ć' => 'c', 'ç' => 'c', 'ę' => 'e', 'ł' => 'l', 'ń' => 'n', 'ó' => 'o', 'ź' => 'z', 'ż' => 'z',
        'Ś'=>'s', 'Ą' => 'a', 'Ć' => 'c', 'Ç' => 'c', 'Ę' => 'e', 'Ł' => 'l', 'Ń' => 'n', 'Ó' => 'o', 'Ź' => 'z', 'Ż' => 'z']; // Polish letters for example
    $str = strtr( $str, $unwanted_array );

    $slug = strtolower(trim(preg_replace('/[\s-]+/', $delimiter, preg_replace('/[^A-Za-z0-9-]+/', $delimiter, preg_replace('/[&]/', 'and', preg_replace('/[\']/', '', iconv('UTF-8', 'ASCII//TRANSLIT', $str))))), $delimiter));
    return $slug;
}

edited Dec 12, 2018 at 12:04

Sjoerd Linders

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answered Jan 29, 2018 at 12:15

Amir Djaminov

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Comments

Harsh Patel · Accepted Answer · 2024-02-01 06:51:00Z

1

<?php
function createSlug($title) {

     $title = strtolower($title);

     $replacements = ['@'=> "at", '#' => "hash", '$' => "dollar", '%' => "percentage", '&' => "and", '.' => "dot", 
                '+' => "plus", '-' => "minus", '*' => "multiply", '/' => "devide", '=' => "equal to",
                '<' => "less than", '<=' => "less than or equal to", '>' => "greater than", '<=' => "greater than or equal to",
    ];

     $title = strtr($title, $replacements);
     return $urlKey = preg_replace('#[^0-9a-z]+#i', '-', $title);
}

echo createSlug("BLUE DIAMOND ALMONDS HONEY ROASTED @ 100 which is < 154");

// output :- blue-diamond-almonds-honey-roasted-at-100-which-is-less-than-154

for performance test case see this answer

You can test above function at onlinephp.io

edited Feb 1, 2024 at 6:51

answered Jan 19, 2023 at 10:37

Harsh Patel

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2 Comments

Charbrec Over a year ago

Your function references the variable $str, but you don't ever use that var in your function. On top of that, you start by declaring $url, which references an undeclared var $title, to then never reference $url again, instead only referencing $title. This is cursed.

Harsh Patel Over a year ago

@Charbrec code fixed. now check it

Obaidul Haque · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-28 17:57:02Z

<?php
function createSlug($str,$length,$delimiter = '-'){
    $slug = strtolower(trim(preg_replace('/[\s-]+/', $delimiter, preg_replace('/[^A-Za-z0-9-]+/', $delimiter, preg_replace('/[&]/', 'and', preg_replace('/[\']/', '', iconv('UTF-8', 'ASCII//TRANSLIT', $str))))), $delimiter));
    $slug = substr($slug, 0, $length);
    return $slug;
} 
$myString = "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit neque eleifend semper, lectus faucibus velit senectus risus felis malesuada habitant. Sollicitudin malesuada mus scelerisque eros primis dictum ultricies sagittis";
print createSlug($myString,50); // here 50 = 50 character length slug generate; you can change it 100/50/25 or etc
?>

Output: lorem-ipsum-dolor-sit-amet-consectetur-adipiscing-lorem-ipsum-dolor-sit-amet-consectetur-adipiscing

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