Magento 1.8 – Difference Between getChildHtml and getBlockHtml

blockslayoutmagento-1.8static-blocktemplate

Synopsis

What is the difference between getChildHtml and getBlockHtml?
How can I get the cms/block title in the template?

I have essentially replaced the footer with my own footer and set my own <?= $this->getChildHtml('...') ?> This didn't work until I used: <?= $this->getBlockHtml('...') ?>.

Layout XML:

<layout>
    <default>
        <block type="core/template" name="custom_footer" as="footer" template="page/html/footer.phtml">
            <block type="cms/block" name="child_1">
                <action method="setBlockId"><block_id>footer_child_1</block_id></action>
            </block>
         </block>
    </layout>
</default>

Template (doesn't work):

<footer>
    <div class="row">
        <div class="col-sp4"><?= $this->getChildHtml('child_1') ?></div>
    </div>
</footer>

Template (Works):

<footer>
    <div class="row">
        <div class="col-sp4"><?= $this->getBlockHtml('child_1') ?></div>
    </div>
</footer>

Solution:

First of all I had to override the footer inside my local.xml by:

<default>
    <block type="core/template" template="page/html/custom_footer.phtml" name ="custom_footer" as "footer" />
</default>

The I had to add my children (in order for getChildHtml() to work):

<reference name="footer">
    <block type="cms/block" name="child_1">
         <action method="setBlockId"><block_id>footer_child_1</block_id></action>
    </block>
</reference>

Best Answer

getBlockHtml('block_name_here') get's you the html of the block with name block_name_here if it finds it in the layout...anywhere.
getChildHtml('block_name_here') get's you the html of the block with name block_name_here only if that block is a child of the current block.

Here is an example. Consider the next layout section

<block type="core/template" template="some_template.phtml" name="some_name" />
<block type="core/template" template="some_other_template.phtml" name="some_other_name" />

Now in the template file some_template.phtml if you add this line of code <?php echo $this->getBlockHtml('some_other_name')?> you will get the html for the block some_other_name.
If you add <?php echo $this->getChildHtml('some_other_name')?> you will get nothing.

IN the following scenario

<block type="core/template" template="some_template.phtml" name="some_name">
    <block type="core/template" template="some_other_template.phtml" name="some_other_name" />
</block>

getChildHtml and getBlockHtml will get you the same thing. the html of the block some_other_name.

Related Solutions

Magento – Changing header.phtml for an extension

In the default header.phtml there is this line:

<p class="welcome-msg"><?php echo $this->getWelcome() ?> <?php echo $this->getAdditionalHtml() ?></p>

From my point of view you have 3 options.

Option 1. In case you want to add a simple text that does not depend on the page or user and you want to add it after the welcome message you can add this piece of code in your layout file:

<reference name="header">
    <action method="setAdditionalHtml"><additional>YOUR TEXT HERE</additional></action>
</reference>

Option 2. If you want to add user/page dependent content or you want to add the content before the welcome message you can override this method Mage_Page_Block_Html_Header::getWelcome() and make it look something like this:

public function getWelcome(){
   $text = 'YOUR TEXT HERE';
   return $text.parent::getWelcome();
}

Option 3. Put your block content in the footer. This can be done easily with

<reference name="footer">
    <block type=".." name=".." as=".." template=".." />
</reference>

And in your block include a javascript that moves your content to the desired header area. It's not the prettiest way to do it but it should work. The downside of this is that it may not work on a custom theme. But you can include an explanation on how to make it work on your readme file.

Newsletter – Positioning Subscription Box in Footer

Just add below single line & it works

<?php echo $this->getLayout()->createBlock('newsletter/subscribe')->setTemplate('newsletter/subscribe.phtml')->toHtml(); ?>