How to add slug and ID URL to Laravel 4 Route?

Question

I would like to add nice Slug URL to my Laravbel Project. I currently am using ID numbers.

My goal is to continue using Numbers but also to use Slugs for b

Answer 1

Consider using RESTful Controllers, this will generate a url based on the controller and function name:

Route::controller('users', 'UserController');

Also, I am pretty sure resource controllers does the same thing, although I have not used them yet:

Route::resource('photo', 'PhotoController');

If you still wish to define your routes, I would add a slug column to your DB and then your route would be:

// View Campaign Details/Profile/Map View
Route::any("/campaign/{slug}", array(
    "as"   => "campaign",
    "uses" => "CampaignController@getCampaignMap"
));

Keep in mind the slug would have to be unique.

In your controller:

public function getCampaignMap($slug)
{
    $campaignmap = YourModel::where('slug', '=', $slug)->get();
}

If you wish, you may still pass the id in as well:

// View Campaign Details/Profile/Map View
Route::any("/campaign/{slug}/{id}", array(
    "as"   => "campaign",
    "uses" => "CampaignController@getCampaignMap"
));

Then, in your controller:

public function getCampaignMap($slug, $id)
{
    $campaignmap = YourModel::find($id);
}

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

There is already a popular package that handle slugs and its possible issues: https://github.com/cviebrock/eloquent-sluggable

It can handle uniqueness adding an id suffix to previously used slugs, detect if you want to overwrite soft-deleted slugs, and some other customs configs.

Answer 3

I wouldn't pass two parameters to your function, just treat it like an ID in both cases. You'll need to add a "slug" column to your db if you haven't already and make sure those values are unique just like an id. Then in your controller you can do something like this:

public function getCampaignMap($id){
    //look for the campaign by id first
    $campaignmap  = Campaign::find($id);
    //if none is found try to find it by slug instead
    if(!$campaignmap){
        $campaignmap = Campaign::where('slug','=',$id)->firstOrFail();
    }
    return View::make('campaignmap.show', compact('campaignmap'));
}

You could also save yourself a query in some cases by checking to see if the id is numeric and then just look for it by slug if it's not numeric such as:

public function getCampaignMap($id){
    //look for the campaign by id if it's numeric and by slug if not
    if(is_numeric($id)){
         $campaignmap  = Campaign::find($id);
    }else{
         $campaignmap = Campaign::where('slug','=',$id)->firstOrFail();
    }
    return View::make('campaignmap.show', compact('campaignmap'));
}