Facebook Style URL Extract with PHP and jQuery AJAX
by Vincy. Last modified on July 13th, 2022.
In PHP, URL extract can be done in many ways. In the previous tutorial, we have seen about how to extract the remote content from a given URL using PHP cURL script.
In this tutorial, we are going to do the Facebook like URL extract by using jQuery and PHP.
We are using SimpleHTMLDOM parser class for parsing the HTML DOM elements of the remote content. We are sending the URL via jQuery AJAX to parse title, description, and images if any.
After parsing, we are printing results with the extracted content.
HTML Input to Call jQuery URL Extract
This code has a text area which triggers the URL extract on its key-up event.
<div id="frm-extract">
<textarea id="url" placeholder="Enter the URL" onKeyup="extractURL()"></textarea>
<div id="output"></div>
</div>
jQuery URL Extract Function
This function sends URL to a PHP page to call SimpleHTMLDOM parser to extract the remote content. On successful extract, this function will slide down the results.
function extractURL() {
$.ajax({
url: "url_extract.php",
data:'url='+$('#url').val(),
type: "POST",
beforeSend:function(data){
$("#url").css("background","#FFF url(LoaderIcon.gif) no-repeat right center");
},
success: function(responseData){
$("#output").html(responseData);
$("#output").slideDown();
$("#url").removeAttr("onkeyup");
$("#url").css("background","");
}
});
}
PHP Remote URL Extract
We have to include SimpleHTMLDOM parser class in this PHP file. The file_get_html() function of this class is used for getting remote content. By parsing this content, we are getting page title, description and number of images.
<?php
if(!empty($_POST["url"]) && filter_var($_POST["url"], FILTER_VALIDATE_URL)) {
include_once("simplehtmldom/simple_html_dom.php");
//extracting HTML content for the URL
$content = file_get_html($_POST["url"]);
//Parsing Title
foreach($content->find('title') as $element) {
$title = $element->plaintext;
}
//Parsing Body Content
foreach($content->find('body') as $element) {
$body_content = implode(' ', array_slice(explode(' ', trim($element->plaintext)), 0, 50));
}
$image_url = array();
//Parse Site Images
foreach($content->find('img') as $element){
if(filter_var($element->src, FILTER_VALIDATE_URL)){
list($width,$height) = getimagesize($element->src);
if($width>150 || $height>150){
$image_url[] = $element->src;
}
}
}
$image_div = "";
if(!empty($image_url[0])) {
$image_div = "<div class='image-extract'>" .
"<input type='hidden' id='index' value='0'/>" .
"<img id='image_url' src='" . $image_url[0] . "' />";
if(count($image_url)>1) {
$image_div .= "<div>" .
"<input type='button' class='btnNav' id='prev-extract' onClick=navigateImage(" . json_encode($image_url) . ",'prev') disabled />" .
"<input type='button' class='btnNav' id='next-extract' target='_blank' onClick=navigateImage(" . json_encode($image_url) . ",'next') />" .
"</div>";
}
$image_div .="</div>";
}
$output = $image_div . "<div class='content-extract'>" .
"<h3><a href='" . $_POST["url"] . "' target='_blank'>" . $title . "</a></h3>" .
"<div>" . $body_content . "</div>".
"</div>";
echo $output;
}
?>
In Facebook, we can navigate among the extracted images for selecting the favorite one. We are sending the extracted image URL in JSON format to a jQuery function.
jQuery Image Navigation
This function manages image navigation on clicking the previous next buttons.
function navigateImage(urlAry,nav) {
var urlArrayLength = urlAry.length;
var index = $('#index').val();
$('#prev-extract').prop('disabled',false);
$('#next-extract').prop('disabled',false);
if(nav=='prev') {
if(index!=0) {
var prev_index = (parseInt(index)-1);
$('#index').val(prev_index);
$(".image-extract img").attr('src', urlAry[prev_index]);
if(prev_index==0) $('#prev-extract').prop('disabled',true);
}
}
if(nav=='next') {
if(index<urlArrayLength-1) {
var next_index = (parseInt(index)+1);
$('#index').val(next_index);
$(".image-extract img").attr('src', urlAry[next_index]);
if(next_index>=urlArrayLength-1) $('#next-extract').prop('disabled',true);
}
}
}
Hi, I’m Vincy. I help build websites, grow businesses, big and small. If that is what you want, contact me.
I’m currently available for freelance work.