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Views

Views in WordPress MVC (WPMVC) are templates responsible for generating the HTML output displayed to the user. They are essentially frontend assets that receive data (variables) from controllers and render markup accordingly.

Overview​

A view file:

  • Is a PHP file containing primarily HTML — PHP should only be used to echo dynamic data passed from a controller.
  • Represents a clean separation between presentation and business logic (logic belongs in controllers).
  • Can be thought of as the template layer in the MVC pattern.

Storage Path​

Views are stored under the project’s view directory. For example:

[path to project]/assets/views/

Ayuco Command​

You can scaffold a new view using Ayuco:

php ayuco create view:{view-key}
  • {view-key} –> A key identifying your view.

Example:

php ayuco create view:shortcodes.hello-world

This creates a view at:

assets/views/shortcodes/hello-world.php

Example View​

A simple view could look like this:

assets/views/book.php
<div class="book book-<?php echo $book->ID ?>">
  <h1><?php echo $book->title ?></h1>
  <ul>
    <li>Year: <?php echo $book->year ?></li>
    <li>Publisher: <?php echo $book->publisher ?></li>
  </ul>
  <p><?php echo $book->description ?></p>
</div>

Parameters​

All view invocation methods allow passing parameters as an associative array. These keys are converted into PHP variables available inside the view.

Example of passing parameters from a controller:

// Call a view and pass parameters
get_bridge( 'theme' )->view( 'view.key', [
    'parameter_name_1' => 1,
    'my_model'         => MyModel::find( 1 ),
    'db_option'        => get_option( 'db_option' ),
] );

Inside the view, these become local variables:

<?php echo $parameter_name_1 ?>
<?php echo $my_model->title ?>
<?php print_r($db_option) ?>

This delivers clean separation data → view.

Calling Views​

Views can be rendered from different contexts:

Within a Controller​

class MyController extends Controller
{
    public function my_function() {
        // get returns view content without printing
        $view = $this->view->get( 'view.key', [
            'param1' => true,
            'model' => MyModel::find()
        ] );

        // show prints the view directly
        $this->view->show( 'view.key-2', [
            'param1' => true,
            'model' => MyModel::find()
        ] );
    }
}

Within the Main Class​

class Main extends Bridge {
    public function return_view() {
        return $this->mvc->view->get( 'view.key' );
    }
}

Global Helper Functions​

  • get_bridge('MyNamespace')->view('view.key', $params)
  • In themes: theme_view('view.key', $params) (theme-specific helper).

Theme Overrides​

Plugin views can be overridden in a theme or child theme. To do this:

  1. Copy the plugin’s view file into the theme with the same relative folder tructure.
  2. The framework will prioritize the theme copy over the plugin view.

Example:

Original plugin view:

{plugin root}/assets/views/shortcodes/hello-word.php

Theme override:

{theme root}/assets/views/shortcodes/hello-word.php

The override is loaded automatically. You can even customize the theme base path using configuration (e.g., via paths.theme_path).

Example:

'paths' => [
    ...,
    'theme_path' => '/my-app/',
],

This would look for views in:

{theme root}/my-app/shortcodes/hello-word.php

Best practices​

  • A view should only contain frontend code (HTML with PHP echoes).
  • Keep business logic and algorithms out of views; controllers are responsible for that.