Load dynamic HTML to display custom template - templates

Question

I own a small website that display to the users an html template (with css). Each user can change the template (customizable).
By default i have a template i copy everytime to a new user or if i get nice template (high rates) users can choose it.
instead of copying the template over and over, is there an easy way for me to create 1 template and then when the page load, it shows on the user page and then he can interact (ajax calls, href links etc...)
for example:
new user logged for the first time, the "user license agreement" shows then he click accept and his page shows up. this "home" page has forms, links, images etc... using a default template. that is the one i want to load dynamically instead of copying this template to each users.
why: i found HTML error in the page and now i need to copy this template to 127 users ... which is a pain.
i am using LAMP
thanks

Answer 1

yes using jQuery!
$('#divID').load('pathToHTMLTemplate') is your answer as long as you have the html file stored on same domain :)
This will fetch the html template using ajax and append its content to the div you want. It can also be 'body'.
Here is the documentation which should tell you everything you need to.
Once the template is loaded you can load the user specific data using ajax or any app server you are using. .load function provides a callback:
$('#divID').load('pathToHTMLTemplate', function(){
// now the template is loaded and you can maniupulate it further or load user specific data
});

Answer 2

It sounds to me (just going off of your post) that you have a directory somewhere with a bunch of files "user1.html", "user2.html" or something similar. All of these are either the same or similar, since they're basically the same template.
My recommendation:
Have a database table (or a flat file, but I recommend a database table) that maps a user ID (or name, however you have them arranged) to a template. For example, if user1 and user2 use template_default.html, but user3 uses template_popular.html, you would have the following in your database:
name|template
user1|template_default.html
user2|template_default.html
user3|template_popular.html
Then in whatever code is currently deciding which page to show the user, change it to pull the user's chosen template out of the database and display that instead. So then you only have 1 or 2 pages instead of 127.
If the user is allowed to make edits to their template, that could be stored as metadata in the table as well, then you could use substitution parameters to add it into the template.
Example:
MySQL table:
CREATE TABLE user_templates (
`user` varchar(100),
template varchar(100)
);
Upon receiving a new user:
INSERT INTO user_templates(`user`,template) VALUES("<username>","default_template.html");
Upon user choosing a new template:
UPDATE user_templates set template = "<new template>" WHERE `user` = "<username>";
Upon user loading the user's page (this done in php):
$template = "default_template.html";
$query = "SELECT template FROM user_templates WHERE `user` = \"" . mysql_real_escape_string($username) . "\"";
$result = mysql_query($query,$databaseHandle);
if ($result && mysql_num_rows($result) > 0) {
$template = mysql_result($result,0,"template");
}
// 1st way to do it
$pageToLoad = "http://www.someserver.com/templates/$template";
header("Location: $pageToLoad");
// 2nd way, if you want it embedded in a page somewhere
$directory = "/var/www/site/templates/$template";
$pageContents = file_get_contents($directory);
print "<div id=\"userPage\">$pageContents</div>";

Answer 3

I assume you mean that you have an HTML file that is customized for each user (look, feel, etc):
User1-theme.html
User2-theme.html
User3-theme.html
User4-theme.html
User4-theme.html
Then you would have a file that has all of your ajax calls, links, etc that you want for each user:
User-Controls.html
What you need to do is
Ensure jQuery is downloaded and included on each of your User Theme Pages.
Add this code snipplet to each of your User Theme Pages:
$("#myDiv").load("User-Controls.html")
(where #myDiv is the div ID on the template page that you want to load the controls into
and User-Controls.html is the path to the html file containing the controls you want to load