URL Helpers

URL helpers handle everything related to URLs: getting segments, building links, redirecting users and reading the current page address.

Zero config. Just call them:

• current_url() returns the full URL
• segment() extracts URL segments
• get_num_segments() counts segments
• get_last_segment() returns the final segment
• redirect() sends users elsewhere
• previous_url() gets the referrer
• anchor() builds HTML links
• remove_query_string() strips query params

Get the Current URL

The current_url() function returns the full URL of the page you're on.

echo current_url();
// https://example.com/products/view/42

Extract URL Segments

The segment() function grabs a specific part of the URL. Segments are numbered starting from 1.

For the URL https://example.com/products/view/42:

echo segment(1);  // products
echo segment(2);  // view
echo segment(3);  // 42

Type Casting

Pass a second argument to force the segment into a specific type:

$id = segment(3, 'int');  // Forces segment to integer

Count and Read Segments

The get_num_segments() function counts how many segments exist after the base URL.

$count = get_num_segments();  // 3 (for /products/view/42)

The get_last_segment() function returns the final segment.

echo get_last_segment();  // 42

Redirect Users

The redirect() function sends users to another page and stops execution immediately.

Relative Redirect

redirect('dashboard');
// Redirects to https://example.com/dashboard

Absolute Redirect

redirect('https://google.com');

Get the Previous URL

The previous_url() function returns the referrer (the page the user came from).

$referer = previous_url();

if ($referer !== '') {
    redirect($referer);
}

Build Links

The anchor() function generates HTML anchor tags with automatic URL handling and XSS protection.

Basic Link

echo anchor('about', 'About Us');
// <a href="https://example.com/about">About Us</a>

External Link

echo anchor('https://google.com', 'Search');
// <a href="https://google.com">Search</a>

Link with Attributes

$attr = ['class' => 'btn', 'target' => '_blank'];
echo anchor('contact', 'Get in Touch', $attr);
// <a href="https://example.com/contact" class="btn" target="_blank">Get in Touch</a>

Remove Query Strings

The remove_query_string() function strips everything after the ? in a URL.

$url = 'https://example.com/search?q=test&page=2';
echo remove_query_string($url);
// https://example.com/search