Phplist | Templates

function plugin_customplaceholder($placeholder) { if ($placeholder == 'RANDOM_QUOTE') { return getRandomQuoteFromDb(); } return false; } Register it via $GLOBALS['plugins']['contentplaceholder'] = 'plugin_customplaceholder' .

function placeholder_EXTERNAL_TEMPLATE() { $ch = curl_init('https://your-cms.com/api/phplist-template'); return curl_exec($ch); } Then in template: [EXTERNAL_TEMPLATE] . Downside: one HTTP request per email send. Leave [CONTENT] empty and use a plugin to replace it with a fully rendered MJML→HTML string. This keeps templates static while allowing complex designs. Pattern C: Webhook-Driven Template Sync On Git push to a phplist-templates/ repo, trigger a script that updates the phplist_templatetemplate table via the PHPList API (or direct SQL). This gives you version control. Conclusion: The Quirky Genius of PHPList Templates PHPList’s templating system is not elegant, but it is deterministic, secure, and survivable . It has delivered billions of emails because its constraints (no filesystem reliance, simple conditionals, database storage) align perfectly with the hostile, low-resource environments of shared hosting. To master PHPList is to accept that templates are not code—they are parameterized messages with a very sharp knife .

Use the database as your source of truth. Never enable allow_php_templates . And always, always provide a text version. Your deliverability depends on it.

: Setting allow_php_templates = 1 transforms the template into a remote code execution (RCE) vector. Never enable it on multi-tenant or public-facing installs. 10. Modernizing PHPList Templates (Migration Patterns) If you must integrate PHPList into a modern stack, consider these patterns: Pattern A: Headless Placeholder Provider Write a plugin that fetches template HTML from an external API: