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joefallon/phpflash
==================

A simple library for flash messages.

v4.0.0(7mo ago)176MITPHPPHP >=7.4.0

Since Feb 5Pushed 7mo ago2 watchersCompare

[ Source](https://github.com/joefallon/phpflash)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/joefallon/phpflash)[ Docs](https://github.com/joefallon/phpflash)[ RSS](/packages/joefallon-phpflash/feed)WikiDiscussions master Synced 1mo ago

READMEChangelogDependencies (2)Versions (11)Used By (0)

PhpFlash — Tiny flash message helper for PHP
============================================

[](#phpflash--tiny-flash-message-helper-for-php)

Simple, focused, and framework-agnostic helper for storing one-request flash messages (informational, success, warning, error). If you need a tiny, well-documented tool to show messages after redirects, this library is for you.

Why use PhpFlash?

- Minimal and focused: one responsibility so it’s easy to understand and audit.
- Framework-agnostic: works in plain PHP or inside frameworks (Laravel, Symfony, etc.).
- Testable: dependency-inject the `Session` helper for easier testing.
- Secure-by-design guidance: stores raw text and leaves escaping to the renderer so output can be escaped correctly for the context.

Quick facts

- Package: joefallon/phpflash
- PHP: 7.4+
- License: MIT

Install

The recommended way to install is via Composer:

```
composer require joefallon/phpflash
```

If you are developing or running tests locally, install dev dependencies too:

```
composer install
```

Basic usage (quick start)

This example uses the bundled `JoeFallon\PhpSession\Session` session helper (also installed as a dependency). The common pattern is:

1. Write a flash message before redirecting (it will be available on the next request).
2. In the next request, load messages from the session and render them.

Store a message (usually before a redirect):

```
use JoeFallon\PhpSession\Session;
use JoeFallon\PhpFlash\FlashMessages;

$session = new Session();
$flash = new FlashMessages($session);

// Persist a success message for the next request
$flash->storeSuccessMessage('Saved successfully');

// You can also store messages in memory for the same request
$flash->storeInfoMessage('Local info', false);
```

Retrieve and render messages (next request):

```
use JoeFallon\PhpSession\Session;
use JoeFallon\PhpFlash\FlashMessages;

$flash = new FlashMessages(new Session());
$flash->loadMessagesFromSession(); // load and clear messages persisted to session

$successMessages = $flash->retrieveSuccessMessages();
foreach ($successMessages as $message) {
    // Escape for HTML output!
    echo '' . htmlspecialchars($message, ENT_QUOTES | ENT_SUBSTITUTE, 'UTF-8') . '';
}
```

API reference (essential methods)

- \_\_construct(?JoeFallon\\PhpSession\\Session $session = null)

    - Accepts an optional `Session` instance. If omitted, a new Session is created internally.
- storeInfoMessage(string $message, bool $storeInSession = true): void
- storeSuccessMessage(string $message, bool $storeInSession = true): void
- storeWarningMessage(string $message, bool $storeInSession = true): void
- storeErrorMessage(string $message, bool $storeInSession = true): void

    - Stores a message. By default messages are serialized to the session and available on the next request. Pass `false` to keep the message in-memory for the current request only.
- loadMessagesFromSession(): void

    - Loads messages persisted in the session into memory and clears them from the session. Call this early in the request where you plan to render messages.
- retrieveInfoMessages(): array
- retrieveSuccessMessages(): array
- retrieveWarningMessages(): array
- retrieveErrorMessages(): array

    - Returns an array of strings for the corresponding type. These return only in-memory messages; call `loadMessagesFromSession()` first to include messages persisted to the session.

Rendering best practices and security notes

- PhpFlash intentionally stores raw strings. It does NOT perform HTML escaping or sanitisation. This is deliberate: escaping should happen at render time and must match the output context (HTML, JavaScript, JSON, CLI, etc.).
- When rendering HTML, always escape using `htmlspecialchars()` with `ENT_QUOTES | ENT_SUBSTITUTE` and an explicit UTF-8 charset. Example:

```
echo '' . htmlspecialchars($message, ENT_QUOTES | ENT_SUBSTITUTE, 'UTF-8') . '';
```

- Avoid placing sensitive data (passwords, personal data) into flash messages.
- The library uses JSON encoding to persist arrays of messages in the session. Ensure the `ext-json` PHP extension is available on your environment (it is enabled by default in modern PHP builds).

Example: Bootstrap-ready helper

If you use Bootstrap alerts, you can convert flash messages into HTML quickly (remember to escape content):

```
function renderFlashAlerts(FlashMessages $flash): void
{
    $flash->loadMessagesFromSession();

    $map = [
        'success' => $flash->retrieveSuccessMessages(),
        'info'    => $flash->retrieveInfoMessages(),
        'warning' => $flash->retrieveWarningMessages(),
        'danger'  => $flash->retrieveErrorMessages(),
    ];

    foreach ($map as $class => $messages) {
        foreach ($messages as $message) {
            $escaped = htmlspecialchars($message, ENT_QUOTES | ENT_SUBSTITUTE, 'UTF-8');
            echo "{$escaped}\n";
        }
    }
}
```

Testing

The project includes PHPUnit tests. To run them locally:

```
composer install
./vendor/bin/phpunit -c phpunit.xml.dist
```

Development notes

- The library targets small, well-scoped behaviour. If you plan enhancements, prefer small, focused pull requests and include tests.
- If your project already has a session manager, inject it into `FlashMessages`to avoid creating multiple session helpers.

Troubleshooting

- No messages displayed? Ensure you call `store{Type}Message()` before the redirect and `loadMessagesFromSession()` early in the request that follows.
- Session not persisting? Verify your PHP session configuration and that headers are not already sent before sessions start. The included `Session`helper falls back to an emulated session when headers are already sent.

Contributing and support

Contributions and bug reports are welcome. Please open issues or PRs on the project repository and include tests for new behaviour.

License

MIT — see the `LICENSE` file for details.

Thank you for considering PhpFlash. If this library helped you ship faster, please star the repository so others can find it.

###  Health Score

41

—

FairBetter than 89% of packages

Maintenance64

Regular maintenance activity

Popularity11

Limited adoption so far

Community8

Small or concentrated contributor base

Maturity69

Established project with proven stability

 Bus Factor1

Top contributor holds 100% of commits — single point of failure

How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window.

**Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores.

**Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement.

**Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability.

###  Release Activity

Cadence

Every ~488 days

Recently: every ~960 days

Total

9

Last Release

218d ago

Major Versions

v1.0.4 → v2.0.02015-12-27

v2.0.0 → v3.0.02016-09-18

v3.0.1 → v4.0.02025-10-12

PHP version history (3 changes)v1.0.0PHP >=5.3.0

v2.0.0PHP >=5.4.0

v4.0.0PHP >=7.4.0

### Community

Maintainers

![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/97cecfa80ffec8e9e7b5d0ff6df026b636e31a15fe0c2155baba402b5d4f0819?d=identicon)[joefallon](/maintainers/joefallon)

---

Top Contributors

[![joefallon](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/4212989?v=4)](https://github.com/joefallon "joefallon (13 commits)")

---

Tags

phpflash-messages

###  Code Quality

TestsPHPUnit

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```

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