API Integration (JSON Response)

If you are first starting your setup of Pages, read this guide first. This guide will go in-depth on API integration.

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Requirements & Prerequisites

This is the most flexible way to integrate, but it also requires some more work. You send API calls to Hello Retail and get product data and information about available filters returned as JSON.

You have to implement the user interface of the product page, including the user interface for applying filters and sorting.

Read more about the Pages API in our developer documentation.

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Example

Below is a very rudimentary example of how this could be done in PHP for a WooCommerce shop. It is split into two.

1. The first part reads parameters from the URL and sends the API call:

 

<?php
    $key = '621f84dbd901557944cb4b36';
    $breadcrumbs = (new WC_Breadcrumb())->generate();
    $baseFilter = ['hierarchies' => []];
    foreach($breadcrumbs as $b) {
        $baseFilter['hierarchies'][] = $b[0];
    }
    $trackingUserId = $_COOKIE['hello_retail_id'];
    $filters = [];
    if (isset($_GET['filters'])) {
        $filters = array_filter($_GET['filters']);
    }
    $sorting = [];
    if (isset($_GET['sorting'])) {
        $sorting = array_filter([$_GET['sorting']]);
    }

    $req = [
        "url" => $_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"],
        "layout" =>true,
        "products" => [
            "start"=>0,
            "count"=>24,
            "filters"=>$filters,
            "sorting"=>$sorting,
            "fields"=>["title", "url", "imgUrl", "price"]
        ],
        "params" => [  "filters" => $baseFilter  ],
        "firstLoad" => true,
        "trackingUserId" => $trackingUserId,
        "format" => "json"
    ];

    $opts = [
        "http" => [
            'method' => 'POST',
            'header' => 'Content-type: application/json',
            'content' => json_encode($req)
        ],
        "ssl"=>[
            "verify_peer"=>false,
            "verify_peer_name"=>false
        ]
    ];

    $context = stream_context_create($opts);
    $content = file_get_contents('https://core.helloretail.com/serve/pages/' . $key, false, $context);
    $content = json_decode($content, true);
?>

2. The second part builds a very rudimentary UI:

<?php if ($content): ?>

<style>  
        .product { 
            width: 200px;
            float: left;
            border: 1px solid #ddd;
            margin: 10px 10px;
            padding: 10px 10px;
            text-align: center;
        }
        .product img {
            width: 100%
        }
        .input {
            margin: 5px 10px;
        }
        .filter, .sorting {
            margin: 10px 0px;
        }
</style>

<form method="GET">
    <div class="filter">
        Filters:
        <?php foreach($content['products']['filters'] as $filter): ?>
            <span class="input">
                <?=htmlspecialchars($filter['settings']['title'])?>
                <select name="filters[]">
                    <option value="">-</option>
                     <?php foreach($filter['values'] as $value): ?>
                         <option value="<?=htmlspecialchars($value['query'])?>"<?=in_array($value['query'], $filters) ? 'selected' : ''?>  ><?=str_replace("$", " > ", htmlspecialchars(trim($value['title'], "$")))?> (<?=htmlspecialchars($value['count'])?>)
                         </option>
                     <?php endforeach ?>
                 </select>
             </span>
        <?php endforeach ?>
    </div>
    <div class="sorting">
        Sort by:
        <span class="input">
            <select name="sorting">
                <option value="">-</option>
                 <?php foreach($content['products']['sorting'] as $sortingOption): ?>
                     <option value="<?=htmlspecialchars($sortingOption['descending']['query'])?>"  <?=in_array($sortingOption['descending']['query'], $sorting) ? 'selected' : ''?>>  <?=htmlspecialchars($sortingOption['settings']['descendingText'])?>  </option>  <option value="<?=htmlspecialchars($sortingOption['ascending']['query'])?>"  <?=in_array($sortingOption['ascending']['query'], $sorting) ? 'selected' : ''?>>  <?=htmlspecialchars($sortingOption['settings']['ascendingText'])?>
                     </option>
                 <?php endforeach ?>
             </select>
        </span>
    </div>
    <input type="submit" value="Apply">
</form>
<p>Showing <?=htmlspecialchars($content['products']['count'])?> products of <?=htmlspecialchars($content['products']['total'])?> total</p>
    <?php foreach($content['products']['result'] as $product):?>
        <div class="product">
            <a href="<?=htmlspecialchars($product['url'])?>">
                <img src="<?=htmlspecialchars($product['imgUrl'])?>">
                <div><?=htmlspecialchars($product['title'])?></div>
                <div>$<?=htmlspecialchars(number_format($product['price'], 2))?></div>
            </a>
        </div>
    <?php endforeach ?> 
<?php endif ?>

 

The above code will build a category page that looks something like the screenshot below. It illustrates the functionality, but more work is needed to make the page look good and support all the expected features of a modern product page.