Question

I am using preg_replace for buzzword type functionality, using a list of buzzwords, searching for them in an article and then using preg_replace to wrap a link around them.

My buzzwords are:

Online Marketing
Social Media Markeing
Social Media
Social
Brand Marketing
Brand
Search Engine Optimisation
SEO
Email Marketing
Email
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn

and I am doing my preg_replace like this…

$text = preg_replace("/Online Marketing/", "<a href='".$base."online-marketing/'>Online Marketing</a>", $text);

but the issue is I am having to do a preg_replace for each possible variation like so…

$text = preg_replace("/Online Marketing/", "<a href='".$base."online-marketing/'>Online Marketing</a>", $text);
$text = preg_replace("/Online marketing/", "<a href='".$base."online-marketing/'>Online marketing</a>", $text);
$text = preg_replace("/online marketing/", "<a href='".$base."online-marketing/'>online marketing</a>", $text);

Which is extremely long winded, now I know that I can use an array with str_repalce like this:

$from = array("Online Marketing", "Online marketing", "online marketing");
$name = str_replace($from, "", $text);

But I cannot see a way of finding which part of the array was matched and then replacing it with the correct link, as you can see the str_replace above just totally deletes my buzzword, its just an example.

So I was wondering if anyone would be able to help me find a way of using an array of buzzwords in a str_replace or preg_replace but also make sure that it repalces the buzzword with the correct link.

Hope someone can help

Answer 1

I took a mixture of all of your answers and this is my finished result…

$Fbuzzwords = array(" online marketing", " social media marketing", " social-media-marketing", " social media", 
                " social", " brand marketing", " brand", " search engine optimisation", " seo", " email marketing", 
                " email", " e-mail marketing", " e-mail", " tiwtter", " facebook", " linkedin");

$Ubuzzwords = array("online-marketing", "social-media-marketing", "social-media-marketing", "social-media-marketing", 
                "social-media-marketing", "brand-marketing", "brand-marketing", "search-engine-optimisation", 
                "search-engine-optimisation", "online-marketing", "online-marketing", "online-marketing", 
                "online-marketing", "social-media-marketing", "social-media-marketing", "social-media-marketing");

$i = 0;

foreach ($Fbuzzwords as $buzzword)
{
    $url = $Ubuzzwords[$i];

    $Rbuzzwords = array(" <a href='".$base.$url."/'>online marketing</a>", " <a href='"
.$base.$url."/'>social media marketing</a>", 
                " <a href='".$base.$url."/'>social-media-marketing</a>", " <a href='".$base.$url."/'>social media</a>", 
                " <a href='".$base.$url."/'>social</a>", " <a href='".$base.$url."/'>brand marketing</a>", 
                " <a href='".$base.$url."/'>brand</a>", " <a href='".$base.$url."/'>search engine optimisation</a>", 
                " <a href='".$base.$url."/'>seo</a>", " <a href='".$base.$url."/'>email marketing</a>", 
                " <a href='".$base.$url."/'>email</a>", " <a href='".$base.$url."/'>e-mail marketing</a>", 
                " <a href='".$base.$url."/'>e-mail</a>", " <a href='".$base.$url."/'>tiwtter</a>", 
                " <a href='".$base.$url."/'>facebook</a>", " <a href='".$base.$url."/'>linkedin</a>");

    $replacement = $Rbuzzwords[$i];

    $text = preg_replace("/$buzzword/i", "$replacement", $text);

    $i++;
}

So I have 3 arrays, 1 for finding the word on the page, and 2 for the url, I loop though all of the text for each part of the array making sure I catch every case