Programmatically printing a block

Question

So far I have been using this code, which works fine to print third-party module blocks.

<?php
    $block = module_invoke('views', 'block_view', 'og_members-block_1');
    print render($block);
?>

However, now I am trying to print a block that lives within my theme folder and I can't seem to figure out how to do that. How can I achieve this?

Answer 1

There is a way to programmatically print a block in a tpl file.

For 'module' defined blocks you can use block_load() see: block_load op api.drupal.org

If you have a block defined through the block interface, it is called a custom block you can use block_custom_block_get($bid) see: block_custom_block_get() on api.drupal.org

$block = block_custom_block_get(1);
$content = $block['body'];

Answer 2

You seem to be confusing things a bit.

Your method that you use in your code example is pretty sounds, it invokes hook_block_view for the desire module with a specific block delta. This method works fine because the only way to create blocks is through the hooks that the block module has defined.

This means that a theme can't create a block and you can't load a block from the theme. You would instead need to implement it in a module. Doing so would allow you to use the method you yourself has described.

Answer 3

It's work for me in Drupal 7.

$block = block_load('block', 'block_id');
$output =_block_get_renderable_array(_block_render_blocks(array($block)));
$res_output = drupal_render($res_output);
print render($res_output);

Answer 4

Programmatically printing a block in tpl file.

$view = views_get_view("block-name");
print $view->preview("block");