Low Variables

Settings

Settings for Low Variables

Setting	Description
License key	Enter your purchased license key here. The module won’t work without one.
Select Variable Managers	Select the member groups that are allowed to manage the variables, rather than just editing their contents.
Clear cache	If set to Yes, all native cache will be cleared after variables are saved. If set to Ask, a checkbox will appear next to the Save Changes button to optionally clear the cache. It will be unchecked by default with opt-in, checked by default with opt-out.
Enable early parsing?	Choose if variables can be parsed early in the parsing order; before or after existing Snippets and config-variables. Yes, before Snippets will parse early parsed Low Variables before Snippets and variables set in config.php; Yes, after Snippets will parse them after. Use caution when turning on this feature, as users could potentially break your templates!
Add member data to early parsed variables?	If set to Yes, the Alternative Syntax member variables will be added to the early parsed global variables. See below for more info. (EE1 and EE2 only)
Save as files?	If set to Yes, you will be able to save any variable’s value as a file on the server. Removed in v3.2.0
One way sync?	If set to Yes, variables saved as files will always be synchronised from file to database and not the other way around. This will overwrite any changes made to the variables via the CP. Removed in v3.2.0
File path	Enter the full file path to the directory where you want your variable files to be stored. Make sure the directory is writable. Removed in v3.2.0
Sync URL	The URL that will trigger a file sync, useful for automatic triggering. Removed in v3.2.0
Variable types	Here you can find a list of available Variable Types and Low Variables compatible Field Types. Select which types you want to enable. Disabled types will not appear in the module.

Config overrides

Four of the extension settings – License key, Save as files, One way sync, and File path – can be overridden by setting them in the config.php file. If you do so, the values in the extension settings will be shown as disabled input fields. You’ll need to update the config.php file itself if you want to change the values of these settings.

$config['low_variables_license_key'] = '12345';
$config['low_variables_save_as_files'] = 'y';
$config['low_variables_one_way_sync'] = 'n';
$config['low_variables_file_path'] = '/var/www/htdocs/my_vars/';

Note: all file syncing options were removed in v3.2.0. As Low Variables extends native Global Variables, EE handles syncing to file natively.

Early parsed member data

Pre-EE3, regular member data is parsed late in EE’s parse order. With Low Variables v1.3.4+, you can add them to the early parsed global variables so you can use them in your templates as parameter values or in early parsed simple conditionals. For this, use the Alternative member variables Syntax:

• {logged_in_member_id}
• {logged_in_group_id}
• {logged_in_group_description}
• {logged_in_username}
• {logged_in_screen_name}
• {logged_in_email}
• {logged_in_ip_address}
• {logged_in_location}
• {logged_in_total_entries}
• {logged_in_total_comments}
• {logged_in_private_messages}
• {logged_in_total_forum_posts}
• {logged_in_total_forum_topics}

In EE3, these variables are added natively.