Randomly render one of the modules in a given position

Question

I have several modules for a given position, but I only want to display one of them (selected randomly) on the front-end in a Gantry template.

Is there any way to do this?

Answer 1

Have a look at the Module Helper documentation.

getModules(): Get modules by position

getModules(string $position) : array static
since 1.5

Arguments
$position string The position of the module

Response array
An array of module objects

and

renderModule(): Render the module.

renderModule(object $module, array $attribs = array()) : string static
since 1.5

Arguments
$module objectA module object.
$attribs array An array of attributes for the module (probably from the XML).

Response string
The HTML content of the module output.

This means that after declaring use Joomla\CMS\Helper\ModuleHelper;, you can simply:

1. Fetch all of the modules at your designated position as an array.
2. Randomly select a single module object from the array of objects using array_rand().
3. Display/Echo the rendered module content.

Code:

$position = 'position-2';
$modules = JModuleHelper::getModules($position);
echo JModuleHelper::renderModule($modules[array_rand($modules)]);

This is effectively an extension of FFrewin's answer from 2014.

---

In your template, write the jdoc placeholder.

<jdoc:include type="modules" name="position-2" />

A short list of relevant pages to reference:

• Joomla Documentation: Jdoc statements
• Balbooa tutorial: How to Add New Module Position in Joomla?
• OSTraining thread: Templates, Modules, and JDOC statements

Answer 2

If you're after a less code heavy way of doing it, you could use a mix of Regular Labs Modules anywhere and Regular Labs Articles Anywhere.

• Create your modules, and assign them all to a new position called "Random"
• Create a category called Random Modules
• Create articles for each of the modules using Module plugin syntax
• https://www.regularlabs.com/extensions/modulesanywhere/tutorial#how-to-use-it-syntax
• Create one more module that is assigned to the position you want the random modules to appear
• Use Articles Anywhere (note Pro edition needed for ordering) to make the module load a random article
• {articles category="Random Modules" ordering="random" limit="1"}[title][fulltext]{/articles}