Title: Plugin development: Insert current_user into javacript
Last modified: August 30, 2016

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# Plugin development: Insert current_user into javacript

 *  [dennishall](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dennishall/)
 * (@dennishall)
 * [10 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-development-insert-current_user-into-javacript/)
 * Hi:
    I’m developing a plugin that contains 8 form fields. 2 or the form fields
   currently need the user to enter their first and last names. I would like to 
   automate this and remove the fields all together by having my javascript get 
   the first and last names of the logged in user.
 * I’m hoping to make use of the $current_user function(s) but I’m not clear on 
   how I could do it in WP.
 * Is this possible to do within my plugins javascript?
    Any help or code snippet
   would be great.
 * BestRegards,
    Dennis Hall

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

 *  Thread Starter [dennishall](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dennishall/)
 * (@dennishall)
 * [10 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-development-insert-current_user-into-javacript/#post-6246127)
 * Update:
 * I failed to mention that this plugin generates a URL that is opened in another
   window. The URL is assembled from the following javascript:
 *     ```
       function myFormProcessor() {
       	var StartUrl = document.getElementById('StartUrl').value;
       	var 2nd_URL = document.getElementById('2nd_URL').value;
       	var Net_User = document.getElementById('Net_User').value;
       	var Net_Password = document.getElementById('Net_Password').value;
       	var WP_FirstName = document.getElementById('WP_FirstName').value;
       	var WP_LastName = document.getElementById('WP_LastName').value;
       	var WP_Email = document.getElementById('WP_Email').value;
       	var Remote_ID = document.getElementById('Remote_ID').value;
       	var UserPassword64Encoded = Net_User + ":" + Net_Password;
       	var UserPassword64Encoded = btoa(UserPassword64Encoded);
   
       	document.getElementById('results').innerHTML = StartUrl + "?endpoint=" + 2nd_URL + "%26auth%3DBasic%20" + UserPassword64Encoded + "%26actor%3D%7B%22objectType%22%3A%22Agent%22%2C%22name%22%3A%5B%22" + WP_FirstName + "%20" + WP_LastName + "%22%5D%2C%22mbox%22%3A%5B%22mailto%3A" + WP_Email + "%22%5D%7D%26registration%3D0072356f-3de8-4792-ab8a-e2d8a3295db5%26remote_id%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2F" + Remote_ID;
   
       	document.getElementById('results').style.display = "block";
       	return false;
       	}
       ```
   
 * The script above will populate a preview of the URL as a text string that could
   be copy/paste while I have another form button that will open the same output
   in a new window (for test purposes).
 * 
 * This is why I’m trying to insert the current-user information into the URL to
   replace the WP_ user name and email parts.
 * Any advice or snippets would really be great.
 * Best Regards,
    Dennis Hall
 *  [yorman](https://wordpress.org/support/users/yorman/)
 * (@yorman)
 * [10 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-development-insert-current_user-into-javacript/#post-6246423)
 * Oh man, why are you passing a Base64-encoded password through an URL? In my experience
   as security analyst this type of code is what opens security holes in a website
   and then people complain that they got hacked.
 * Anyway, to answer your question you can do something like this [1] to display
   the first and last name of the user in the current session in the form fields
   that you have. Note that there is no _“first\_name”_ nor _“last\_name”_ fields
   in the database, so you will have to split the _“display\_name”_ attribute by
   spaces like I did in that code.
 * I hope this helps, and be careful with that password.
 * [1] [http://cixtor.com/pastio/th1uab](http://cixtor.com/pastio/th1uab)
 *  Thread Starter [dennishall](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dennishall/)
 * (@dennishall)
 * [10 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-development-insert-current_user-into-javacript/#post-6246424)
 * Thanks for the response Yorman. This Base64 encoding is a requirement for the
   Query string. The systems that use it need Base64Encoded usernames and passwords
   as the authorization credentials.
 * Anyhow, I have posted the latest version of what I have for code and my current
   issue on StackOverflow as I had seen it takes forever (normally) for anyone to
   respond in this forum.
    Regarding your statement about First and Last names, 
   I have already tested this, I am able to pull user_firstname and user_lastname
   from WP (once the user is logged in of course).
 * Here is the link to my latest update:
    [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/30928390/wordpress-insert-php-vars-into-javascript](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/30928390/wordpress-insert-php-vars-into-javascript)
 * It would be great if you had some advice or code snippet that would help me resolve
   this.
 * Bast Regards,
    Dennis Hall
 *  [yorman](https://wordpress.org/support/users/yorman/)
 * (@yorman)
 * [10 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-development-insert-current_user-into-javacript/#post-6246425)
 * I do not see StackOverflow as a forum, I see it more like a platform to share
   generic information, that may be the reason of why your question got downvoted
   because it is too specific and it will _(probably)_ not help anyone else in the
   future.
 * Also, I still think that your code may leak sensitive information, you mentioned
   in the StackOverflow post that only logged in users will be able to use this 
   vulnerable URL, but that will not prevent the leaks. Adding solutions to the 
   issue that you are posting will encourage you to continue using that code, but
   you seem to have invested time writing that plugin so here is what you must use
   to fix the bugs [1]
 * **EXPLANATION**
 * The bug with your current code is that you are trying to extract the user’s data
   from the forms using the code from the _“First Block”_ and it should be like 
   the _“Second Block”_:
 *     ```
       # First Block.
       var WP_FirstName = document.getElementById('<?php echo user_firstname ?>');
       var WP_LastName  = document.getElementById('<?php echo user_lastname  ?>');
       var WP_Email     = document.getElementById('<?php echo user_email     ?>');
   
       # Second Block.
       var WP_FirstName = document.getElementById('WP_FirstName').value;
       var WP_LastName  = document.getElementById('WP_LastName').value;
       var WP_Email     = document.getElementById('WP_Email').value;
       ```
   
 * And the variables in the first block are missing the dollar sign, that is why
   you are getting a _“null”_ every time. Also, the code is redundant, if you have
   hidden input fields, why not print the user’s information in the JavaScript variables
   and reduce the size of the HTML code? Like this:
 *     ```
       var WP_FirstName = '<?php echo $user_firstname ?>';
       var WP_LastName  = '<?php echo $user_lastname  ?>';
       var WP_Email     = '<?php echo $user_email     ?>';
       ```
   
 * I hope you can make it work, good luck.
 * [1] [http://cixtor.com/pastio/mpq9rd](http://cixtor.com/pastio/mpq9rd)
 *  Thread Starter [dennishall](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dennishall/)
 * (@dennishall)
 * [10 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-development-insert-current_user-into-javacript/#post-6246441)
 * Thanks for the feedback Yorman:
 * I had not thought of the idea of having the fallback user if not logged in, I’ll
   think about that and may implement it for demo courses and such.
 * Unfortunately, based on your code, the generated URL is picking up me (the site
   administrator) again and generating a URL with my info in it. This is something
   I already had done before the code where I got the “null” in the URL. The problem
   with that URL is that the URL itself does not dynamically pick up the currently
   logged in user info.
 * My objective is to have the URL pick up a WordPress front-end user (end user)
   person who does not have access to this form. All the solutions I’ve found and
   help I had received on StackOverflow have me echoing the currently logged in 
   user (my admin user).
 * Maybe it might help if I describe my target workflow:
    A person goes to my website
   and registers as a user (subscriber – with not administrative access). The subscriber
   user traverses to a page where I have a link on that page. The user clicks the
   link. The link launches URL that opens in a new window. The URL that is launched
   looks like so: [Click here to view the Tin Can course](http://learning-templates.com/courses/test/story.html?endpoint=http://lrs.learning-templates.com/data/xAPI/%26auth%3DBasic%20MTc2M2Q0NjFkMjcyYTdhZmRhNWRkZWM0ZmFmNTJmMWY2YmUxYTM5YjoxNjVlMzVhZDdhYWUxNDI1NDM4ODY0ODBhYTU4YjQ5NDBkODQ4Mzlj%26actor%3D%7B%22objectType%22%3A%22Agent%22%2C%22name%22%3A%5B%22CurrentlyLoggedInFirstName%20CurrentlyLoggedInLastName%22%5D%2C%22mbox%22%3A%5B%22mailto%3ACurrentlyLoggedInEmail%22%5D%7D%26registration%3D0072356f-3de8-4792-ab8a-e2d8a3295db5%26activity_id%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fid.tincan.com/activity/tincan-prototypes/holiday_in-laws)
 * For an example:
    If you go to my [http://learning-templates.com](http://learning-templates.com)
   website (currently under construction) and scroll to the bottom of the home page,
   you can click the left or right link and you will launch the same course as one
   or the other user. The links are static links now, but I want them to pick up
   whatever the logged in user information is.
 * I hope this helps to clarify my objective.
 * Best Regards,
    Dennis Hall

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

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## Tags

 * [current_user](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/current_user/)
 * [javascript](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/javascript/)

 * In: [Hacks](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/plugins-and-hacks/hacks/)
 * 5 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [dennishall](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dennishall/)
 * Last activity: [10 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-development-insert-current_user-into-javacript/#post-6246441)
 * Status: not resolved

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