Ussd is an amazing technology for anyone looking to create apps which can reach a large volume of people. Ussd is an ancient technology yet it still serves a purpose in our day and age. This PHP library simplies the process behind creating said apps with the AAT Mobile Ussd API
Read more about MenuPlus:
In order for you to use MenuPlus you need to set up an account with AAT Mobile for ussd, after which you can require this library and code away 👨🏽💻
MenuPlus is installed via Composer.
composer require azandazama/menuplusYou can of course also manually edit your composer.json file
{
"require": {
"azandazama/menuplus": "^1.0"
}
}MenuPlus offers different types of ussd menus which serve different purposes. Code and screenshots will be shown below.
This menu has all the bells and whistles offering you with unlimited options and option urls. screenshot
$ussd->title = 'Welcome to the Example Ussd Platform!';
$ussd->options = ['Option 1', 'Option 2', 'Option 3'];
$ussd->option_url = ['index.php?page=1', 'index.php?page=2', 'index.php?page=3'];
echo $ussd->addMenu($url);Options have URLs( $ussd->option_url ) and you can consider Options( $ussd->options ) as links and menus as pages. Options and Option URLs are parallel arrays and each option corrisponds to each option URL
This menu has no options and the title is therefore considered as the option. screenshot
$ussd->title = 'Please provide first and last name';
$ussd->option_url = 'index.php?file=4';
echo $ussd->addMenu($url);This menu offers all the bells and whistles and also allows you to order your menu with pagination
$ussd->title = 'Select an option';
$ussd->options = ['Option 1', 'Option 2', 'Option 3', 'Option 4', 'Option 5', 'Option 6', 'Option 7'];
// Menu options can all share the same url
$ussd->option_url = 'index.php?page=5';
// [3] is the amount of options that will be shown in this menu
return $ussd->paginateMenu($url, 3);The following is a basic usage example of the MenuPlus library.
<?php
require_once './vendor/autoload.php';
$ussd = new \MenuPlus\Ussd;
// ensure your url ends with a backslash
$url = 'http://localhost:7000/';
function initMenu($ussd, $url)
{
switch(@$_GET['page'])
{
case '':
// This is the first menu the application will serve
$ussd->title = 'Welcome to the Example Ussd Platform!';
$ussd->options = ['Questionnaire', 'Register', 'Shows available', 'Exit'];
$ussd->option_url = ['index.php?page=1', 'index.php?page=2', 'index.php?page=3', 'index.php?page=4', 'index.php?page=exit'];
return $ussd->addMenu($url);
break;
case 1:
$ussd->title = 'What year was Nelson Mandela born';
$ussd->options = ['1900', '1918', 'Back'];
$ussd->option_url = ['index.php?page=answer&ans=wrong', 'index.php?page=answer&ans=correct', 'index.php'];
return $ussd->addMenu($url);
break;
case 2:
// FreeText Menu's have no options just one title and url
$ussd->title = 'Please provide first and last name';
$ussd->option_url = 'index.php?file=names';
return $ussd->addMenu($url);
break;
case 3:
$ussd->title = 'Select your favourite TV show';
$ussd->options = ['The Simpsons', 'Star Wars', 'Peanuts', 'South Park',
'Courage the Cowardly Dog', 'Avatar: The Last Airbender',
'Dexters Laboratory', 'Futurama', 'The Jetsons', 'Phineas and Ferb',
'Kim Possible', 'Samurai Jack', 'Dora the Explorer'];
// Menu options can all share the same url
$ussd->option_url = 'index.php?page=shows';
// [5] is the amount of options that will be shown per menu
return $ussd->paginateMenu($url, 5);
break;
case 'exit':
$ussd->title = "Thank you!\nUssd Platform";
return $ussd->addMenu($url);
break;
}
}
echo initMenu($ussd, $url);- Azanda Zama Email: judah.zama@gmail.com IG: @azanda.zama Twitter: @wlrdofazanda Linkedin: Azanda Zama