Drupal block/view tip - How to insert a block or view into your content area ($content)

Drupal block/view FAQ: How do I insert a Drupal block or Drupal view into my HTML content area ($content)?

There are several different approaches to this problem, depending on what you really want to achieve.

Insert a Drupal view into your HTML content

If you really want to include a Drupal view into your Drupal content, you can use the Insert View filter, as described on this Inserting Views page on drupal.org.

Insert a Drupal block into your HTML content

I haven't tried this yet, as I ended up doing something completely different to solve my problem, but I found this approach to inserting a Drupal block into your HTML content on several different websites:

<?php
$block = module_invoke('jquerymenu', 'block', 'view', 0);
print $block['content'];
?>

The Drupal module_invoke function is the real key to this recipe. I'd explain more, but this article on pixelclever.com explains it pretty well, so I'll leave it to them. (I grabbed that Drupal code snippet above from their website.)

Create your own Drupal filter

Another approach you can take here is to create your own Drupal filter. I use an approach like this on almost all of my website to include those pesky ads you see in the body content. If the solutions shown above don't work for you for some reason, if you're comfortable with Drupal programming, you can always take this approach.

Why use a Drupal block or view in HTML content

In case you're reading this article and wondering why you'd ever want to include a Drupal block or Drupal view into your HTML content, take a look at the front page of my Mat-Su Valley (Alaska) Programming website. The "Latest Blog Posts" region is in my $content region, and I want it this way so the rest of the HTML in my $content region will flow around this block/view. I'm sure there are other reasons to want to include a Drupal block or view into your HTML content, but this was my reason.