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Having defined a parameter in the ''templateDetails.xml'' file and saved a value for it in the ''params.ini'' file, it remains to see how to retrieve the current value of the parameter so it can be used in the template code.

To retrieve the value of a parameter in your template code use the function call:
<source lang="php">
<?php $myParam = $this->params->get( 'parameterName' ); ?>
</source>

Note that the ''$this'' object in the template is always the current instance of the '''JDocument''' object.  Also note that ''$this->params'' is an object of type '''JParameter'''.

For example, suppose your template has a parameter called ''templateColour'' which takes various string values which determine the colour scheme to be used.  The colour schemes themselves are defined in CSS files which include the colour name as part of their file names.  The following code retrieves the parameter then adds the appropriate stylesheet to render the page in the required colour scheme.
<source lang="php">
<?php
$tplColour = $this->params->get( 'templateColour' );
$this->addStyleSheet( $this->baseurl  . '/templates/'
                    . $this->template . '/css/' . $tplColour .'.css' );
?>
</source>

For another example, suppose your template has a parameter called ''authorCopyright'' which takes the value 0 to hide a copyright notice, or 1 to show it.  The following code retrieves the parameter then outputs the copyright notice within a conditional PHP statement:
<source lang="php">
<?php if ($this->params->get( 'authorCopyright' )) : ?>   
     <div class="copyright">
         Copyright &copy; 2008 Fat Pigeon Templates
     </div>
<?php endif; ?>
</source>
<noinclude>[[Category:Intermediate]][[Category:Templates]][[Category:Topics]]</noinclude>