Make Laravel slug support utf8 characters

 

First Method:

By looking at Str class (\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Support\Str.php) you see:

//$title = static::ascii($title);   // COMMENT THIS LINE

public static function slug($title, $separator = '-')
{
  //$title = static::ascii($title);   // COMMENT THIS LINE

  // Convert all dashes/underscores into separator
  $flip = $separator == '-' ? '_' : '-';
  $title = preg_replace('!['.preg_quote($flip).']+!u', $separator, $title);

  // Remove all characters that are not the separator, letters, numbers, or whitespace.
  $title = preg_replace('![^'.preg_quote($separator).'\pL\pN\s]+!u', '', mb_strtolower($title));

  // Replace all separator characters and whitespace by a single separator
  $title = preg_replace('!['.preg_quote($separator).'\s]+!u', $separator, $title);

  return trim($title, $separator);
}

Second Method :

If you ever wanted to use Laravel Str:slug() method, you might notice it only supports Latin characters. By looking at Str class (\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Support\Str.php) you see:

public static function slug($title, $separator = '-')
{
  $title = static::ascii($title);

  // Convert all dashes/underscores into separator
  $flip = $separator == '-' ? '_' : '-';
  $title = preg_replace('!['.preg_quote($flip).']+!u', $separator, $title);

  // Remove all characters that are not the separator, letters, numbers, or whitespace.
  $title = preg_replace('![^'.preg_quote($separator).'\pL\pN\s]+!u', '', mb_strtolower($title));

  // Replace all separator characters and whitespace by a single separator
  $title = preg_replace('!['.preg_quote($separator).'\s]+!u', $separator, $title);

  return trim($title, $separator);
}

At the very first line, the string converted to ANSI. That's why you cannot use utf8 characters on return. You can comment the line out and see the result. But editing the Laravel source is not the best solution

To change slug method functionality it's best to extend or override this method. For doing so, first create a file name app/macros.php , then copy/paste the main slug method into this file and convert it to a closure method:

Str::macro('slug_utf8', function($title, $separator = '-')
{
    //$title = static::ascii($title); //comment it out to suport farsi

    // Convert all dashes/underscores into separator
    $flip = $separator == '-' ? '_' : '-';

    $title = preg_replace('!['.preg_quote($flip).']+!u', $separator, $title);

    // Remove all characters that are not the separator, letters, numbers, or whitespace.
    $title = preg_replace('![^'.preg_quote($separator).'\pL\pN\s]+!u', '', mb_strtolower($title));

    // Replace all separator characters and whitespace by a single separator
    $title = preg_replace('!['.preg_quote($separator).'\s]+!u', $separator, $title);

    return trim($title, $separator);

});

Before this method be used in your application, you should add this macro.php file at the app/start/global.php, open this file and at the end of the file, add this line of code:

require app_path().'/macros.php';

Now you have a new slug_utf8 method that can be used in your applications:

$slug = Str::slug_utf8($value);