Snippet Noob Questions

I’m about to attempt to write my first snippet because I need to have a small slideshow on a page that’s dynamically populated with whatever images are in a specified directory. I created a snippet and called it ProjectImages. In an attempt to make sure I understood how the data would be output, the only code I put in it is return "testing"; I then placed the snippet call in my template like so: [!ProjectImages!] I expected to see the text "testing" on the page but instead the template just outputs the snippet call verbatim. What am I doing wrong?
Dave

There is a snippet that does what you describe (it uses an outdated Javascript but the part that reads the folder contents works) called SimpleSlideShow.

Tips for troubleshooting snippet development:
1) check the spelling and case. resources are case sensitive.
2) check the system events report (manager > Reports > System Events) for any clues
3) Try reversing the cache [[ ]] or [! !]
4) Make sure you have the <?php ?> tags in your snippet code
5) post your snippet code in the forum for help

Did you use or

The first example will not generate any output on the screen.

Interesting. Changing the snippet call from [! !] to [[ ]] did the trick. Does that have something to do with the fact that the snippet is being called from within a chunk being used by a call to Ditto that’s already wrapped in [! !]?

Yes, when nesting snippets (even "indirectly" via chunk), use alternate cache syntax.

I’ll remember that. Thanks!