protected function decode($string)
    {
        // decode if specified
        if (($pos = strpos($string, ':')) !== false) {
            if (!strncmp($string, 'base64', 6)) {
                return base64_decode(substr($string, 7));
            } elseif (!strncmp($string, 'urlencode', 9)) {
                return urldecode(substr($string, 10));
            }
        }

        return $string;
    }