CODEWITHSUNDEEP
templateslayoutmagento
Rolan
Rolan

Reputation: 3004

Magento -how are pages differentiated?

I'm a little confused with the way Magento implements web pages, and I'm hoping someone here can help me out.

I've figured out how to adjust themes and templates, etc., but I'm wondering how I implement content with them.

There is a disconnect in my understanding of how to put content into a page. Is this done with the layout and template files, or is this done on the cms page?

I've been searching for tutorials, etc., and I'm having trouble finding them (maybe I'm using the wrong terminology), so if you know of examples or anything that might help, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Upvotes: 0

Views: 284

Answers (1)

OSdave
OSdave

Reputation: 8585

Magento design/template is a broad question, which may appears tricky at first, but so logical and powerfull once you get to know it.
In a nutshell, the .xml layout files are responsible for defining the content, and the phtml (in relation with their Block classes) actually render the html. Everytime a page load, all the layout files are parsed to retrieve all the blocks which have to appears in this particular page.

The content loaded in each page is defined by the handles in the layout files, which correspond to the module/controller/action. For example, the content of the customer's account index page (which is the result of the index action, of the Account Controller of the Customer module, see the logic of the handle's name) is defined by:

  • the blocks/layout defined in the <customer_account_index> handle of app/design/PACKAGE/TEMPLATE/layout/customer.xml
  • the blocks/layout defined in the <customer_account_index> handle of all other layout files (I'm not saying that all layout files have a <customer_account_index> handle, but those who have it, like poll.xml, will insert their content)
  • the blocks/layout defined in the <default> handle of all other layout files, that's why it's called "default" :)

When you say:

is this done on the cms page?

I assume you're refering to the cms in the admin: this only take care of the content block of the static pages of your store. And the rest of the page is still defined by the xml (the page.xml handle of the cms page's layout (1 column, 2 columns-left, etc...) handles like <default>, <cms_index_index>, etc...) But even there, you can modify the layout by putting content in the proper textareas.

Here are some interesting links to understand the magic of Magento's layout:

HTH

Upvotes: 2

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