Hi guys. I need to have a site that contains 6 sections, each section having a different masthead. Also, the home page will not only have a different masthead, but different layout. What is the best way to do this?
I have found 3 possibile solutions. I assume there are more methods? Any comments?
First method: use the Sections module. I've heard this module falls short in a few areas, and it's not out of beta. This is what prompted me to look for other solutions.
Second method: use Flexinode to create 6 node types. Then use PHPTemplate create 6 templates based upon node type. I think I like this the most, as it would be visible in the sidebar -- each type would be listed under the "create content" link. However, how stupid is it to create different node types when they really aren't different? I'm using a structural tool to manage conceptual differences.
Third method: use the taxonomy tool to create a "sections" vocabulary that contains my 6 section names. Then use Taxonomy Menu module to allow people to navigate it, and use Taxonomy Theme module to allow me to attach a theme to each taxonomy term. This seems like an OK option, but I haven't looked too deep. The Taxonomy Theme module seems brand new. Has anyone used it? Is the implementation good?
Thanks for your advice. Also, if you have a working installation that does something like this, and you're happy with it, I'd like to review it. I'm still learning and could use all the pointers I can find.
-Tony
Comments
Followup
Using Flexinode & PHPTemplate to create different layouts/designs for each section
OK, just to help others... I spent the day trying to get the Flexinode method to work. It was pretty much a flop. Here's the scoop: Flexinode does allow you to create new node types, and PHPTemplate does allow you to add theme files for each node, but there were two problems. The first big problem was that nodes added with Flexinode don't use the names you give them -- at least, not under the hood. So I had made a theme file:
node-shoooga.tpl.php
...and it just wasn't working. It shoulda worked. The node is called shoooga! Turns out nodes created with Flexinode are internally called flexinode-1, flexinode-2, and so on. So, finally, this worked:
node-flexinode-1.tpl.php
That's not so intuitive, but it's a start. The second thing was the real whopper, though. The node themes only allow you to layout the small area that actually displays the content. It does not allow you to change your site banner for example. My first thought was to pull everything out of the main template file, and dump it ALL into each specific node file. However, let's just say the home page looked like hell as it displayed the code for an entire Web page for every single item listed.
After all of this, I've found it's still possible to do a full re-theme of various nodes (changing the entire layout), but now I'm overloading _phptemplate_variables, coding things by hand, etc. Ugh. And all of the theme work happens at a more and more technical level, moving farther away from an easy solution for non-techies.
Using Movable Type seems far far far more intuitive for this kind of thing. But that's not an option here, so let me get my nose back in the manuals and continue learning. :)
-Tony