By DirtyBirdNJ on

Hello I am trying to create a custom page-front.tpl.php. I have successfully overcome the first hurdle of figuring out how to set a template for the main page. I have my own custom static elements displaying properly. Now to the dynamic content... I have three goals:

1. Display the single most recent node of the POTD (product of the day) CCK type I created.
2. Display the "Recent threads/posts" that the Drupal vB module creates
3. Display a single most recent Blog post

In trying to get this to work, so far I have made two regions in the template's .info file as follows:

region[fppotd] =  Front Page Product of the Day
region[fpkfsblog] = Front Page Latest KFS Blog Entry

I found this article which described how to output the regions in the pages, but none of what it suggests works.

http://drupal.org/node/359021

I have been able to successfully use the Views module to create a block/node that only displays the single most recent published POTD, but I have NO IDEA how to get that block to be displayed on my page-front.tpl.php

When I go to the blocks page, I don't see these regions I described above as available to put things into. I suspect this is because the system thinks those regions are for page.tpl.php. How do I differentiate the two? This seems like it should be easy but I've been banging my head against this particular hurdle for three hours now today.

Any links to documentation/tutorials/resources on the regions & blocks system would be great, I haven't been able to find any info about how to accomplish this stuff in the *.tpl.php pages, only through the admin menu.

Comments

zbricoleur’s picture

zbricoleur commented

Are you printing the $fpkfsblog variable in the page-front.tpl.php?

<?php print $fpkfsblog ?>

Also, you may need to clear the theme registry. On the "Administer > Site configuration > Performance" page, click on the "Clear cached data" button.

DirtyBirdNJ’s picture

DirtyBirdNJ commented

Yes, I have tried this. There is some placehoder content in the div from when I was developing the layout, here is the code from the template:

             
						<div id="potd_box">
						   
						   <?php print $fppotd ?>
						   <h1 style="text-align: center">KFS Deal of the Day</h1>
						   <img src="images/aquaskinztest.jpg" width="171" height="170" alt="Aquaskinz Large Pouch"/>
						   <h2>Aquaskinz Large Pouch</h2>
						   <h4>Regular Price: $23.00</h4>
						   <h3 style="font-weight: bold; color: #FF0000">TODAY ONLY Price: $23.00</h3>
						</div>

Here is what that code outputs:

<div id="potd_box">
						   
						   						   <h1 style="text-align: center">KFS Deal of the Day</h1>
						   <img src="images/aquaskinztest.jpg" width="171" height="170" alt="Aquaskinz Large Pouch"/>
						   <h2>Aquaskinz Large Pouch</h2>
						   <h4>Regular Price: $23.00</h4>
						   <h3 style="font-weight: bold; color: #FF0000">TODAY ONLY Price: $23.00</h3>   
						</div>

The Blocks page shows the block that I created through views, but the dropdown list only offers 5 region options:

  • Header
  • Footer
  • Content
  • Left Sidebar
  • Right Sidebar

Very confusingly, none of those are defined in my .info file... here's the whole thing:

; $Id: kfstpl.info, v1.1 Mat Gilbert 12/3/08

name = Kfstpl
description = Custom Drupal 6 Theme for KayakFishingStuff.com
screenshot = screenshot.png
core = 6.x
engine = phptemplate

scripts[] = time.js

region[ad_header] = Header Ad Space
region[ad_abcontent] = Above Content Ad Space
region[ad_skyscraper] = Right Side Skyscraper Ad Space
region[ad_footer] = Footer Ad Space

region[fppotd] =  Front Page Product of the Day
region[fpkfsblog] = Front Page Latest KFS Blog Entry
zbricoleur’s picture

zbricoleur commented

Ah, I see the problem; should have spotted it sooner.

region[ad_header] = Header Ad Space
region[ad_abcontent] = Above Content Ad Space
region[ad_skyscraper] = Right Side Skyscraper Ad Space
region[ad_footer] = Footer Ad Space

region[fppotd] =  Front Page Product of the Day
region[fpkfsblog] = Front Page Latest KFS Blog Entry

needs to be

regions[ad_header] = Header Ad Space
regions[ad_abcontent] = Above Content Ad Space
regions[ad_skyscraper] = Right Side Skyscraper Ad Space
regions[ad_footer] = Footer Ad Space

regions[fppotd] =  Front Page Product of the Day
regions[fpkfsblog] = Front Page Latest KFS Blog Entry

Note the difference between 'region[' and 'regions[' ;-)

And you should probably leave the default regions in there, too.

DirtyBirdNJ’s picture

DirtyBirdNJ commented

AWWWW!! Are you kidding me? This feels like an ice cream headache of shaaaaame! Totally RTFM :(

Probably an easy mistake to make, but a noob mis-step none the less.

Adding an "s" to each line of code confidently clears this hurdle. Now to get Devel working properly!