<![CDATA[Magento Help]]> http://magentist.com/magento_help/ Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:44:05 +0000 Zend_Feed http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Set A Custom List.phtml For A Single Category]]> http://magentist.com/magento_help/set-custom-list-phtml-for-a-single-magento-category/ Magento Portfolio page has a different layout from our Magento Themes and Magento Extensions category pages. Accomplishing this was a bit tricky since it requires the use of a different list.phtml file for the Magento Portfolio page.

At first, in an effort to get things off the ground quickly, we had set up a custom theme for that category, which was essentially the same theme as the rest of the site but with a custom list.phtml. We knew there had to be a cleaner, more elegant solution to this problem; one which wouldn't require further changes to the site to be made in two places; so at last, we've put together a solution using Layout Update XML.

If you'd like to create a custom layout for one category on your own site, locate the file /app/design/frontend/default/your-theme/template/page/list.phtml and duplicate it. For the purpose of this example, let's say the duplicate has been named "list-custom.phtml"

Now, access your Magento admin panel and navigate to Catalog > Manage Categories. Select the theme you wish to have a custom list.phtml and go to the Custom Design tab. Now, in the field labeled "Custom Layout Update," enter this code: 

<reference name="product_list">
	<action method="setTemplate">
		<template>catalog/product/list-custom.phtml</template>
	</action>
</reference>
Click the orange "Save Category" button in the upper-right corner and check out your site. This category should now be displayed using the list-custom.phtml file you just created.

That's it! Of course, some custom templates may pose individual challenges not covered by this post, so if you have further difficulty with your customization, go to Magento Expert and get quick answers to your Magento questions from real Magento experts!]]> Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:41:29 +0000 <![CDATA[Remove Sidebar Blocks With Layout Update XML]]> http://magentist.com/magento_help/remove-sidebar-blocks-with-layout-update-xml/ Magento's sidebar comes with lots of great features like a quick view of your shopping cart and items you've marked to compare.

But what if you don't want to use all of those items on a page? Sure, you could disable features, but what if you only want to hide features on a specific page?

Say, for example, you want to create a homepage using the 2-columns-left layout. Having the sidebar navigation available on your homepage could be a great way to increase accessibility on your site, but the Shopping Cart and other features may not be appropriate for the home page.

The best solution for a scenario like this is to remove unwanted blocks from a specific page using Layout Update XML.

For this example you would set up your categories and your homepage as usual, and then to remove the extra sidebar blocks on the homepage, go to edit your homepage’s CMS page, and under Layout Update XML, create the appropriate remove tags, as in this example: 

<reference name="left">
	<remove name="cart_sidebar"></remove>
	<remove name="catalog.compare.sidebar"></remove>
	<remove name="sale.reorder.sidebar"></remove>
</reference>
This method can be used on CMS pages, categories, product pages - just about anywhere on your site!

For more help on this topic, ask a real Magento Expert at http://magentoexpert.com/ and get a quick answer to your Magento question for free!]]> Tue, 06 Jul 2010 21:12:46 +0000