BTS Columns Question

[php4ever]

I've looked everywhere and it appears that with BTS you are stuck with either two or three columns depending on your master template. Some pages should have three while others should have two.

Is there a way to determine which pages have two and which has three columns?

[php4ever]

Well I spent all night last night reading documentation on BTS STS and every other thing I could find and I'm more annoyed then I ever have been.

Rather than get into the arguments and differences of each template system I'll just say that maybe BTS is a stumbling block to the success of osCMax because its not as flexible as it could be. However it could also help osCMax succeed because it provides a drop in system for changing layouts providing no modifications have been done to the target site. I personally intend on using it along with some PHP to change the theme of the site based on season (date controlled variables) where I built 4 templates for a sporting store and the theme will vary accordingly.

So on the subject of variable columns I managed to come up with a simple method of controlling what pages have two columns and what pages have three columns based on defining them in a small script.

The idea behind this thinking is that the right column in my design in particular should only be present when needed and all other times the site should be a simple two column fixed width design.

I'll write on the method this morning in my blog on how to change BTS templates from 2 column or 3 column layouts so you can have different numbers of columns for different pages.

~ Jared

[php4ever]

I wish this forum had the kind of traffic needed to make oscmax popular. I'm writing another article today about oscmax and I've yet to see if anyone is interested in having a variable column BTS solution. I'd share it if I had have an idea that anyone considered it.

Jared

[michael_s]

Originally Posted by php4ever

I wish this forum had the kind of traffic needed to make oscmax popular.

Chicken or the egg syndrome. Can't get traffic until it is more popular... can't get more popular without more traffic. We are getting there. Every month since January this year we have had more and more downloads and visitors. The main issue is that most that use osCMax do not participate or contribute here. They use it and only show up when they have a problem.

As for the multi column solution, share it regardless of shown interest. I think if it is a good solution and people see it, they will use it. I have found that most users of osCMax may not realize they want a feature until they see an example of it working.

Next, I have seen this type of variable page display type done before with BTS and it did not require very much coding. It was a matter of creating several main_page.tpl.php pages such as main_page_2col.tpl.php and main_page1col.tpl.php and then simply calling the different main template from the actual php file.

Say you want 1 column on your product page, but 2 on your listing page, you would simply change the main template call in the product_info.php page to use the 1 column layout etc. I have oversimplified the total process, but it is not very complicated since all the parts are already there and working.

I look forward to seeing your solution to this problem!

[php4ever]

Mike, thanks for your reply, yes I hope that oscmax takes off because there are certain loaded versions I'm not a fan of.

As to the variable column coding, it is painfully simple and highly effective and I'll grab the code when I get back to my desk this evening.

I'll also zip up a complete drop in CSS template as an example.

I've added osCMax to my Featured Friends menu so maybe we can get some more attention over here. I publish and write in about 40 forums which all have my link in my signature not to mention the forums I'm administrator and or moderator of. I currently guest moderate or administer 11 vBulletin forums so I'll spread the word.

~ Jared

[michael_s]

Jared,

Great! I look forward to seeing how you implement your solution to the BTS columns.

[php4ever]

Ok, I figured out how to get the thing to work when it went to HTTPS in the URL as it wasn't previously but the only thing missing is if the URL has / and no file extension afterwards. So What I'll do is wrap this up this morning and post it for anyone with a bit more PHP knowledge than I have cares to play with it.

~ Jared

[mc8]

Originally Posted by michael_s

Next, I have seen this type of variable page display type done before with BTS and it did not require very much coding. It was a matter of creating several main_page.tpl.php pages such as main_page_2col.tpl.php and main_page1col.tpl.php and then simply calling the different main template from the actual php file.

Say you want 1 column on your product page, but 2 on your listing page, you would simply change the main template call in the product_info.php page to use the 1 column layout etc. I have oversimplified the total process, but it is not very complicated since all the parts are already there and working.

Hi Michael - What you are talking about here is exactly what I want to do - can you expand on what parts I should be looking at to implement this?
Thanks!

[met00]

Originally Posted by michael_s

Next, I have seen this type of variable page display type done before with BTS and it did not require very much coding. It was a matter of creating several main_page.tpl.php pages such as main_page_2col.tpl.php and main_page1col.tpl.php and then simply calling the different main template from the actual php file.

Say you want 1 column on your product page, but 2 on your listing page, you would simply change the main template call in the product_info.php page to use the 1 column layout etc. I have oversimplified the total process, but it is not very complicated since all the parts are already there and working.

I look forward to seeing your solution to this problem!

Better solution posted...

Duplicating templates is not a good idea (long term maint headache).

Using a variable that is set in the initial file call (the ones in /catalog, before they get to the /templates/templatename directories) is a much better way to resolve the issue.

Heck, you could even use that to fine tune sideboxes as well (of course that would require a slight rewrite of the sidebox code) so you could use
$sidebox['cc'] = 0;
to turn the cc sidebox off on pages where you don't want it displayed, and then
$sidebox['cc'] = 1;
to turn it on when you get into say the shopping cart or checkout processing. - or just keep it turned on by default in the normal admin area and turn it off uing the above method when you don't want to display it.

The same can be used for columns by modification of the main template...
if (!$offcolumns['right']) {
// do column processing
}
and then when you don't want he column to process just use
$offcolumns['right'] = 1; will test the right colum
in the catalog root file before the templates get called.