Intercepting Template Files

Up to this point, we have limited the discussion to how to handle overriding primary template files and individual functions; however, in Drupal, you can extend the intercept and override concept further to achieve highly granular control of the page templates that are called in various situations. You can, in other words, intercept and override entire page files on a conditional basis.

For example, if you wish to have different templates used for different types of content, you can create template files that are displayed when those conditions are met. You can also style individual incidents of modules and other events using the techniques described in this chapter.

The page.tpl.php file is one of the most important in a PHPTemplate theme. This file is largely responsible for the results that appear in the browser—it defines the overall layout of the pages of your site. As you might expect given the function of the file, it appears in a wide variety of situations...