Layout question
 

I wonder if I'm able to change the page layout like the following

- Every page has 3 column design except

-when I'm on product detail page I want it to be 2 column

and

-when I'm on shopping cart page (1 column)

has anyone done such layout modify? What file should I be looking into?

Yes, it is easier than it looks actually :) Just use {if} statements around the columns in home.tpl.

To show the right hand column on all pages except the product page and cart pages, use this around the right hand column:

{if $main ne "product" and $main ne "cart" and $smarty.get.mode ne "checkout"}

For the left hand column, use this to show it everywhere but in the cart & checkout:

{if $main ne "cart" and $smarty.get.mode ne "checkout"}

See if that does the trick for you :)

Thank you that works.

Is it possible to do one column? Like there is only header, center content, and footer, no left and right column menus.

Yes, I do that all the time. You can either use {if} statements to hide the side columns in certain areas, or you can just remove them all together.

I dont want to remove all of them. I would like to do it by cases..

for example...

product list page (3 column)
Product detail (2 column - main content & left column)
cart (1 column - main content)

Also, please forgive my ignorance... can you explain the following statement to me

{if $main ne "product" and $main ne "cart" and $smarty.get.mode ne "checkout"}

if product _____ and cart_____ and smarty_________ checkout

what does ne mean?

That statement means if the current page ($main) is not the product detail page (product), cart page (cart), or checkout pages (checkout).

So yes, you could set up the site the way you describe, will just get a bit tricky with those if statements :)

so, it means

if current page is not this, this and this, then don't show the content, right?

Is it possible to do
if current page is this, then use this home.tpl layout, kind of statement? so, I can set up different home.tpl layout for different pages....

another question..

there are product page, cart page, checkout page, category, product list, customer login, ...etc

Is there a way I can find out all the pages out there? What folder would I look in for all the pages?