---
title: "Take control of your Drupal theme"
url: "/articles/take-control-of-your-drupal-theme"
type: article
date: 2006-02-26
updated: 2014-05-15
---

# Take control of your Drupal theme

#  Take control of your Drupal theme 

 Creating a front page that's styled differently from the rest of your site.

 By

 [  Matt Westgate   ](/about/matt-westgate) 

 February 26, 2006

  

Want to create a front page that's styled differently from the rest of your site? Perhaps you need a separate admin theme? Or how about a login page which only shows the login block and nothing else? With a little PHP knowledge these problems are easy to solve. Note: You must be using the [PHPTemplate](http://drupal.org/phptemplate) theme engine for your theme. An easy way to determine this is by looking for files ending in **.tpl.php** within your site's theme folder. PHPTemplate is compatible with Drupal 4.6 and up. As a matter of fact, it's the default [theme engine](http://drupal.org/node/11774) for Drupal 4.7 since it combines the best of both worlds for designers and programmers. Designers get an easy way to manipulate HTML lightly sprinkled with PHP variables for dynamic content, and developers get a fast rendering template system that's a snap to extend. Here's what a template looks like using PHPTemplate.

  ```html

<div class="node">
  <h2 class="title"><a href="/<?php print $node_url?>"><?php print $title?></a></h2>
  <span class="submitted"><?php print $submitted?></span>
  <span class="taxonomy"><?php print $terms?></span>
  <div class="content"><?php print $content?></div>
  <div class="links">» <?php print $links?></div>
</div>
  
```

Developers can override any of the above PHP variables or even add new ones to pass to the template for the designer to use. What most folks don't know is that for every template section, PHPTemplate looks for a special variable named `template_file` which stores the name of the file to execute. This is your key to conditionally loading different theme files.

## Working with template\_file

Intercepting PHPTemplates' default variables is accomplished through creating a new function named `_phptemplate_variables()` within your theme. Navigate to your site's current theme folder and look for a file called **template.php**. If that file doesn't exist, create it. Now add the following function:

  ```php

/**
 * Intercept template variables
 *
 * @param $hook
 *   The name of the theme function being executed
 * @param $vars
 *   A sequential array of variables passed to the theme function.
 */
function _phptemplate_variables($hook, $vars = array()) {
  switch ($hook) {
    // more code here...
  }

  return $vars;
}
  
```

This function is called by Drupal just after a template engine call is made. Examples of this include: loading the node template, the block template or what we want, the page template. The `$hook` parameter above is the name of the template *section* the system is calling (node, block, page, etc). First the system assigns a bunch of default variables. In the case of page hook: $sidebar\_left, $sidebar\_right, $footer\_message, $search\_box, $title, $content, etc. If `_phptemplate_variables()` exists, any values set there will override the defaults, including your opportunity to change the name of the template file the system should be looking for. Let's take a look at our first example.

## Separate Administration Theme

The admin area is known for its wide tables which can be difficult to style when they're found nowhere else on your main site. Many folks find themselves wishing for a separate theme. Here's how to do it.

  ```php

function _phptemplate_variables($hook, $vars = array()) {
  switch ($hook) {
    case 'page':
      if ((arg(0) == 'admin')) {
        $vars['template_file'] = 'page-admin';
      }
      break;
  }

  return $vars;
}
  
```

Here we're changing value of `$vars['template_file']` from page.tpl.php to page-admin.tpl.php. Let's build our new admin theme. You probably want to use the Blue Marine layout as the admin theme. If your already using Blue Marine for the rest of your site that's okay as you'll get that basic idea. Grab a copy of **page.tpl.php** from the Blue Marine theme and paste it into your theme folder and rename the file to **page-admin.tpl.php**. Next, we want this file to use a separate stylesheet, so copy the Blue Marine **style.css** file and rename it to **admin-style.css**. Finally edit **page-admin.tpl.php** so it knows about the new CSS file.

  ```php

<?php //print $styles ?>
<style type="text/css" media="all">@import "<?php print base_path(). $directory; ?>/admin-style.css";</style>
  
```

Now navigate to your admin section and behold the marvels of PHPTemplate.

## Custom Front Page

Here's how we do the special front page on Lullabot.com.

  ```php

function _phptemplate_variables($hook, $vars = array()) {
  switch ($hook) {
    case 'page':
      global $user;
      if ($vars['is_front']) {
        $vars['template_file'] = 'page-index';
      }
      break;
  }

  return $vars;
}
  
```

Create a file called **page-index.tpl.php** and start styling away.

## Stand-alone Login Page

Sometimes you want the login/register page to stand alone, with no other action for a user to take.

  ```php

function _phptemplate_variables($hook, $vars = array()) {
  switch ($hook) {
    case 'page':
      global $user;
      if (arg(0) == 'user'){
        if ($user->uid == 0) {
          $vars['template_file'] = 'page-login';
        }
        elseif (arg(1) == 'login' || arg(1) == 'register' || arg(1) == 'password' ) {
          $vars['template_file'] = 'page-login';
        }
      }
      break;
  }

  return $vars;
}
  
```

Create a **page-login.tpl.php** such as the following

```php

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="<?php print $language ?>" xml:lang="<?php print $language ?>">

<head>
  <title><?php print $head_title ?></title>
  <?php print $head ?>
 <?php print $styles ?>
</head>

<body<?php print $onload_attributes  ?>>
  <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="header">
    <tr>
      <td id="logo">
        <?php if ($logo) { ?><a href="/<?php print $base_path ?>" title="<?php print t('Home') ?>"><img src="/<?php print $logo ?>" alt="<?php print t('Home') ?>" /></a><?php } ?>
        <?php if ($site_name) { ?><h1 class='site-name'><a href="/<?php print $base_path ?>" title="<?php print t('Home') ?>"><?php print $site_name ?></a></h1><?php } ?>
        <?php if ($site_slogan) { ?><div class='site-slogan'><?php print $site_slogan ?></div><?php } ?>
      </td>
      <td id="menu"></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td colspan="2"><div><?php print $header ?></div></td>
    </tr>
  </table>

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="content">
  <tr>
    <td valign="top">
      <div id="main">
        <?php //print $breadcrumb ?>
        <h1 class="title"><?php print $title ?></h1>
       <div class="tabs"><?php print $tabs ?></div>
        <div id="help"><?php print $help ?></div>
        <?php print $messages ?>

        <?php print $content; ?>
      </div>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>

<?php print $closure ?>

</body>
</html>

```

 Published in:

- [  Drupal Development   ](/topics/drupal-development)

 

   You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form.

## Get in touch with us

### Tell us about your project. We'd love to hear from you!

 First Name  

 Last Name  

 Your email address  

 Your organization  

 How you heard about us  

 Tell us more 

     Leave this field blank