Add new page to Magento user account

Question

I've been stuck on the proper way to do this for a while. I want to add a new page to the Magento user account on the front end after log in/creation. There is some information we would like to gather from our customers separate from account creation. The page needs to be dynamically generated, as it will pull information from the database, so CMS is not an option.

I know there's a template .phtml file I'll need to create. I also know where to override customer.xml to have the link show up.

But, I have NO idea how to make the page show up (I can add the link, but it goes to 404). I assume there's some sort of xml reference to associate url to file, and the template to use. If someone can point me in the right direction, I can probably reverse-engineer the format.

I also don't know how to properly use Magento's existing functions to grab the information on submit. I want to show the same page after submission, with info in fields ready to change. Can I/should I just use the same .phtml template file to process the form submit?

Thanks!

Answer 1

1. Create a custom phtml page with your desired functionality.
2. Create a cms page and call the .phtml page from within it as follows,

{{block type="core/template" template=".../.../yourcustom.phtml"}}

3.Your problem solved.

I think you have a fair idea on how to handle the cms page to get your desired functionality.