I am working with Drupal 7 and need to create some alternate page tpl's so that I can have pages full width as well as a page with one right sidebar. I have read the documentation and scoured the net and at this point am totally stumped.
Step 1: I created a new content type called test and made it a basic page. Step 2: I went to the template.php file and added the following code for the pre_process page function:
if (isset($vars['node'])) {
$vars['theme_hook_suggestions'][] = 'page__'. $vars['node']->type;
}
Step 3: I created a new page named page--test.tpl.php Step 4: In admin > configuration > I cleared the site cache
Step 5: Epic failure... the newly created page does not render and the page.tpl.php is still displaying. I tried different browsers & cleared cache to no avail. I don't know what I did wrong as my procedure seems to follow the correct steps that I have studied.
A search here landed me at custom page-xxxx.tpl.php doesnt works but the suggestion there is to implement the same preprocess code that I have already installed.
I found some great information at https://drupal.stackexchange.com/questions/36054/how-to-have-a-another-page-tpl-php-file-in-drupal-with-different-regions-and-blo which enabled me to solve this issue.
The solution:
Instead of naming your custom page page--yourcustompagename.tpl.php use a format like this: page--node--23.tpl.php If you are unsure of the node number of your custom page navigate to the content section and hover your mouse over the edit option for your custom created basic page and Drupal will display the node number for you.
As mentioned in one comment you will also need to clear your cache by clicking the clear cache button in Configuration > Performance > Clear Cache. You should also clear the theme registry as mentioned in a comment above. A helpful tool I found for clearing the theme registry is the Magic Module which you can find at https://www.drupal.org/project/magic After you install this module go to Appearance > (Your Active Theme) Settings > Development Enhancements and check the box for "Rebuild Theme Registry on Reload"