This is the first in a, hopefully, useful series of quick how-tos for Magento. All of them will be referencing Magento 1.4.1.1.
To add a new layout to Magento that is available in the CMS you’ll need to edit
app/etc/local.xml
To insert the <page> element like:
<config> <global> <page> <layouts> <three_box module="page" translate="label"> <label>3 box</label> <template>page/3box.phtml</template> <layout_handle>page_three_box</layout_handle> </three_box> </layouts> </page> </global> </config>
To make the layout default you can also add
<is_default>1</is_default>
The layout can now be selected in the CMS as “3 box”. It will use the page/3box.phtml to render in whatever theme you are using. For example:
app/design/frontend/base/default/my_theme/template/page/3box.phtml
To reference the new layout in your layout XML files you use the <layout_handle> value. In our example, <page_three_box>.