How to specify layouts by module in Zend Framework

Assumptions

• Tested on Zend Framework 1.11.11
• Application has been setup to use modules

General Steps

1. Set default layout in application.ini
2. Create controller plugin to become the layout picker

Step 1: Set default layout in application.ini

Add the path to the layouts folder and make the default layout name (layout.phtml) match the default module name (default.phtml) which seems more sensible.

resources.layout.layoutpath = APPLICATION_PATH "/layouts"
resources.layout.layout = default

Step 2: Create controller plugin to become the layout picker

Setup autoloader for plugin in application.ini and add resource for frontController Plugin

// ZC_ is the namespace for ZendCast where I found the instructions
autoloaderNamespaces.zc = "ZC_"
resources.frontController.plugins.LayoutPicker = "ZC_Controller_Plugin_LayoutPicker"

Create the LayoutPicker file in the library/ZC/Controller/Plugin/ directory with filename of LayoutPicker.php

<?php
class ZC_Controller_Plugin_LayoutPicker
    extends Zend_Controller_Plugin_Abstract
{
    public function preDispatch(Zend_Controller_Request_Abstract $request)
    {
        Zend_Layout::getMvcInstance->setLayout($request->getModuleName());
    }
}

Now if you have an admin module that needs a different layout from the default, create an module_name.phtml in the layouts folder with the new layout.

Additional Resources

• ZendCast:Moving Bootstrap Code to Configuration