Changing Page.tpl Based On Node Type in Drupal

If you use Drupal you may encounter the difficulty in setting up individual page.tpl.php for different node types. The is a simple solution to this problem but requires a few lines of code in your template.php file, found in your theme directory (/sites/all/themes/<YOUR THEME NAME>).

To begin:

1. Locate your template.php file in your theme directory.
2. At the bottom of your template.php file enter the following code:

 function phptemplate_preprocess(&$vars, $hook) {

	switch ($hook){
		case 'page':
		  // Add a content-type page template in second to last.	
			if ('node' == arg(0)) {
				$node_template = array_pop($vars['template_files']);
				$vars['template_files'][]  = 'page-' . $vars['node']->type;
				$vars['template_files'][]  = $node_template;
			}
			break;
	}
	return $vars;
}

The customizations can be seen in Devel along the lines of page-node-1.tpl.php > page-story.tpl.php > page-node.tpl.php > page.tpl.php. If you have to use the forums feature of Drupal you may want to prevent a name clash by implementing

$vars['template_files'][] = 'page-nodetype-' . $vars['node']->type; instead of $vars['template_files'][] = 'page-' . $vars['node']->type;