6 December 2010

This tutorial shows you how to make a custom node layout. Which is a custom placement of node fields. Also we do it without any coding.

If you have made a custom content type with CCK, you might want to create a custom layout for the node. You can do it by creating a custom node template to your theme, but that means coding. Using Panels is the easiest way to make custom layouts for nodes.

Get necessary modules:

Chaos tool suite - This suite is primarily a set of APIs and tools to improve the developer experience. It also contains a module called the Page Manager whose job is to manage pages. In particular it manages panel pages, but as it grows it will be able to manage far more than just Panels.
Panels - The Panels module allows a site administrator to create customized layouts for multiple uses. At its core it is a drag and drop content manager that lets you visually design a layout and place content within that layout.

Enable modules:

If you have placed the modules to modules folder in sites/all directory, then you have to enable necessary modules. Enable next modules: Panels, Panel nodes, Chaos tools, Custom content panes and Page manager.

Create the layout:

  • Go to Panels from Administer - Site building - Panels or example.com/admin/build/panels.
  • We are using Page wizard to make our layout. Select Node template from page wizards.
  • Select Node type(this is the content type) for which you want to make the layout to. From layout select layout that you need. Layouts are categorized by the number of columns.
  • Now you are able to create custom title and select fields that you want to display.