Question

If my whole site is using the default.ctp layout specified in apps/view/layouts/default.ctp, how do I change only the home page layout to use homepage.ctp and leave the rest of the site using default.ctp?

Answer 1

Copy the /cake/libs/controller/pages_controller.php into your /app/controller/ dir and do either of the following:

• Add a line towards the end of display() to switch the layout if ‘home’ is requested:
  if ($page == 'home') $this->layout = 'homepage';
• Create a home() method (or named however you like) in which you set $this->layout and re-route the / route in /app/config/routes.php to use this new method.

Edit:
In summary, you need some custom method in which you’ll set $this->layout = 'homepage', that’s all. You can do this in any of your controllers at any point, reusing the PagesController is just the most convenient and conventional way to do it in Cake.