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$5
How to assign a page template automatically from function

Hi everyone!

I'm trying to create a function inside my theme's 'function.php' file which automatically assigns a template to a specific page.

For example, I have a page called 'Winning' and I want it to automatically be assigned the 'template-full-width.php' template file.

I'd like it to check if the 'Winning' page exists and, if so, update the page's template. Is that even possible?

I suspect I should be using the 'update_post_meta' function but I'm having trouble getting it to work. Something like:



$post_name = 'winning';

$post_id = $wpdb->get_var("SELECT ID FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE post_name = $post_name");



update_post_meta($post_id, '_wp_page_template','template-full-width.php');


Any help would be appreciated!

This question has been answered.

beowulf | 09/15/11 at 7:24am Edit

Previous versions of this question: 09/15/11 at 7:29am

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  • avatar
    Last edited:
    09/15/11
    7:35am
    Peter Michael says: 


    
function template_redirect_to_winning_page()
    
{
    
	global $wp;
    
	if( $wp->query_vars["pagename"] == "winning" ) {
    
		include(TEMPLATEPATH . '/template-full-width.php');
    
		die();
    
	}
    
}
    
add_action ('template_redirect', 'template_redirect_to_winning_page');

  • avatar
    Last edited:
    09/15/11
    7:38am
    Jurre Hanema says:

    Your query is not entirely correct. Try this:


    
global $wpdb;
    

    
$post_name = 'winning';
    

    
$query = $wpdb->prepare("SELECT ID FROM {$wpdb->posts} WHERE post_name = %s", $post_name);
    
$post_id = $wpdb->get_var($query);
    

    
update_post_meta($post_id, '_wp_page_template','template-full-width.php');


    Altough I suspect there might be a better way to achieve what you want by simply using Wordpress's template hierarchy. If you create a template page-winning.php and the page's slug is winning, then WP will automatically use that template to display the page.

    • 09/15/11 7:44am

      beowulf says:

      Thanks Jurre for helping me get on the right track! It does assign a full width template to my page now. :)

      Under normal circumstances you're correct about creating a separate template for that page but I'm integrating a plugin that I'm trying not to modify directly (for future updates). Long story short, creating a function inside of the theme seems to be the best option for this particular situation.

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beowulf voted on this question.



Current status of this question: Completed



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