How to override default page.tpl from a module, for a specific page?

Question

I am coding a module which contains a "please wait" page.

On this page I need to override the default page.tpl template so I can render the "please wait" message alone without all the other regions and "site chrome".

How do I tell drupal not to use the default page.tpl and use my page-special.tpl for the specific "please wait" page ?

EDIT

Please note that I am coding a module, not a theme. So everything should be done from inside the module.

Answer 1

As per Stuart Clark's advice

All you have to do is to create a template, for example : mymodule/theme/special-page.tpl.php

and add this to your module

function mymodule_theme(){
  return array(
    'special_page' =>  array(
      'template' => 'theme/special-page',
      'render element' => 'page'
    ),
  );
}

function mymodule_preprocess_page(&$variables, $hook) {
  if ( my_condition() ) {
    $variables['theme_hook_suggestions'][] = 'special_page';
  }
}

Answer 2

You see, almost every page callback declared in hook_menu is wrapped in both html.tlp.php and page.tpl.php. That's because most modules will not declare the menu item's delivery callback, and it defaults to drupal_deliver_html_page. You can declare your own delivery callback and use a custom theme function (see hook_theme) to render your page. It will also make overrides easier for themers.

Answer 3

You should make a copy of page.tpl.php and rename it page--node--1.tpl.php Then you can style the new page. When you create the new file, remember to clear the cache. You can find more info here http://drupal.org/node/1089656 and here

Answer 4

You can use this hook

function theme_preprocess_page(&$variables, $hook) {
$variables['theme_hook_suggestions'][] = 'page__special';
}

but you should have a tpl called page--special.tpl.php

Answer 5

try using this

function mymodule_menu()
{
 $items['test'] = array(
        'title' => t('Testing'),
        'page callback' => 'test',
        'access arguments' => array('access content'),
        'type' => MENU_CALLBACK,
    );
return $items;
}

function test()
{
    return theme('test');
}
function mymodule_theme(){
    return array(
        'test' => array(
            'template' => 'test'//name of template file, place test.tpl.php in your module
        )
    );
}

Answer 6

I cannot find a way to override the html.tpl.php in my module. My use case was to create an "interstitial" page to display pre-roll video or an ad, similar to how forbes.com does it. Here is the user story:

"As a user, my first visit to the site will present me with an interstitial page before viewing content. WHen the page is displayed, a cookie is set in the user's browser preventing the interstitial from displaying on subsequent visits for the next 24 hours."

I created a hook_menu creating a page with a path called "welcome"

/**
 * Implements hook_menu().
 */
function liveinterstitual_menu() {
  $items = array();

  $items['welcome'] = array(
    'title' => 'Welcome to San Angelo LIVE!',
    'page callback' => 'liveinterstitual_welcome_page',
    'page arguments' => array(),
    'access arguments' => array('access content'),
  );
  return $items;
}

The page callback is liveinterstitual_welcome_page(), and it looks like this:

function liveinterstitual_welcome_page() {
  // If you want the sidebars and everything in the theme layer, uncomment the next line
  //return theme('liveinterstitual', array('content' => $content));
  //else, to spit out a static html page, save the page to this module's dir and do this:
  echo file_get_contents( drupal_get_path('module','liveinterstitual') . '/liveinterstitiual.html');
  //Shut down Drupal cleanly
  drupal_page_footer();
}

In short, I byassed the entire theme payer by piping the contents of a flat html file. Drupal has similar functions in core that do this by delivering a JSON array for ahah callbacks, for example.

I am open to other ideas, but this one appears to work for now.