Render content from page.tpl.php in ajax callback, without the html.tpl.php

Question

I am attempting to render an entire page through an ajax callback using either custom javascript or drupals ajax_deliver. The issue is that it is trying to render the entire page and I simply want it to render what is in a custom page.tpl.php file created. I have found a solution around this using a $_GET in the html.tpl.php but it seems hacky to me.

Basically I am rendering only the $page variable if a $_GET is set, if not render it as normal. Is there any functions or way to simply render all the regions in a page, minus what is in the html.tpl.php

Answer 1

There is AJAXify Pages (dev version only)

Module to ajaxify site browsing and navigation. For instance, it allows for continuous audio playback via Background Audio module while changing the content of the pages.

or AJAXify module (D5 only)

You can always create links that load other pages via AJAX but you will still load a full page HTML while you may only need a single HTML element from the loaded page and this is what AJAXify focuses on.

If youre not planning to use any of these module take a look at THIS function to get some idea.