Link to content article with specific layout

Question

I'm trying to link to a content article and force a specific layout override to be used in the display, however I'm having some troubles. I've tried the following:

JRoute::_("index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id={$this->item->id}&layout=mylayout&catid={$this->item->catid}");

and

JRoute::_(ContentHelperRoute::getArticleRoute($this->item->slug, $this->item->catid).'&layout=mylayout'); 

however, none of them seem to get me closer to heaven, only my default override (default.php) is used, not mylayout.php. I've also tried adding an Itemid to a menu item linked to a test-content-item with this layout. The test displays with the correct layout, but not the link with the added Itemid.

I also tried including the template-name in the layout-parameter ( layout=mytemplate:mylayout ) but still no luck.

Any idea how to make a link that displays an item with the specified layout? The joomla version is 3.3.0.

Answer 1

First of all, make sure that you have placed yourlayout.php file into the right directory and that Joomla can load it. Then you should assign that layout to the article/s you want them make use of it.

Note that if the article is linked to a menu item, then the alternative layout will not work. In this case you have to create also a yourlayout.xml file matching your layout php file, and place it next to it.

Then you will have to change the menu item used for this article with your new menu-item.