Adding a custom area for blocks in a custom layout

Question

Ok, So I've made a module and use it to manage all the custom layouts on my store. Now I need to just add some blocks to certain pages using the template. I added the following line to my custom layout:

<?php echo $this->getChildHtml('cms_left') ?>

And inside the Update Layout XML I added the following:

<reference name="cms_left">
    <block type="cms/block" name="cms_left_test" before="-">
        <action method="setBlockId"><block_id>cms_left_test</block_id></action>
    </block>    
</reference>

And encase its relevent here is part the relevant part of my moudles config.xml that handles this custom layout:

<cms_pages module="page" translate="label">
    <label>cms pages</label>
    <template>page/cms_pages.phtml</template>
    <layout_handle>cms pages</layout_handle>
</cms_pages>

From what I know this should now display the cms_left_test block on this page, however it;s not working. Have I missed out a step somewhere? I tried looking up some examples, but because I'm drawing bits and pieces from all over I'm not sure if my approach is totally correct.

Answer 1

How is the block 'cms_left' defined in your layout? Or better yet ''IS IT defined?'. You are calling this:

<reference name="cms_left">
    <block type="cms/block" name="cms_left_test" before="-">
        <action method="setBlockId"><block_id>cms_left_test</block_id></action>
    </block>    
</reference>

But in order to be able to reference a block, the block should exist.

I think you are missing this piece of xml in your custom layout file.

<default>    
    <reference name="root">
        <block type="core/text_list" name="cms_left" as="cms_left" translate="label">
            <label>CMS left block</label>
        </block>
    </reference>
</default>

Answer 2

From what it looks like, the block cms_left is not defined anywhere. In order for it to work, you should define it as core/text_list somewhere in your layout definitions. Then you can reference it and add new blocks to it, like you are trying to do. Assuming cms_left is a direct child of root, you can do the following:

<reference name="root">
    <block name="cms_left" type="core/text_list" />
</reference>

Make sure you add this before your code above.