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I want to add a custom block to the category pages and not care if the the category is anchor or not or if it has children or not.
I want to add that block at the bottom of the page after the product list or static block.
So I added this in the layout file

<catalog_category_view>
    <reference name="content">
        <block type="some/block" tempalate="some/template.phtml" after="-" /><!-- notice the "after" attribute -->
     </reference>
</catalog_category_view>

the block appears in every category page but at the top of the page.
If I change the layout handle to catalog_category_default or catalog_category_layered everything works OK and I see my block at the bottom of the page.
Any idea why "after" is ignored for catalog_category_view handle?
Note: Using the default magento theme

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  • Seems like different order of block rendering. Some other children of content block of catalog_category_view is rendered after your block.
    – Tim Bezhashvyly
    Commented Jan 21, 2014 at 9:09
  • Good question by the way. Never head of catalog_catagory_view layout handle before.
    – Tim Bezhashvyly
    Commented Jan 21, 2014 at 9:11
  • Yep, but the question is why? I didn't see any after="-" on other blocks in all the category page layout handles. As for the layout handle name catalog_category_view is the default one generated for all the pages through $this->addActionLayoutHandles();
    – Marius ♦
    Commented Jan 21, 2014 at 9:12
  • Yes I also heard catalog_catagory_view but I have done via code but via xml code. good questions.
    – Keyul Shah
    Commented Jan 21, 2014 at 9:13
  • 1
    @KeyulShah. I don't want to do that, since the last block can be different in theory. I want my block "absolute last". I also know how to do that. I can create a custom handle and use <update handle="my_handle" /> inside catalog_category_default and catalog_category_layered. But I'm just curious to why this doesn't work.
    – Marius ♦
    Commented Jan 21, 2014 at 9:16

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
4

I think I've isolated the problem.
The catalog_category_view layout handle is loaded before the _layered or _default handle and the block are generated in the order they are found. So my custom block is generated and inserted into the content before the category/view block found in the _layered handle.
So the 'after' attribute is taken into consideration and my block is added last at that point.
But then comes the _layered layout handle and because the category/view block does not have a before or after specified it is inserted like this: 

$parentBlock->append($block, $alias);

That is the same thing as 

$this->insert($block, '', true, $alias);

The same code is executed when after="-" is specified. So it's like category/view has after="-" specified.
This does not occur when the blocks are in the same layout handle, because usually the custom module layout handle is loaded after the one from catalog.xml.

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before: Used to position the block before a block with the name specified in the value. If "-" value used the block is positioned before all other blocks of its level of block nesting.

after: Used to position the block after a block with the name specified in the value. If "-" value used the block is positioned after all other blocks of its level of block nesting.

Updated: examples from some random core layout updates:

<reference name="right">
    <block type="catalog/product_compare_sidebar" before="cart_sidebar" name="catalog.compare.sidebar" template="catalog/product/compare/sidebar.phtml"/>
</reference>

<reference name="right">
    <block type="catalog/product_list_related" name="catalog.product.related" before="-" template="catalog/product/list/related.phtml"/>
</reference>

Updated: I believe before and after work only in core/text_list and similar(descendant) blocks, i.e. blocks which just render blocks their nested blocks.

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3
  • This will not work in some cases (obviously the case of a topic starter). This is a known problem of Magento 1.x and will be fixed in 2.x.
    – Tim Bezhashvyly
    Commented Jan 21, 2014 at 9:29
  • Thanks for the answer. I know what before and after should do and it should work for all the block types, not only core/text_list. Like I've said in the question, it works if I change the layout handle name.
    – Marius ♦
    Commented Jan 21, 2014 at 9:32
  • ok Marius and Tim :)
    – Keyul Shah
    Commented Jan 21, 2014 at 9:36

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