seperate Home Page Layout

[staedtler]

I would like to have the home page have a different layout than the inside pages. I know how to change the look for the home page but only within the center column.

How would I create a home page that had one element that spanned two columns. I'm attaching two screenshots (not actual size) to give an idea of what I am trying to achieve. I would like the banner (in dark blue) to span over the right column and push the right columns content down for the home page. On the inside pages I would like it to revert back the standard three column layout

Any help would be appreciated.

Home Page
http://www.imgdumb.com/images/342585home.gif

Inside Page
http://www.imgdumb.com/images/323701inside.gif

[gjh42]

This would be easy if all browsers supported CSS properly... unfortunately, they don't.

You should be able to give #navColumnTwo a margin-top: xxxpx; (equal to banner height), and give the banner a margin-right: -150px; (equal to right sidebar width).
This would make the banner extend beyond its regular right edge and the right column drop to clear it - and it works in Firefox. (Or at least a similar effect involving left column and header did.)
IE6, on the other hand, appears to believe that boundaries are sacred in this circumstance, and will not display any part of an element that extends past its parent/containing element's edges.

So the upshot of this is that I don't know of a neat way to do what you want.
You could cut the banner in two and display the right part in a special box in the sidebar which is active on the home page only. Messy but probably effective. Maybe someone else knows a good way to do this.

[barricades]

I'm trying to change the layout of the main page too. What I'd like is to have all the categories in my shop (there only are 12) and their pictures displayed in place of all the congratulations text. I'm thinking they could be set out similar to the New Products boxes etc...

Is there an easy way to do this? Or even a difficult one...

thanks

[gjh42]

Admin > Configuration > Layout Settings > Categories - Always Show on Main Page.