How to quickly switch custom post type singular template?

Question

I have a custom post type called movies and I need to quickly switch the template that displays the movies cpt on the front end via a link. How can this be done?

Files I have: single-movies.php template-movieslanding.php template-movieswholesale.php

Functionality: A link group is displayed on each of the three templates as demonstrated below. These links are only displayed to logged in staff. The staff are not technical in the least and need a simplistic solution.

Views: Overview | Landing Page | Wholesale

When each link is clicked I need to switch to that template. All templates use the same custom post type.

Thanks! ~Matt

Answer 1

you can do it like this:

//add movies_view to query vars
add_filter('query_vars', 'my_query_vars');

function my_query_vars($vars) {
    // add movies_view to the valid list of variables
    $new_vars = array('movies_view');
    $vars = $new_vars + $vars;
    return $vars;
}

then add a template redirect based on that query_var:

add_action("template_redirect", 'my_template_redirect');

// Template selection
function my_template_redirect()
{
    global $wp;
    global $wp_query;
    if ($wp->query_vars["post_type"] == "movies")
    {
        // Let's look for the property.php template file in the current theme
        if (array_key_exists('movies_view', $wp->query_vars) && $wp->query_vars['movies_view'] == 'overview'){
            include(TEMPLATEPATH . '/single-movies.php');
            die();
        }
        if (array_key_exists('movies_view', $wp->query_vars) && $wp->query_vars['movies_view'] == 'landing'){
            include(TEMPLATEPATH . '/template-movieslanding.php');
            die();
        }
        if (array_key_exists('movies_view', $wp->query_vars) && $wp->query_vars['movies_view'] == 'wholesale'){
            include(TEMPLATEPATH . '/template-movieswholesale.php');
            die();
        }
    }
}

then add this var to your links

• For Overview add ?movies_view=overview to the url
• For Landing Page add ?movies_view=landing to the url
• For Wholesale add ?movies_view=wholesale to the url

Hope this helps