How to specify multiple layouts within the same controller in Ruby on Rails

Posted on 03 October 2006

Using more than one layout in a controller is as simple as placing the following code in your controller:

layout :choose_layout

private
def choose_layout    
  if [ 'signup', 'login' ].include? action_name
    'login'
  else
    'admin'
  end
end

When Rails goes to select the layout it wont find one named "choose_layout", so it will look for an action with that name instead.

The action checks if the Rails variable action_name (which contains the name of the current action) matches either 'signup' or 'login'. If this is true then the 'login' layout is rendered otherwise 'admin' is.

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7 comments made

sal commented on 14 Jun 07 at 22:50: schweet!
Joe commented on 05 Nov 07 at 04:39: This is great. I tried many different ways to accomplish it and never could get it to work. Glad I found this or I will still be forced to use a single layout.
Mike commented on 14 Nov 07 at 00:47: Thanks a bunch – that’s really cool!
Jon Sidnell commented on 01 Dec 07 at 09:47: Absolutely spot on! Exactly what I needed for a current project. Thanks!
Mike Tunnicliffe commented on 09 Dec 07 at 19:31: This approach looks superior to what I found in the Rails docs, which was to use:

layout :default_layout def some_action render :action => “some_action”, :layout => “different_layout” end
Dan Sweeney commented on 05 Apr 08 at 14:10: Just wanted to say thanks… this is a handy snippet!
Michael Madison commented on 12 May 08 at 02:24: Holy crap! You’re a genius! Awesome man.

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