The Magento Expert

Displaying the Active Layout Handles of a Page

Mex — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 11:41:37 +0000

When a Magento 2 layout XML change does not take effect, first check the active Layout Handles. A layout XML file is processed only when its corresponding handle is active on the page.

You can display the current handles directly in a template for debugging.

print_r($block->getLayout()->getUpdate()->getHandles());

On a product page, you might see handles such as catalog_product_view or hyva_cms_index_index or hyva_cms_page_view , while categories and CMS pages use their own handles. For custom modules, theme overrides and special product types, this makes it easy to see whether you are editing the right layout XML.

Use this output for debugging only and remove it afterwards. Especially with complex Magento themes, this quick check can save a lot of time.

“Reset password” page empty after installing SUPEE-6788

Thu, 10 Mar 2016 10:15:08 +0000

If the password reset page is emtpy after you installed the Magento security patch SUPEE-6788, the problem is most likely to be found in the customer.xml file.

Open the customer.xml file of your theme and replace customer_account_resetpassword with customer_account_changeforgotten.

The block has to be replaced as well. Replace customer/account_resetpassword with customer/account_changeforgotten

That’s it! Clear the cache and see if you get the correct password reset page now.

Password reset page blank after installing SUPEE-6788

Mex — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 08:35:08 +0000

Is the password reset page blank after installing the SUPEE-6788 patch? The issue is probably in your customer.xml file. Open customer.xml in your theme’s layout directory and replace customer_account_resetpassword with customer_account_changeforgotten.

The corresponding block must also be replaced. Replace customer/account_resetpassword with customer/account_changeforgotten.

Clear the cache and the problem should be resolved.

Removing block from cache

Mex — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 14:05:30 +0000

To remove a certain block from the Magento cache, use the below code.


    null

Changing the title tag of the home page or any CMS page

Mex — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 09:07:58 +0000

Magento automatically adds the defined suffix to the title tag on every page. If you want to change that for lets say the home page, open the CMS page “home” and add the following XML to the layout section:


    title... Title Tag ...

Removing the breadcrumb navigation on all pages

Mex — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 07:13:57 +0000

Create a local copy of \app\design\frontend\base\default\layout\page.xml and remove or comment the following line:

Adding comments to fields in admin area

Mex — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:44:51 +0000

It is possible and helpful to add comments to the Magento admin fields. Take a look at the following picture:

To add a field and a comment, open your modules system.xml and add the below XML:


    Test
    text
    0
    1
    1
    1
    Thats a comment!

Making custom options available in quote in admin area

Mex — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:27:18 +0000

Sometimes, when adding custom options to a quote in ther admin area, the custom options are not available. To avoid that problem, simply add the custom options to your modules config.xml, like this:

Getting the front name of a route programmatically

Mex — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:47:08 +0000

Use the ollowing code to get a routes front name:

// will display "config"
$frontName = (string)Mage::getConfig()->getNode('frontend/routers/whatever/args/frontName');

The code will return “config”, if you add the following XML to your modules config.xml:


        
            
                standard
                
                    Company_Module
                    config