This header is shown because you don’t have defined your own layout yet, and so the default layout is used which comes with CakePHP (located in /cake/libs/view/layouts/default.ctp /cake/libs/view/templates/layouts/default.ctp (respectively .thtml with CakePHP 1.1)). Now the first idea is to edit this file. That would work. But it violates the golden rule of CakePHP: Don’t edit files in the cake folder! So, instead you have to copy the file to /app/views/layouts. Then you can edit the layout in any way you want.

Happy baking :)

Update 2009-05-29: Fixed path to layout because it has changed since this article has been written. Thanks to Göran K. for the hint!

The simplest way to use your own “for_layout” variable is to set a variable in your controller or view:

$this->set('var_for_layout', 'value');

You can then use this variable in your layout with:

if (isset($var_for_layout)) {
     echo $var_for_layout;
}

The “problem” of this solution is that you need an isset() check to avoid an “undefined variable” error when the variable is not set. This check is not necessary for the built-in “for_layout” variables, and so it doesn’t look very consistent if you mix those variables with your own “for_layout” variables.

To avoid this problem I wrote a simple helper, which automatically sets an empty string if the variable is not set.

class DemoHelper extends AppHelper {
    var $value = '';

    function afterRender() {
        $view = ClassRegistry::getObject('view');
        $view->set('var_for_layout', $this->value);
    }

    function setValue($value) {
        $this->value = $value;
    }
}

This helper is then included in the $helpers array of my AppController (app/app_controller.php):

var $helpers = array('Demo');

With that I can access the helper in all my views. To set the value for the $var_for_layout variable I have to use the helper instead of $this->set():

$demo->setValue('value');

In my layout I can now simply output my “for_layout” variable:

echo $var_for_layout;