Need Help Creating A Custom Site Template (NOT Page Template)

hey. so, i specifically the other day went & paid for an extended support license just for this issue/question. i was under the impression from past help & reading many many many other forum posts here, that ya’ll could help me figure this out. am really hoping you’ll tell me which lines to keep, which lines to delete, & where in the midst of the php code that i can insert my own html/css, all the while keeping full Enfold theme functionality. is this not the case?

i’m still experimenting, hoping for definitive, careful, thoughtful help.

i found the file holding the navigational menu code in the header.php file…
get_template_part( 'includes/helper', 'main-menu' );

so i commented that out & copy/pasted the contents of the “helper-main-menu.php” file.
below is a copy/paste of the new combined template-custom.php
which includes template-builder, header, helper-main-menu, & footer.
and you can see specifically where i copy/pasted everything by noting my distinctive commented out “BEGIN” & “END” lines.

i tried editing…
line 398
$addition = "<img {$resp} class='{$class}' alt='{$headerS['header_replacement_logo_alt']}' title='{$headerS['header_replacement_logo_title']}' />";
…i tried removing the {$resp} and adding a “src=’url-to-image.png’ – but that didn’t work.

so i tried…
line 406
$output .= avia_logo( AVIA_BASE_URL . 'images/layout/logo.png', $addition, 'span', true );
…replacing the path to logo.png with the path to my new logo image – but that didn’t work either.

so then using the “avia_logo” output, i found my way to the “function-set-avia-frontend.php” file at line 700.
but you know what? i simply do not know what i’m doing.
i seem to be able to combine the various php files into making a new custom template, but how far down the rabbit hole do i go?

where do i…
1) add a new logo, using the same layout, size, & placement as the main one, & letting Enfold do its thing for responsiveness etc?
2) tell the new template to use a different menu from the WP Menu? and let Enfold do its thing for responsiveness there too? i only need to change the colors for the menu.
3) where do i hardcode in a different background image for the pages?
4) and how can i have the footer use different/custom Widgets?

i bet if i can get those 4 things figured out, the rest i can do via CSS by adding a class to the Body tag

EDIT: regarding the background image. i see that it’s already adding a BODY Class of “.page-template-template-custom”, and i see in my browsers Inspector that Enfold is using an HTML CSS to add the default background image.
is there a way i can use that Body class to change the Html background image?

// https://pastebin.com/sfyCh2Fg

am realizing that these code inserts don’t have line numbers, soooo, hmmm. suggestions?

@Ismael,

i see you (or someone) removed my combined template code.

that started with the “template-builder.php” and added the “header.php“, “footer.php“, & the latest also included “helper-main-menu.php“.
so in response to your message about needing to use “template-builder.php” – yes, that’s what i’m doing.

and that combined template php file in & of itself, works. i just haven’t figured out how/where to make my needed edits in it (yet).

i DID discover, as mentioned, that the template BODY tag adds the Class of “.page-template-template-custom” to each page using this template. YAY! so that covers everything inside the content area – i can affect via starting my custom css with that class.

the reason i need to find a way to do these remaining items is that they exist OUTSIDE of the content (Body) area.

SO, these needs still stand – my reply to your points about them are under each…
—

1) Logo – where in the code can i replace which image file the logo uses for this template?
i see your FUNCTIONS code to display a different logo, but that is page-specific. can you alter it to be page-template-specific?
i cannot simply use any ABL options for the logo because some pages will have the sidebar turned on & some off. the logo needs to sit above the content area. and the menu, above that.

SCRATCH THAT… after some research, i was able to replace your Functions “is_page” with “is_page_template; instead of a page number, i used the template php filename, and it works!!!
so THIS #1 IS DONE.

—
2) Menu – where in the code can i specify which WP Menu this template should use?
i would prefer not to have to rely on plugins for this. is there not a way to either alter the template code or use a Function to specify which menu should show for this template?

FUNCTION OPTION… i did some hunting for a way to do this via a function instead of a plugin (both those plugins you gave were out of date for current WP), and i found the below pasted functions code (below all my text) – BUT, it’s not working.
can you modify it to work appropriately?

—
3) Background Image – where in the code can i edit to override which image file the HTML background uses?
how can i use a Color Section “OUTSIDE” of the content area? i need to change the whole page/screen HTML background image. would it work if i add a custom class to the html tag in the template, then make my background image css for that (not sure if that would override what’s there – plus i don’t know how to add a class around the php code that’s there)?

SCRATCH THAT… after experimenting, i was able to add a custom Class to the html tag in the template. then using “!important”, i can override the background image.
so THIS #3 IS DONE.

—
4) Footer Widgets – where in the code can i change to specify which custom WP Widgets is used instead of the default?
i would prefer not to have to rely on plugins for this. is there not a way to either alter the template code or use a Function to specify which widgets should show for this template?

EDIT… that plugin (the only one of the two that’s up to date) looks to be way overkill. i searched for a similar Function to simply swap “Footer – Column 1” with “Alt Footer – Column 1” but could not find anything. i have 3 footer widget columns that i need to change which widget is used based on page template.
is that something you can do?

—
thanks again.
i’m guessing we live on opposite sides of the world, given when we reply here.
i REALLY appreciate your time & effort. i didn’t think it would be a big deal (“out of the scope of support”), that you could just show me where in the template php that will do these 4 things. so if you think it would require too much php alterations, then i will look into the plugins you gave.

—
#2’s Function code that doesn’t work…

add_filter( 'wp_nav_menu_args', 'bb_wp_nav_menu_args' );
function bb_wp_nav_menu_args( $args ) 
{
	if( $args['theme_location'] == 'primary' && is_page_template('template-custom2.php') ) 
	{ 
		$args['menu'] = '16';
	}
	return $args;
}

well, after a LOT of more research, i felt i was getting closer, but it just wasn’t working. THEN i found an OLD post of yours here where you answered someone else needing a similar thing. that gave me 2 key pieces i was missing…
instead of $args['theme_location'] yours had $args['menu_id']
and instead of =='primary' yours had == 'avia-menu'
and viola! it works (pasted below).

so, instead of taking days & days & now a week, i would really appreciate a Function to swap which WP Widgets are used in the Footer of this custom template (example: “Footer – Column 1” with “Alt Footer – Column 1”) – there are 3 footer columns for each.

here’s the working Menu swap Function…

add_filter( 'wp_nav_menu_args', 'respect_menu_swap' );
function respect_menu_swap( $args = '' ) 
{
	if(is_page_template('template-respect.php') && $args['menu_id'] == 'avia-menu') 
	{
		$args['menu'] = '16';
	} 
	return $args;
}

WOW!
well, it would seems as tho i figured it out!

after MORE searching, i came across https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson-plan/widget-areas

apparently i had to “register” a “sidebar” – which thru me, as i was wanting to modify in the footer. after looking that up, the term “sidebar” is used anywhere the theme allows the user to add widgets in. and since the Enfold footer allows for widgets, i had to “register_sidebar” and THEN modify a line in the template.
i also didn’t understand why i had to “register” the “widget area’s” at all, thinking that just by creating the custom widgets in WP admin > Appearance > Widgets, that should do it, but no. ya gotta create them there and ALSO register them in the child functions too.

so after reading that wordpress page (linked above), i started hunting around in the main Enfold theme files, trying to find something similar. since apparently, some things are named differently than in other themes, which is why my copy/pasting of examples i found elsewhere didn’t work.
i found it in… themes > enfold > includes > admin > register-widget-area.php

so i combined what that wordpress link offered with the footer widget registration and came up with this code that i put in my child functions.php…

add_action( 'widgets_init', 'MYWIDGETAREA' );
function MYWIDGETAREA() 
{
	register_sidebar( array(
		'name'			=> 'Respect Footer - Column ' . $i,
		'id'			=> 'espect_foot_widget_' . $i,
		'before_widget'	=> '<section id="%1$s" class="widget clearfix %2$s">',
		'after_widget'	=> '<span class="seperator extralight-border"></span></section>',
		'before_title'	=> '<h3 class="widgettitle">',
		'after_title'	=> '</h3>'
	));
}

in the array, i only changed the “name” & “id”, leaving the rest so the structure matches the original theme.

then i went to my template-custom.php and found this line…

if( ! ( function_exists( 'dynamic_sidebar' ) && dynamic_sidebar( 'Footer - Column ' . $i ) ) )

…and replaced it with…

if( ! ( function_exists( 'dynamic_sidebar' ) && dynamic_sidebar( 'Respect Footer - Column ' . $i ) ) )

AMAZING!!!

well hopefully all this may benefit someone else in a similar position some day.