Naming Templates

How you name templates is very important, since it determines how they are used. The following names must be used:

config: config is the container for all templates. It is itself a template, however, and should not contain any layout objects (groups and widgets). If you do put any layout widgets in it, they will not be used.
config.default: The default template is used for all pages: section pages, article pages and topic pages. It is, as its name suggest, the root of the default template tree. You can create other template trees for special purposes (see Multiple Template Roots (Content Profiles)).
config.default.section: The config.default.section template is is used for all section pages. It is a child of the config.default template.
config.default.article: The config.default.article template is used for all content pages. It is a child of the config.default template.
config.default.topic: The config.default.topic template is used for all topic pages. It is a child of the config.default template.
config.default.section.section-name: There can be many such templates, where section-name is the unique name of a particular section in the publication. The template will then be used for this particular section. It is a descendant (child, grandchild etc.) of the config.default.section template.
config.default.article.type.type-name: There can be many such templates, where type-name is the name of one of the publication's content types. The template will then be used for content items of this particular type. It is a child of the config.default.article template.
config.default.article.section-name: There can be many such templates, where section-name is the unique name of a particular section in the publication. The template will then be used for content items belonging to this particular section. It is a child of the config.default.article template.
config.default.article.section-name.type.type-name: There can be many such templates, where section-name is the unique name of a particular section in the publication and type-name is the name of one of the publication's content types. The template will then be used for type-name content items belonging to the section called section-name. It is a child of the config.default.article template.
config.default.topic.section-name: There can be many such templates, where section-name is the unique name of a particular section in the publication. The template will then be used for topic pages belonging to the section called section-name. It is a child of the config.default.topic template.
config.default.master.master-template-name: There can be many such templates, each defining a master template. A master template contains a template fragment that can be re-used in other templates. It is a child of the config.default template. You can give a master template any name you choose. For more detailed information about master templates, see Master Templates.

This means that the layout of a section called news, for example, will be based on the layouts in the templates config, config.default.section and config.default.section.news (if it exists). Similarly, the layout of a content item belonging to the content type story will be based on the layouts in the templates config.default, config.default.article and config.default.article.type.story (if it exists). If there is a template called config.default.article.news.type.story, then any story content items belonging to the news section will use this template instead of config.default.article.type.story.