How to set a template programmatically using a plugin

Question

How can I change the template set in back-end with a custom plugin?

I was different solutions suggesting using

$doc= JFactory::getDocument();
$doc->setTemplate("my_tempalte_name");

which did not work.

Answer 1

In Joomla 3.2. + you can make use of the JApplicationSite::setTemplate method.

You need to put this in a system plugin which triggers on onAfterInitialise.

public function onAfterInitialise()
{
    $app = JFactory::getApplication();
    // We want to change the template just on the FE
    if ($app instanceof JApplicationSite)
    {
        $template = $app->getTemplate(); //use just debugging
        var_dump($template); //use just debugging
        // Set the new template and style params
        $app->setTemplate('protostar', null);
        $template = $app->getTemplate(); //use just debugging
        var_dump($template); //use just debugging
    }

}

The signature JApplicationSite::setTemplate of is:

/**
 * Overrides the default template that would be used
 *
 * @param   string  $template     The template name
 * @param   mixed   $styleParams  The template style parameters
 *
 * @return  void
 *
 * @since   3.2
 */
public function setTemplate($template, $styleParams = null)