Magento - updating catalog.xml

Question

I'm trying to update a magento theme (the theme name is blank_seo), and i'm trying to change the product page default template to 3 columns. I've tried updating the app/design/frontend/default/blank_seo/layout/catalog.xml file. but so far nothing is working. The only solution that i've found is manually changing the 'Page Layout' dropbox to 3 columns. If anyone has a simpler/quicker way of doing this (or a reason why my editing of catalog.xml doesn't work), I'd be extremely thankful!

Answer 1

Just looking at the code I have, I have been able to do this without any issue, which part of the catalog.xml file are you changing? It should be the <catalog_product_view> element like so:

<catalog_product_view translate="label">
    <label>Catalog Product View (Any)</label>
    <!-- Mage_Catalog -->
    <reference name="root">
        <action method="setTemplate"><template>page/1column-productview.phtml</template></action>
    </reference>
    ....
</catalog_product_view>

I have a custom template set up in my system for the product page, as you can see.

Also, make sure you refresh your cache and check your logs to ensure you are not missing any errors.