Minimalistic page.tpl.php file
You want to use render() like this:

 &lt;?php print render($page['content']); ?&gt;


I'm not really sure what you mean by "but to work correctly with other Drupal files and components."

You should also print all the standard regions and any other variables you might need. You can find a list of the default variables available to page.tpl.php in the documentation page.

Also here's a list of the regions you probably should include:


$page['help']: Dynamic help text, mostly for admin pages.
$page['highlighted']: Items for the highlighted content region.
$page['content']: The main content of the current page.
$page['sidebar_first']: Items for the first sidebar.
$page['sidebar_second']: Items for the second sidebar.
$page['header']: Items for the header region.
$page['footer']: Items for the footer region.