title: Adding layout templates to WebSphere Portal theme ear
body: <p><strong>Question</strong>: How do I refer to my layout files form the changeLayout.json and layout.json files if the layout-template files are held in a theme ear/ear?</p>
  
  <p><strong>Background</strong>:
  I'm developing a custom theme with custom layouts in Portal v8. I'm using the ear method for the theme deployment,s o I've got everything segregated into MyThemeDynamic.war and MyThemeStatic.war I've added my layout files to MyThemeStatic.war/themes/MyTheme/layout-templates</p>
  
  <p>When I set the default layout template in the XMLAccess import, I can successfully see my custom layout.
  But If I try to change the layout, it reverts back to the Portal 8.0 theme defaults.
  I've tried several ways of referring to my layout files from layout.json. </p>
  
  <p>I saw this: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/ch2nczp" rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/ch2nczp</a>
  but it prevents the default theme from working properly, and I want to keep both the default and this new custom theme.</p>
  
  <p>I've also tried adding references to the xml access, as suggested here: <a href="https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=14909102&amp;#14909102" rel="nofollow">https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=14909102&amp;#14909102</a></p>
  
  <p>I feel like I'm close, but I'm missing something.</p>