Add custom positions to OpenCart header: step-by-step

Out of the box OpenCart gives every layout four module positions — two columns, content top and content bottom. The header is not one of them. If you want a promo bar, a phone number block or a trust badge row in the header, you add a position yourself. It takes one controller edit and one template edit.

The header is rendered by its own controller: catalog/controller/common/header.php. Inside, load the modules assigned to your new position name and pass them to the template — the code mirrors how content_top does it in catalog/controller/common/content_top.php, with the position name swapped for your own, for example header_extra.

Keep the name lowercase with underscores — it must match what you'll query from the layout tables.

Open your theme header template — catalog/view/theme/YOUR_THEME/template/common/header.twig — and output the modules where you want them, the same way content_top.twig loops over its modules variable. Place it above or below the menu depending on the design.

For the admin layout editor to offer your position in its dropdown, the position list in the layout edit view needs your new entry. Add it next to the four standard ones in the admin layout template, then assign any module to "Header Extra" on the layouts you need.

Package all three edits as an OCMOD/ ocmod.xml modification instead of editing core files directly — updates will not wipe your work, and you can turn the change off from the Modifications screen.

A polished header helps the visitors who browse. A growing share of buyers never see it — AI agents shop your store through data, not pixels. Run the free 30-second scan at dreamvention.com/scan to see how your OpenCart store looks to them.