pretty cool. thanks for writing this up. sometimes i long for the module provided regions that i think you coded into a version of the regions patch way back when. Nedjo Rogers wrote:
I at least had overlooked the fact that in 4.7 we have the ability to assign regions not just to the page but to any other PHPTempalte template, e.g., node.tpl.php. I've updated the handbook with instructions on how to do this, http://drupal.org/node/29139.
This approach should allow much more flexibility in theme design and in block coding for targetted areas, though some care will be needed to make it work intiutively. Issues include:
* Users may be confused if they assign blocks to a region that only appears on node pages * Need to distinguish between full node listings and teasers.
See also this issue http://drupal.org/node/67681