Trying to create rule based static blocks in Magento - dynamic

Question

So one of my clients has a request to do rule based static blocks on their home page. The page will basically swap out several static blocks for others based on the perceived gender of the person viewing the site. It will get this data from the session that the user is currently in, or the data associated with the users account. Basically, if a user searches in a specific set of categories (Men's or Women's categories) it should swap the static blocks out on the home page, so when that user visits the site again they will have a more personalized experience. There will be a default set of blocks if the user is new to the site.
Something like this (and excuse my shabby php):
if($categories = $user->getViewedCategories()){
foreach($categories as $category){
switch($category){
case 14: //insert womens category id here
echo $staticBlockWomen
break;
case 16: //insert mens category id here
echo $staticBlockMen
break;
}
}
} else {
echo $staticBlockDefault
}
I know Magento tracks a users path through a site, and I know that other elements in Magento can have rules based on this data (the dynamic banners and checkout rules), but I am really lost on where to get started.
If someone could point me in the right direction, any help would be appreciated!
Cheers,
Matthew

Answer 1

I'm assuming you know the basics of Magento (at least how to create new blocks and how to manage the layout using xml).
If you need more info about that,
You can accomplish what you need in a few steps:
1 - create the blocks you need (create a new module and block classes inside it within the corresponding .phtml files)
2 - from the admin panel, select the category for which you want to add a block and navigate to "Custom Design" tab, then add in the "Custom Layout Update" textarea something like this:
<reference name="content" >
<block type="mymodule/myblock" name="myblock" />
</reference>
This way, every time the selected category is viewed by the custmer, a block of type "mymodule/myblock" will be added in the content area.