Ability to switch off article content by loading a module into position "content"

I have invested a few days learning Themler. Previously I have used Artisteer and other templates and am a Joomla Power user. I am getting there with the program. I have some templates. I miss the lack of module class options but also miss being able to override the joomla content output by inserting a module into the content position.
Previously I have modified the templates to add this feature.
An example of the code for Artisteer would be changing the index.php file to include:

if ($view->containsModules('content')) : 
 echo $view->position('content', 'art-nostyle'); 
else: 

echo artxPost(array('content' => '<jdoc:include type="message"></jdoc:include>', 'classes' => ' art-messages'));
echo '<jdoc:include type="component"></jdoc:include>';

endif; 

So if there is a module in the position 'Content" it outputs that module to the content position and ignores the joomla created content which would have filled that space.
I use this to enable me to override a typical blog category with a set of promo items created by say Gavick GK5NewsPro
I have been trying to do the same by adding code to the Themler templates, modifying home_1.php. I can see how you output the content but not discovered how you name or check what modules are published. Getting the feeling I need to link in the relevant functions before I can test or even use $GLOBALS but happy to experiment. I also have not tried to figure out how to add a module position "content" but I guess I can use any module position name and just move it to the content position wrapped in a test.
So any help suggesting how I can add this switch would be appreciated.