You can use this module with the following in your ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs:

 import XMonad.Layout.LayoutCombinators hiding ( (|||) )

Then edit your layoutHook to use the new layout combinators. For example:

 myLayouts = (Tall 1 (3/100) (1/2) *//* Full)  ||| (Tall 1 (3/100) (1/2) ***||** Full) ||| Full ||| etc..
 main = xmonad defaultConfig { layoutHook = myLayouts }

For more detailed instructions on editing the layoutHook see:

XMonad.Doc.Extending

To use the JumpToLayout message, hide the normal ||| operator instead:

 import XMonad hiding ( (|||) )
 import XMonad.Layout.LayoutCombinators

Then bind some keys to a JumpToLayout message:

   , ((modMask x .|. controlMask, xK_f), sendMessage $ JumpToLayout "Full")  -- jump directly to the Full layout

See below for more detailed documentation.

The standard xmonad core exports a layout combinator ||| which represents layout choice. This is a reimplementation which also provides the capability to support JumpToLayout messages. To use it, be sure to hide the import of ||| from the xmonad core:

 import XMonad hiding ( (|||) )

The argument given to a JumpToLayout message should be the description of the layout to be selected. If you use XMonad.Hooks.DynamicLog, this is the name of the layout displayed in your status bar. Alternatively, you can use GHCi to determine the proper name to use. For example:

 $ ghci
 GHCi, version 6.8.2: http://www.haskell.org/ghc/  :? for help
 Loading package base ... linking ... done.
 :set prompt "> "    -- don't show loaded module names
 > :m +XMonad.Core   -- load the xmonad core
 > :m +XMonad.Layout.Grid  -- load whatever module you want to use
 > description Grid  -- find out what it's called
 "Grid"

As yet another (possibly easier) alternative, you can use the XMonad.Layout.Named modifier to give custom names to your layouts, and use those.

For the ability to select a layout from a prompt, see Xmonad.Prompt.Layout.