How do I use theme preprocessor functions for my own templates?

Question

I have several .tpl.php files for nodes, CCK fields, and Views theming. These template files have a lot of logic in them to move things around, strip links, create new links

Answer 1

In order to figure out what our preprocessing function should be named, we need to know what template file or theme function some output comes from, and one great way to do this is by using the theme developer module.

Here is a video which explains it in detail - http://buildamodule.com/video/drupal-theming-essentials-template-files-theme-function-overrides-and-preprocessing-functions-how-to-use-simple-preprocessing-functions