Written by Brad Traversy | 19 April 2010

This is a basic tutorial on Joomla templates. It DOES NOT explain how to create or code a custom Joomla template, it just explains what a Joomla template is, what they consist of, how to install, change and configure them.

What is a Joomla Template?

A Joomla template is basically a design and layout of a website. It has nothing to do with the content. A Joomla template is not much different than any HTML/CSS template. The only difference is that it contains a few extra files and PHP code to identify modules and components. Joomla allows customized templates for both the frontend and the backend of the CMS.

When you first install Joomla it already comes bundled with a couple templates. Usually the default templates are the Milkyway template, JA_Purity and the Beez template.

Template Manager

Every template that is installed to Joomla is managed in the template manager. You can access the template manager by logging into the Joomla websites backend and clicking Extensions->Template Manager. Here you will see a list of Joomla templates installed on your website. The template that you have as default or active on your site will have a start next to it.

Switching a Joomla template

To change your website template just select the box next to it and click "Default" up in the right hand corner.

Installing a Joomla template

Installation is not done in template manager. You have to go to Extensions->Install/Uninstall. From there just click browse and upload you template zip file. After successfully uploading the template it will be available in template manager.

Editing a Joomla template

You can also edit templates from template manager. To edit the HTML or CSS of a template, check the box next to the name of the template and click "Edit" from here you can choose to edit html or edit css.

Assign multiple templates in Joomla

You can also assign the template to specific pages of your website. Just select the template, click "edit" and on the left hand side you will see an area that says "menu assignment" from there you can set that template for individual pages.

What Does the template control?

Layout - A Joomla template is in control of the entire layout of your website. This includes your header, footer and, menu positions. The most important aspect of the layout of the Joomla template is the modules. All modules and module positions are created in the template. A Joomla template can have 1 module position or 50 module positions. It is only a matter of some extra code. Module positions can be styled as one or modules can have css suffixes to style modules individually even if they are in the same module position.

Colors & Fonts - All of the websites fonts, background colors and background images are set in the CSS file from the Joomla template. This can all be changed at anytime from within the template manager. CSS knowledge is needed for this though.

Installing a Joomla template via FTP

Templates can be installed through FTP without packaging them into a zip file. To do this, select the template folder on your local machine and upload it to your web host using Filezilla or any FTP client. You MUST upload the template folder to /yourjoomlasite/templates/ - where /yourjoomlasite/ is the location of your Joomla install. This method is usually used when you have created a template for yourself, and do not want to have to package it into a zip file, or if you want to upload multiple templates at once.