If you have just installed Joomla on a hosting and started setting up a new site, then first of all you should take care of creating an original appearance (you need to find and download templates for Joomla). However, there is a small problem: there are not so many templates for Joomla as, for example, themes for WordPress; in the case of Joomla, the choice of templates really looks meager. There are even fewer Russified templates, so you can safely search for the desired design on foreign resources. Some of these are joomla24.com and mambohut.com
If you are using the third version of Joomla, then you need to look for templates for it (as a last resort, you can install / pull a template sharpened for version 2.5).
Installing and then editing a template is a very difficult task, because if it costs nothing to install a template, then you need knowledge of html and css for editing (we'll talk about this in other articles).
Before choosing a template, you need to decide on its structure, content placement options, menu appearance, number of blocks, etc. Knowing what you want will make it much easier to find the “right” topic.
What's included with the template
Let's say that you have already found the template you need and downloaded it. Now you need to make sure that the archive contains the template and not the archive group. This is not often the case, but still sometimes there are archives that contain a whole bunch of archives, where the templates themselves or generally incomprehensible files are located.
Generally speaking, the standard equipment looks something like this:
- file templateDetails.xml, which is required to install the theme in the admin area;
- index.php, which contains the template code;
- params.ini, thanks to which it becomes possible to save user settings;
The template must also contain folders:
- images, in which all the images of the template are located;
- css, which contains the stylesheets;
- js, which stores JavaScript files.
Of course, we have not listed all the files and folders that are in the Joomla template, but, in any case, these are the main ones; their number directly depends on the type of each template. If, when you open the archive, you find a bunch of archives, then if you focus on these files and folders described above, then you can easily find the template. By the way, templates of the earliest versions of Joomla will work incorrectly or will not work at all on the latest CMS releases.
Installing Joomla templates
You can install / pull the Joomla template in two ways. The first of them is a standard installation through the system, and the second is copying files to the templates folder. We'll look at both options.
To install a template through the Joomla admin panel, go to "Extensions", and there already find the item "Install / pull". When you click on this link, a window will open, which will offer to download a file with a template, and then you need to immediately click on the button "Upload file". If a suitable file is selected, the download will start, and just a short time after the start of the download, a message about the successful completion of the operation should appear.
Now go to the "Extensions" menu and to the "Template Manager" item. Here you will see the template just delivered, as well as those that were installed earlier. You can select this template by placing / pulling the pointer opposite it and clicking on the "Default" button.
The second method involves using an FTP program. It is used when there is a need for bulk loading of templates, or when the theme does not want to be added / removed in a standard way. So, if you downloaded the archive with the template, then now we take out the entire contents of the archive and transfer it to any folder (its name should be spelled out in Latin letters). Launch the FTP client, open the / templates folder on your website and upload the template folder.
To check the loading of the template, just reload the page.
Some more points
If you want to change the name of your template, then you need to find the templateDetails.xml file and open it in a text editor. Now you need to find the template_name tags in the file, where instead of "template_name" you need to write the desired name (only in Latin letters!).
If you have too many templates loaded, then it is best to navigate by them by hovering the cursor over it, and then its thumbnail image will be shown.
Templates for Joomla usually come under the Creative Commons license, which gives the green light to copy, modify and distribute the work, but only with attribution. Some developers place their authorship in the form of an active link to the site, but in some templates there is nothing. It is not recommended to remove the link in order not to face problems due to copyright infringement in the future.
From the author: I greet you, dear friend. In the Joomla content management system, the design of custom site pages is mainly defined in a template that is installed in the system and sets the rules for displaying page elements, describes the available positions for displaying modules, and also contains layout overrides for some components and modules. Therefore, in this article, we will talk about how to install the Joomla 3 template.
At this time, a huge number of different templates for CMS Joomla have been created, which are available in both paid and free versions, respectively, before we start studying the topic installation of the joomla 3 template. You need to download or buy the template you need, which will be installed in the system. You can also create a template yourself by studying the course Creating a template for Joomla.
For this tutorial, I'll be using the free Master2 template from Yootheme.
A template is a specific set of files and directories, among which there is a file with the extension .xml - this is a manifest file that contains instructions for installing a template. Accordingly, if this file does not exist, then the installation will not be performed. For correct installation, the file structure must be packed into a .zip archive (.rar archives are not supported).
Now that the template is ready, go to the admin panel of the installed Joomla content management system.
And we press the button “Download and install”.
After the installation is complete, you will see a corresponding message in the extension manager. Now that the template has been successfully installed, you need to go to the template manager.
Where and to activate the newly created template as the default template.
At the same time, in the template manager, the template title is displayed as a link that will redirect you to the settings page of the selected template.
Moreover, for each template on this page, different sets of settings will be located.
After that, the installation of the joomla 3 template is completely completed, now you can go to the user part of the site and check the work of the new template, the only thing, before that, I would recommend filling it with content, otherwise the new template may not look as we would like.
On this question, how to install a Joomla template, is exhausted, which means let's say goodbye. All the best and successful coding to you !!!
Do you want to know what it takes to create a website?
Watch the video for a step-by-step plan to build a website from scratch!
Installing the joomla template instead of the standard Beez3 and protostar that come with all joomla versions (starting from version 1.5) is a very important matter and must be approached with all responsibility.
Find free templates
Since we are looking for free templates for training, I recommend looking for something simple, it should not be so popular one page (Landing Page). Such a template for Joomla is suitable for attracting customers only for a specific type of product or service / complex of services.
Perhaps soon I will outline the creation of such sites, but you need to start with a blog. And we will look for the appropriate template. In any search engine we drive in the phrase "download Joomla 3 template" or "free Joomla 3 templates", find a site from the top five on request, on the site in the Templates for Joomla 3 section, select the one you like and download, for example, to the desktop.
Be careful when installing a Joomla or WordPress template
Small lyrical digression: the other day I downloaded a plugin for the site for displaying related articles in the form of a list under the material, installed, configured and noticed that from my site there are three open links to completely extraneous resources, in link anchors, (and if you do not know what it is, I recommend see the HTML Lessons section, there is an article about hyperlinks), there was a text about fashion 2017, carburetors and the like ... It was established which plugin did this, it was successfully operated, a section of code that embeds links into my site was removed, and now continues to work like new. Perhaps I will rename my Computers site to Compuhsurgery))) Then I found from which site this plugin was, at random downloaded another plugin and one template for joomla 3 and they had the same code ... In templates and plugins for WordPress, then the same ... In a word, if you download something for free, this does not mean that you will not have to pay for it ... If you understand html, java script, php, then you still need to be vigilant and check everything that you install .. And it's better to make the template yourself, in the future I plan to devote several articles and make a video on this topic.
But we got distracted, we downloaded the template,
launched our Open Server or any other, went to the admin panel of the site. Installing a template almost no different from installing the plugin, how to install the JCE plugin in joomla read on the site and watch the video on the YouTube channel. In the menu Extensions> Extension Manager, click Install,
select the second tab Upload the package file, click on the button select the file,
I have an archive with a template on my desktop,
click on it and on the Download and install button.
Template installed successfully!
put an asterisk so that the installed template becomes the default,
and go to our website.
The look of the site has changed, and the text now takes up more space on the page,
the design of the inscriptions has also changed. I opened one article about cars,
and it also has the style of the installed template applied.
Joomla template customization
Then in the Styles section, click on the name of the template
and let's move on to setting it up, I marked the binding to our menu,
which we haven't created yet, and fiddled with the Style parameter changing the values ...
You can see the result for yourself,
the last type for creatures from another planet ... The font color needs to be adjusted, otherwise nothing is visible. I returned the default style, and we will deal with it in the future. A rather important plus of this template is its optimization for mobile devices, it is easy to check it -
This article provides answers to frequently asked questions regarding working with ready-made Joomla templates. As the main example, the Russian-language Joomla 3.4.3 will be taken (with the option "Install from JED" already added), the front-end template is RSEvento 1.0.28 (in Russian), the administrative part of the site template is isis 1.0.
Installing a template in Joomla does not differ from installing other extensions (components, plugins, modules). In the article "Installing a Russifier in Joomla 1.5 - 3.4", this process is discussed for Joomla 1.5, 2.5, 3.0, 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4. Let's consider it in more detail.
Let's go back to ISPmanager 4. Go to the control panel with your username and password.
In chapter Instruments, in the left pane, select File manager and go to your Joomla temp folder. The path to it can be specified in the Joomla admin panel in in the line "tmp_path".
In ISPmanager 4 using the button Create a create a folder named "shablon" (without quotes). The name may be different (picture below).
Using the button Upload specify the template file on your computer and download it (picture below). The time depends on the speed of your Internet connection, the size of the template file and the server load, approximately 1-3 minutes.
After downloading the file, select it and press the button Extract, which is located in the upper right part of the ISPmanager 4 window. After that, return to Joomla and install the template as described at the beginning of this subsection.
If you know the exact path (URL) to the Joomla template file, for example, on the server of its developer, you can specify it in the field Installation URL in the tab (picture below) and install. This way is similar to the way , but does not require you to upload the template file to your server and unpack it (everything will happen automatically).
The first tab (picture below) allows you to install the extension to your site from the Joomla Extensions Directory (JED - "Joomla Extensions Directory", an abbreviation of the English "Joomla Extensions Directory"). As of 09/05/2015 there were no templates in the catalog. It doesn't suit us very well.
But if they were, having found the desired template, you could click on its icon and proceed to its direct installation (figure below), as in the example with AcyMailing Starter.
If the extension is paid, such as RSForm Pro, you can proceed to purchasing it (picture below).
If you copied a folder with files already installed templateJoomla, possibly from another site of yours, into the "templates" folder, then you can try to install it by going to Extensions - Extension Manager - Search by pressing the button To find(picture below).
Wait about 2 minutes. After the required template has appeared, mark it in the table and click the button Install(picture below).
Please note that in the case when the template requires the installation of add-ons (framework, plugins, modules, etc.), they must be installed separately. Perhaps this will be the same with the "Search".
Please note that not all extensions, templates can be correctly installed in this way.
What to do if the template is not installed
During the installation of the Joomla template, various errors may appear. Basically, this applies to any extension. Below are some of the errors, their possible causes and solutions. The list is far from exhaustive. Note that solutions to one problem may work for others.
Please specify the package directory. May occur when installing a template using Install from Directory and Install from URL.
- The wrong address \ path to the file \ directory (folder \ directory) of the template is specified - check the spelling and existence of all folders.
The installation package could not be found. May occur when installing a template in any of the ways.
Possible causes of the error and their elimination:
- The wrong address \ path to the file \ directory (folder \ directory) of the template is specified - check the spelling and existence of all folders and files.
- The template file is damaged, or the required file is missing in the archive - use the "working" template file from the developer's site. If necessary, download it again and try to install it again. Check with the template developer.
- The version of the template is not intended for your version of Joomla - download its version for your version of Joomla from the site of the template developer. Check with the template developer.
- The archive extension is not supported by Joomla - make sure the template archive has one of the following extensions “.zip”, “.tar.bz2”, “.tar.gz”. If not, unzip the template on your computer and compress it, for example, in a ZIP archive. Simply renaming a template extension may not help.
Error uploading file to server
Possible causes of the error and their elimination:
- The Joomla and / or server temporary directory is not writable - change the access rights to the Joomla and / or server temporary directory to "755" or "775". You can inquire more about this problem in the technical support of your hosting or in their help system.
- Joomla and / or server temporary directory is missing - check the presence and correct spelling of the path to the Joomla and / or server temporary directory. The path to the Joomla temporary files directory can be found in the Joomla administration panel System - System Information - Joomla Configuration File in the line "tmp_path". And the path to the temporary server folder can be specified in the technical support of your hosting or in their help system.
- The folder with templates is unavailable for writing - change the access rights to the templates folder (“templates”) to “755” or “775”. You can read about this in this article.
- The download file is too large - use the tips below in the article for the "413 Request Entity Too Large" error.
Server connection error: 404. Server connection error: Could not resolve host . Error connecting to Joomla! Server. Try later. May occur when installing a template using "Install from URL", "Install from JED".
Possible causes of the error and their elimination:
- Invalid URL - check the URL.
- The server is not available - try again and / or later.
- You do not have access rights to the server - contact the server administrator.
- The file has been deleted - contact the server administrator.
Fatal error: Allowed memory size of Xxx bytes exhausted (tried to allocate Xxx bytes) ... May occur when installing a template using any method.
Possible causes of the error and their elimination:
- The template file size is too large - use the advice below in the article for the error "413 Request Entity Too Large".
- Server is overloaded - please try again later.
- Your server \ hosting account has reached the limit on the use of memory (RAM) by scripts (Joomla) - the easiest way is to first contact the technical support service of your hosting provider or their documentation. But you can try to solve the problem yourself. Option # 1: add the line “php_value memory_limit 64M” (without quotes) to the “.htaccess” file (not to be confused with “htaccess.txt”) at the site root, increasing the number “64” - you increase the memory limit. Option number 2: in the root of the site, create a file "php.ini" (if it does not exist) and add the line "memory_limit = 64M" to it, increasing the number "64" - you increase the memory limit. Please note that the first and second methods may not work depending on your hosting. I recommend that you first contact the technical support service of your hosting provider or their documentation.
413 Request Entity Too Large... May occur when installing a template using any method. However, using the Install from Catalog method is less likely to generate an error.
Possible causes of the error and their elimination:
- Template file size is too large - use the Install from directory setting. Or try again later (possibly connection problems). Also, some templates are packed into an archive with documentation, demo data, "QuickStart" and so on. It is worth unpacking the archive, it may contain several archives. In this case, install each of the archives in turn. The "QuickStart" archive is a separate topic, and we will talk about it in.
- Server limits exceeded: max_input_time, upload_max_filesize, post_max_size - I recommend that you first contact the technical support service of your hosting provider or their documentation. You can try yourself in the root of the site, create a file "php.ini" (if it is not there) and add the lines \ line to it:
max_ execution_ time- the maximum time that the script can run. In most cases, the default is 30-60 seconds.
max_ input_ time- the maximum time during which data can be received on the server \ hosting. In most cases, the default is 30-60 seconds.
upload_ max_ filesize- the maximum file size (in megabytes) that is allowed for uploading to your server \ hosting.
post_ max_ size- sets the maximum allowable size of data sent to the server \ hosting (using the POST method). This value affects file uploads. To upload large files, it must be greater than the value of the directive upload_max_filesize.
Please note that memory_limit should be more than post_max_size... You can read more about these directives in the article "Description of built-in php.ini directives".
After installing the Joomla template go to and click the name of the template you want. In my example, this is "RSEvento".
Please note that template settings may differ significantly from one another. But the options "Default" and "Bind to menu" should be available in all templates.
On the page that opens, in the "Default" drop-down list, select the languages for which you want to display this template. If the site is multilingual, then you may want to display one template for one language and another for another. If you have a monolingual site, or you want to display a template for all languages, then select "All".
Go to the tab Snap to menu and indicate for which menu items you want to apply this template (picture below). Note that these menu items must already have been created in the menu manager.
Configuring \ Modifying Joomla Template
Most of the ready-made professional Joomla templates come with customization options. These settings are in Extensions - Template Manager and by clicking on the name of the desired template, in my example it is "RSEvento", you can go to its settings.
Applying a Template to a Site Determining Positions in a Template To do this, you can refer to the documentation on the site of the template developer or to the documentation that comes with the template. In "RSEvento" the map of positions is in the settings of the template itself (picture below).
There is a “universal” way.
- Go to Extensions - Template Manager and click on the button Settings in the upper right corner.
- In the tab Templates enable the option View module positions.
- Go to the site (to its front part).
- In the address bar, add "? Tp = 1" (without quotes) to the URL and press Enter on keyboard. You will see the names of the positions of the templates in the places where they are located (figure below).
When you no longer need this option, I recommend disabling it (in order to make it difficult to determine that your site is made on Joomla - to protect it).
How to delete a template
To do this go to Extensions - Extension Manager - Management... For convenience, in the drop-down list "- Select type -" on the left side of the window, select Template... Check the required Joomla template you want to remove and click the button Uninstall(at the top of the window) (picture below).
If you see the message: “Deleting a template: You cannot delete the default template. An error occurred while deleting a template. ”, Then assign any other template installed on your site as the default template. How to do this is described above in the "What to do after installing the template" section. Please note that the admin site template (control panel template) and the site template are different "kinds" of templates. If you want to delete a site template that is currently the default, you first need to set a different site template (instead of a control panel) as the default template.
Also, if the folder \ files with templates are closed for writing, then there may be a problem with deletion. Change the access rights to "755" or "775" (this can be done on your hosting / server). You can read about this in this article.
In the next article, “Answers to questions about templates for Joomla. Making Changes ”we will touch upon the issues of making changes to the template, installing the“ Quick Start ”(QuickStart) and others.
Let's continue exploring the CMS Joomla 2.5... As you have already seen, the default templates in Joomla 2.5 are, as they say, "not very". This is why this engine is pleasant, that it has a huge number of free themes (templates). Find and download the one you like Joomla 2.5 template the Internet is absolutely not a problem.
Let's take a look at how to install the beauty of your choice on the site. I propose to carry out all experiments on local server Denver (D enwer)... When we have worked out everything, we will put it in its proper form, set up and eliminate all the flaws, then and we will transfer our site to Joomla 2.5 to hosting.
The downloaded archive with the name of the template, as a rule, after unzipping will have several folders. What we need will have a name template... The folder will contain an archive. This is our template. If you unzip it, it will look like in the picture.
But for installation, we need exactly the archive. And so, we go to the Joomla admin panel. Like all extensions install Joomla 2.5 template done through the menu item "Extensions - Extension manager".
Now we need to include the template. Go to "Extensions - Template Manager", find the newly installed template in the list and set it as default.
Everything. After that, go to our website and see how our template looks in action.
I am sure that your template will definitely look different from the demo version. I am also sure that you will be disappointed. The point is that you need to install a bunch of additional extensions (components, modules, plugins) in order for the template to look like the demo. And it's not a fact that they will all stand up correctly. And then the eternal question "What to do"?
And there is a way out. Install template from quickstart... We will talk about this in the next article.
How to remove unnecessary templates from Joomla 2.5
You might want remove unnecessary templates from Joomla 2.5 which were installed by default.
You cannot delete them directly from the template manager. To delete templates, you will need to go to the "Extensions - Extension Manager" menu and go to the "Management" section.
Filter modules by extension type, and for this in the filter in the "Type selection" from the drop-down list, select the extension type "Template".
Set the checkbox in front of those that you would like to remove and click on the "Uninstall" button.
