Joomla - Creating Template


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In this chapter, we will study how to create a template in Joomla.

Creating Templates

Following are the simple steps to create templates in Joomla −

Step 1 − Create a folder called MyFirstTemplate inside your JoomlaTemplates folder. Inside MyFirstTemplate folder, create 2 more folders named as images and CSS to save all the images and CSS files.

Joomla Creating Template

Step 2 − Inside MyFirstTemplate folder, create a file called as templateDetails.xml, without this file the template will not get displayed in Joomla.

templateDetails.xml

<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "utf-8"?>

<extension version = "3.0" type = "template">
   <name>Howcodex</name>
   <creationDate>2015-06-13</creationDate>
   <author>Howcodex</author>
   <authorEmail>tutorials@example.com</authorEmail>
   <authorUrl>http://www.example.com </authorUrl>
   <copyright>Jack 2015</copyright>
   <license>GNU/GPL</license>
   <version>1.0.2</version>
   <description>My First Template</description>
	
   <files>
      <filename>index.php</filename>
      <filename>templateDetails.xml</filename>
      <folder>images</folder>
      <folder>css</folder>
   </files>
	
   <positions>
      <position>breadcrumb</position>
      <position>left</position>
      <position>right</position>
      <position>top</position>
      <position>user1</position>
      <position>user2</position>
      <position>user3</position>
     <position>user4</position>
     <position>footer</position>
   </positions>
	
</extension>

Details of the code

  • <files> − It contains the available files and folders in MyFirstTemplate folder.

  • <folder> − It takes the entire available folders in MyFirstTemplate folder.

Step 3 − Create a file called as index.php. This helps in executing all the Joomla pages.

index.php

<?php defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );?>
<!DOCTYPE html>

<html xmlns = "http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang = "<?php echo $this->language; ?>" lang = "<?php echo $this->language; ?>" >

   <head>                                         //head section
      <jdoc:include type = "head" />
      <link rel = "stylesheet" href = "<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/system/css/system.css" type = "text/css" />
      <link rel = "stylesheet" href = "<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/system/css/general.css" type = "text/css" />
      <link rel = "stylesheet" href = "<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/<?php echo $this->template; ?>/css/template.css" type="text/css" />
   </head>

   <body>                                          //body section
      <jdoc:include type = "modules" name = "top" />
      <jdoc:include type = "component" />
      <jdoc:include type = "modules" name = "bottom" />
   </body>
	
</html>

?>

Details of the code

<?php defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );?>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns = "http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang = "<?php echo $this->language; ?>" lang = "<?php echo $this->language; ?>" >

This code is used to tell the browser which type of html page is being used and begins the HTML document by describing the language used in the website.

<head>                                         //head section
   <jdoc:include type = "head" />
   <link rel = "stylesheet" href = "<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/system/css/system.css" type = "text/css" />
   <link rel = "stylesheet" href = "<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/system/css/general.css" type = "text/css" />
   <link rel = "stylesheet" href = "<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/<?php echo $this->template; ?>/css/template.css" type = "text/css" />
</head>

These lines are used to link the various stylesheets for the template in Joomla.

<body>                                          //body section
   <jdoc:include type = "modules" name = "top" />
   <jdoc:include type = "component" />
   <jdoc:include type = "modules" name = "bottom" />
</body>

Here in the body section, the jdoc is used to include the output in Joomla from some parts of Joomla system. The name = "top" is used to set the menu at the top.

Step 4 − After creating these two files, login to Joomla and click on ExtensionExtension Manager and the following page will get displayed.

Joomla Creating Template

Step 5 − In the above page, click on Discover link, the following page is displayed.

Joomla Creating Template

Step 6 − Next, click on the Discover button to discover the new created template as shown below.

Joomla Creating Template

Step 7 − Click on the checkbox to select the template and click on Install button to install the template in Joomla.

Joomla Creating Template

Step 8 − After installing template you can view your new created template by clicking on ExtensionTemplate Manager. You will see your new created template is listed as shown below.

Joomla Creating Template

Toolbar

Following are the toolbar options in the Template Manager −

  • Default − Select the default template.

  • Edit − Select the template for editing.

  • Duplicate − Duplicate the copy of the selected template.

  • Delete − Delete the template for Joomla.

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