Joomla! Documentation™

The templateDetails.xml file is essential. Without it, your template won't be seen by Joomla!. The file holds key metadata about the template.

The syntax of the file is different for each Joomla version.

For and later, use the following version. Change version="2.5" in the extension tag into the version of your Joomla! installation (3.1 etc) or the minimum version that you wish to support.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<extension version="2.5" type="template">
	<name>mynewtemplate</name>
	<creationDate>2008-05-01</creationDate>
	<author>John Doe</author>
	<authorEmail>john@example.com</authorEmail>
	<authorUrl>http://www.example.com</authorUrl>
	<copyright>John Doe 2008</copyright>
	<license>GNU/GPL</license>
	<version>1.0.2</version>
	<description>My New 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>

For , use the following:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE install PUBLIC "-//Joomla! 1.5//DTD template 1.0//EN" "http://www.joomla.org/xml/dtd/1.5/template-install.dtd">
<install version="1.5" type="template">
	<name>mynewtemplate</name>
	<creationDate>2008-05-01</creationDate>
	<author>John Doe</author>
	<authorEmail>john@example.com</authorEmail>
	<authorUrl>http://www.example.com</authorUrl>
	<copyright>John Doe 2008</copyright>
	<license>GNU/GPL</license>
	<version>1.0.2</version>
	<description>My New 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>
</install>

So, as you can see, we have a set of information between markup tags (the <element>s). Your best approach is to cut and paste this into your templateDetails.xml file and change the relevant bits (such as <name> and <author>).

The <files> part should contain all the files that you use - you possibly don't know what they are called yet - don't worry, update it later. The <folder> element can be used to define an entire folder at once.

Leave the positions as they are - these are a common set so you will be able to switch easily from the standard templates.