Latest revision as of 19:02, 29 January 2011

Suggested outline for the new template tutorials. This suggests a breakdown into numerous smaller tutorials.

[edit] Introduction to Joomla! templates

• What is the purpose of a template?
• What can you do with a template?
• Templates supplied with Joomla!
• How to switch templates
• How to install templates

[edit] Understanding Joomla! templates

• Where are templates located?
• What is the typical template directory structure?
• What is the purpose of the templateDetails.xml file?
• What is the purpose of the index.php file?

[edit] Upgrading a Joomla! 1.0.x template

• New features introduced in Joomla! 1.5 templates
• Legacy mode
• Upgrading your index.php file
• Upgrading your templateDetails.xml file
• Changes to CSS classes
• Replacing patTemplate

[edit] Customising the default Joomla! templates

• Pros and cons of table layout
• Understanding the Milky Way template
• Understanding the Beez template
• Understanding the JA_Purity template
• Customising the Milky Way template
• Customising the Beez template
• Customising the JA_Purity template
• Troubleshooting modified templates
• What to avoid when modifying a template

[edit] Creating a basic Joomla! template

• Setting up a directory structure
• Verifying permissions
• How to edit the files
• Creating a basic templateDetails.xml file
• Creating a basic index.php file
• Testing the template

[edit] More advanced Joomla! templates

• Quirks mode and how to avoid it
• Which DocType header to use
• Setting up page width
• About CSS page layouts
• Source ordering
• Horizontal and vertical centering
• PHP essentials (eg. echo, if-then-else)
• Adding images
• Changing image paths of default system images
• Declaring module positions
• Finding module positions on any given page
• Changing the site favicon

[edit] Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

• Where to put CSS files
• Using multiple CSS files
• List of Joomla! generated core CSS classes (with explanations)
• Suggested CSS methods to introduce new declarations or alter generated ones
• Page class suffixes
• Module class suffixes
• Supporting multiple browsers

[edit] More on Joomla! modules

• Counting modules in a given module position
• Counting modules in multiple module positions
• Collapsing columns
• Creating rounded corners
• What is module chrome?
• Applying custom module chrome
• Cascading module chrome styles

[edit] Web Standards

• What are web standards?
• Why follow web standards?
• Considering future browsers and new devices
• Considering backwards compatibility
• Web standards resources

[edit] Web content accessibility

• Introduction to web content accessibility
• Section 508 and other laws about disability access
• Accessibility standards
• Validating against accessibility standards
• Source ordering

[edit] Template parameters

• Introduction to template parameters
• Defining a parameter in templateDetails.xml
• Standard parameter types
• Storing parameter values
• Retrieving parameter data in a template file
• Creating custom XML parameter types
• Regular expressions in parameter arguments

[edit] Fonts and typography

• Font families
• Font metrics
• Text resizing

[edit] Template overrides

• How to override the output from the Joomla! core

[edit] Template translations

• Introduction to template translation
• Location of template language definition files
• Creating a language definition file
• Amending the templateDetails.xml file
• Embedding translatable strings in the template
• Formatted fields in language translation strings
• Debugging a translation

[edit] Distributing Joomla! templates

• How to choose a suitable license
• How does template installation work?
• File structure for packaging
• Creating a thumbnail preview image
• Packaging the template

[edit] Advanced topics

• How are templates executed?
• System error pages
• Custom error pages
• Adding JavaScript
• Mootools JavaScript library
• Adding stylesheets for other output devices
• Enhancing template performance
• Administrator (back-end) templates

[edit] Appendix

• What jdoc:include types are available?
• Standard module chrome styles
• Default CSS classes
• Configuration variables deprecated in Joomla! 1.5
• Where can you learn about HTML?
• Where can you learn about CSS?
• Where can you learn about Javascript?
• Where can you learn about Mootools
• Where can you learn about PHP
• Where can you learn about MySQL?
• Where can you learn about server configuration
• Where can you learn about Unix?
• Operators for use with the countModules function
• Objects methods and properties available from your template
• AJAX
• Where to find diagnostic tools
• Where to find design tools
• Glossary