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A template is used to manipulate the way content is delivered to a web browser or screen reader.  Here are some ways you can employ this on your Joomla!-powered site.

'''Layout'''

The template is the place where the design of the main layout is set for your site.  This includes where you place different elements (components, modules, and plugins), which are responsible for different types of content. For example:
#The various menus (you can chose from existing options and create your own)
#Advertising banners
#Polls
#The main body of the page (you can select from different styles such as typical blog layout, a news article, etc.)

If the template is designed to provide choices, you can also "dynamically" alter the content placement on your site, perhaps putting the main menu on the right or left side of the screen.

'''Color scheme'''

Using CSS within the template design, you can change the colors of your backgrounds, text, links or just about anything that you could within your ordinary (x)html code.  

'''Images and effects'''

You can also control the way images are displayed on the page, and even create flash-like effects or include [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AJAX AJAX] applications such as drop-down menus.

'''Fonts'''

The same applies to fonts.  The designs for these are all set within the template's CSS file(s) to create a uniform look across your entire site, which makes it fantastically easy to change the whole look just by altering one or two files rather than every single page.

'''Browser specific solutions'''

A template can be designed to alter how it displays on different web browsers, allowing you to take full advantage of the latest developments without making your site inaccessible to those who are not able to run "up-to-the-minute" system upgrades (such as certain companies who limit what software their employees can use).
<noinclude>[[Category:Templates]]
[[Category:Template FAQ]]
[[Category:Getting Started FAQ]]</noinclude>