Difference between revisions of "Creating a basic index file"

From Joomla! Documentation

(matching variables see "Creating_a_basic_Joomla!_template")
m (version/tutor template)
(11 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
−
The index.php file becomes the core of every page that Joomla! delivers. Essentially, you make a page (like any html page) but place php code where the content of your site should go. Here is the bare bones ready for you to cut and paste.
+
{{version/tutor|1.5}}
 +
The <tt>index.php</tt> file becomes the core of every page that Joomla! delivers. Essentially, you make a page (like any HTML page) but place [[PHP]] code where the content of your site should go. The template works by adding Joomla code into module positions and the component section in your template. Anything added to the template will appear on all pages unless it is added to one of these sections via the Joomla CMS (or customised code).
  
−
Lets start at the top:
+
This page will show the bare-bones code ready for you to cut and paste into your own design.
  
−
<pre>
+
===Begin===
 +
 
 +
A Joomla 1.5+ template begins with the following lines:
 +
 
 +
<source lang="php">
 
<?php defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );?>
 
<?php defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );?>
 
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
 
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
Line 9: Line 14:
 
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"  
 
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"  
 
   xml:lang="<?php echo $this->language; ?>" lang="<?php echo $this->language; ?>" >
 
   xml:lang="<?php echo $this->language; ?>" lang="<?php echo $this->language; ?>" >
−
</pre>
+
</source>
−
The first line stops naughty people looking at your coding and getting up to bad things. The second tells the browser (and webbots) what sort of page it is. The third line says what language the site is in.
+
The first line stops naughty people looking at your coding and getting up to bad things.  
  
−
Now the header for real:
+
The second line is the [[wikipedia:Document Type Declaration|Document Type Declaration (DOCTYPE)]], which tells the browser (and [[wikipedia:Web crawler|web crawlers]]) which flavor of HTML the page is using. The doctype used above is [[wikipedia:XHTML|XHTML]] 1.0, which is supported rather well by most modern browsers. You can also decide to use [[wikipedia:HTML5|HTML5]], a newer version of HTML that is largely backwards compatible, but contains many new features. To use HTML5, change the doctype to
  
−
<pre>
+
<source lang="php">
 +
<!DOCTYPE html>
 +
</source>
 +
 
 +
You should be aware that this will not work well in Internet Explorer 8 or earlier without a hack. You might want to investigate this situation and your clients' wishes before deciding on which doctype you want to use.
 +
 
 +
The third line begins our HTML document and describes what language the website is in. A html document is divided into two parts, head and body. The head will contain the information about the document and the body will contain the website code which controls the layout.
 +
 
 +
===Head===
 +
 
 +
<source lang="php">
 
<head>
 
<head>
 
<jdoc:include type="head" />
 
<jdoc:include type="head" />
−
<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/mynewtemplate/css/style.css" type="text/css" />
+
<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>
 
</head>
−
</pre>
+
</source>
 +
 
 +
The first line gets Joomla to put the correct header information in. This includes the page title, meta information as well as system JavaScript.
 +
The rest creates links to two system style sheets and to your own style sheet (if it's named <tt>template.css</tt> and is located in the <tt>''css''</tt> folder of your template directory. So if your temlate is in http://www.mysite.com/templates/my_template/ then the css files will go in http://www.mysite.com/templates/my_template/css/).
  
−
The first line gets Joomla to put the correct header information in. This includes the page title, meta information as well as system style sheets and JavaScript.
+
===Body Section===
−
The second creates a link to your style sheet. You will need to change this to the directory name that you chose.
 
  
−
Now for the main body:
+
<source lang="php">
−
<pre>
 
 
<body>
 
<body>
 
<jdoc:include type="modules" name="top" />  
 
<jdoc:include type="modules" name="top" />  
Line 31: Line 49:
 
<jdoc:include type="modules" name="bottom" />
 
<jdoc:include type="modules" name="bottom" />
 
</body>
 
</body>
−
</pre>
+
</source>
 +
 
 +
Amazingly, this will suffice! Yes, it's a very basic layout, but it will do the job. Everything else will be done by Joomla!. These lines, usually called [[jdoc statements]], tell Joomla to include output from certain parts of the Joomla system. Note: you will need to ensure your menu is set to go into the "top" [[Screen.modules.edit.15#Details|module position]].
  
−
Amazingly, this will suffice! Yes, its a very basic layout, but it will do the job. Everything else will be done by Joomla!. Note: you will need to ensure your menu is set to go into the "top" [[Screen.modules.edit.15#Details|module position]]. 
+
====Module Positions====
  
 +
Above, the line which says <code>name="top"</code> adds a module position called ''top'' and allows Joomla to place modules into this section of the template. The <code>type="component"</code> line contains all articles and main content (actually, the [[component]]) and is very important. It goes in the centre of the template.
 +
 +
Note: You can add your own module lines anywhere you want in the body, but you have to add a corresponding line to the templateDetails.xml file which sits alongside the index.php of your template.
 +
 +
=== End ===
 
Finish it off - one last bit:
 
Finish it off - one last bit:
−
<pre>
+
<source lang="php">
 
</html>
 
</html>
−
</pre>
+
</source>
−
<noinclude>View the [[Testing the template|full source code]] of this template.</noinclude>
+
<noinclude>View the [[Basic template index file|full source code]] of this template.</noinclude>
 +
[[Category:Tutorials]][[Category:Template Development]]
 +
 
 +
===Custom Images===
 +
 
 +
If you want to add any images to the template you can do so like this:
 +
<source lang="php">
 +
<img src="<?php echo $this->baseurl; ?>/images/stories/myimage.png" alt="Custom image" class="customImage" />
 +
</source>
 +
 
 +
Here the baseurl variable will fill in the path to your template for you.
 +
 
 +
===Custom CSS===
 +
 
 +
You can add custom css like this:
 +
 
 +
<source lang="php">
 +
<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/<?php echo $this->template;?>/css/styles.css" type="text/css" />
 +
</source>
 +
 
 +
Every file which is added must have a line in the templateDetails.xml file for the template.

Revision as of 17:11, 18 December 2012

This tutorial is for Joomla! CMS Version(s) Joomla 1.5

The index.php file becomes the core of every page that Joomla! delivers. Essentially, you make a page (like any HTML page) but place PHP code where the content of your site should go. The template works by adding Joomla code into module positions and the component section in your template. Anything added to the template will appear on all pages unless it is added to one of these sections via the Joomla CMS (or customised code).

This page will show the bare-bones code ready for you to cut and paste into your own design.

Begin[edit]

A Joomla 1.5+ template begins with the following lines: 

<?php defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" 
   xml:lang="<?php echo $this->language; ?>" lang="<?php echo $this->language; ?>" >

The first line stops naughty people looking at your coding and getting up to bad things.

The second line is the Document Type Declaration (DOCTYPE), which tells the browser (and web crawlers) which flavor of HTML the page is using. The doctype used above is XHTML 1.0, which is supported rather well by most modern browsers. You can also decide to use HTML5, a newer version of HTML that is largely backwards compatible, but contains many new features. To use HTML5, change the doctype to 

<!DOCTYPE html>

You should be aware that this will not work well in Internet Explorer 8 or earlier without a hack. You might want to investigate this situation and your clients' wishes before deciding on which doctype you want to use.

The third line begins our HTML document and describes what language the website is in. A html document is divided into two parts, head and body. The head will contain the information about the document and the body will contain the website code which controls the layout.

Head[edit]

<head>
<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>

The first line gets Joomla to put the correct header information in. This includes the page title, meta information as well as system JavaScript. The rest creates links to two system style sheets and to your own style sheet (if it's named template.css and is located in the css folder of your template directory. So if your temlate is in http://www.mysite.com/templates/my_template/ then the css files will go in http://www.mysite.com/templates/my_template/css/).

Body Section[edit]

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

Amazingly, this will suffice! Yes, it's a very basic layout, but it will do the job. Everything else will be done by Joomla!. These lines, usually called jdoc statements, tell Joomla to include output from certain parts of the Joomla system. Note: you will need to ensure your menu is set to go into the "top" module position.

Module Positions[edit]

Above, the line which says name="top" adds a module position called top and allows Joomla to place modules into this section of the template. The type="component" line contains all articles and main content (actually, the component) and is very important. It goes in the centre of the template.

Note: You can add your own module lines anywhere you want in the body, but you have to add a corresponding line to the templateDetails.xml file which sits alongside the index.php of your template.

End[edit]

Finish it off - one last bit: 

</html>

View the full source code of this template.

Custom Images[edit]

If you want to add any images to the template you can do so like this: 

<img src="<?php echo $this->baseurl; ?>/images/stories/myimage.png" alt="Custom image" class="customImage" />

Here the baseurl variable will fill in the path to your template for you.

Custom CSS[edit]

You can add custom css like this: 

<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/<?php echo $this->template;?>/css/styles.css" type="text/css" />

Every file which is added must have a line in the templateDetails.xml file for the template.

Retrieved from "https://docs.joomla.org/index.php?title=Creating_a_basic_index_file&oldid=79157"