Joomla! Documentation™

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

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

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?

Upgrading a Joomla! 1.0.x template

Legacy mode

Upgrading your index.php file

Upgrading your templateDetails.xml file

Changes to CSS classes

Replacing patTemplate

New features introduced in Joomla! 1.5 templates

Customising the Milkyway template

• Replacing the logo image in the Milkyway template

Creating a basic Joomla! template

Setting up a directory structure

How to edit the files

Creating a basic templateDetails.xml file (not needed???)

Creating a basic index.php file

Testing the template

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 centering

PHP essentials (eg. echo, if-then-else)

Adding images

Declaring module positions

Finding module positions on any given page

Changing the site favicon

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

Where to put CSS files

List of core CSS classes with explanations

Page class suffixes

Module class suffixes

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

Web content accessibility

Introduction to web content accessibility

Accessibility standards

Validating against accessibility standards

Source ordering

Template parameters

Defining a parameter in templateDetails.xml

Parameter types supported

Page for each parameter type

Retrieving parameter data in a template file

Fonts and typography

Font families

Font metrics

Text resizing

Template overrides

How to override the output from the Joomla! core

Template translations

Creating a language definition (INI) file

Adding a language file to the templateDetails.xml file

Embedding translatable strings in the template file

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

Advanced topics

How are templates executed?

System error pages

Custom error pages

Adding JavaScript

Adding stylesheets for other output devices

Enhancing template performance

Administrator (back-end) templates

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?

Operators for use with the countModules function

Objects methods and properties available from your template

Security do's and don't's

AJAX

Where to find diagnostic tools

Where to find design tools

Glossary