Joomla is a versatile software which is available as a free download from the website. It is an open source software that can be installed by just about any one. It also has a very easy and simple user interface which is an added advantage especially if you are not very IT Savvy.

Joomla is a full fledged content management system that needs time to understand. But the good part of it is that it has low learning curve and thus you won’t be spending hours at end trying to find your bearings.

Installing Joomla:

Once you do install Joomla you will notice that it uses a default template for the layout of the website. In addition to which it also provides a couple of other options which are fairly generic.

It is highly unlikely that you will still with the template provided by Joomla since they are quite common and not fancy and neither attractive. Thus the next obvious step is to install a new template.

Template Options:

• There are two ways of going around installing a new template. You have the option of selecting one of the many readymade templates that are available on the internet. Here too there are those that are free and those that come at a cost.

• There are tons of templates available online for many different themes like the travel theme, magazine theme, blog theme, etc. Thus it is possible to find the perfect theme with a little digging. On the other hand there are many people who do have an exact design in mind which includes really specific functionality.

• In that case it will be hard to find the correct template to suit your exact requirements. Thus the other option is to custom make your template. There are many 

  professional Joomla Web developers around that would be more than happy to help you create a customized design.

• In fact Alakmalak is one such Web Development company that provides such type Joomla services. The advantage of opting for a customized template is that you get exactly what you are looking for with all the functionality as well.

Template Installations:

Since there are two different ways to go about getting your own template; there are also two different ways of installing the template. This article will cover the method of installing the template in both the cases.

Installing a readymade template:

• You will need to download the template from the template provider ( a website ). This is generally a link provided via email and once you click on it, you will be directed to the website from which you can download the entire package. This compressed file will usually include the entire template along with the design files like PSD in case you wish to make some modifications. It will also include the instructions.

• You need to get un-compress this file and get your hands on the ZIP file that contains the template. This is the file that we will be uploading to your current Joomla website. Now login to the Admin section of the website and navigate from the admin menu to Extensions >> Install. On this page you will have the option of uploading a package to the website. Use this option to upload your compressed template file on to the server. Once uploaded the template will automatically install and be available for you to use in the template section.

• Now go to the list of templates from the admin menu Extensions >> Templates and you will find the template that you just uploaded listed there. You will then need to make it the default template by clicking on the star next to it. It is pretty much intuitive. Now check the front end of your website and you will find that you new layout is all ready for you.

Installing a custom made template:

In case of a custom template you will need to access your web server via FTP. Hence first login to your server via FTP and navigate to the template directory. You will several folders here that represent individual templates. Now select the folder of your custom template (the name of the folder is usually the name of the template) and upload it to the template directory.

In the Joomla versions prior to 2.5 your template will be immediately recognized by Joomla and you will be able to spot it in the template section that we referred to about earlier.

For the Joomla version 2.5 and later you will need to help Joomla discover the template. This can be done from the admin menu Extensions >> Extension Manager >> Discover. Thus first hit the discover button and then click install from the list of templates to install your template.

Concluding:

The simple task of installing a template can get quite complicated at times. However if you do have a readymade template the installation is quite straight forward. Though some of the readymade templates have dependencies on additional plugins in which case you will be informed to install those additional plugins. The customised template on the other hand demands a higher skill level.

• How to install a template in joomla
• Installing a theme in Joomla