Step 1

Go to your new Joomla website by typing "www.YOURDOMAINNAME.com" into the address bar of your browser and hitting "Return", if you have not already done so.

Step 2

After entering your domain name and going to your website, you should see an address like this "http://www.YOURDOMAINNAME.com/". At the end of the address, type "administrator" and hit return. This will load the administrative login page.

Step 3

Enter the Username and Password you created in "Chapter 5 - Set Up Joomla" and click "Login".

Step 4

Before proceeding, open a separate browser window or tab and view your home page by typing "www.YOURDOMAINNAME.com" into the address bar of your browser and hitting "Return".

Step 5

Back on the the Administrative Control Panel window. Go to the "Extensions" drop down menu and select "Template Manager".

Step 6

On the "Template Manager" page, you will see a list of the three default templates that come with Joomla.

• beez
• JA_Purity
• rhuk_milkyway

Notice that there is a star in the "Default" column next to "rhuk_milkyway". This is telling you that "rhuk_milkyway" is the default template currently displaying on your website.

Select the radio button next to "JA_Purity" and click on the "Default" button.

Compare Layout of
Ja_Purity, rhuk_milkyway and Beez.

Step 7

You will notice that the star in the "Default" column is now next to "JA_Purity". Go to the other browser tab or window in which you loaded your home page and refresh the page.

You will notice that the page reloads with a completely different "look". However, note that the text of the home page stayed the same. Also, the "Main Menu" and "Top Menu" still contain the same links (though the "Top Menu" now displays on the bottom).

Step 8

Due to the many ways a new template can be found or created, we are not going to go through the process of purchasing, downloading or designing a template in this tutorial. We are going to assume that you have created or attained a standard Joomla 1.5 template .zip file.

Step 9

Log in to your administrator if you have not already. Then go to the "Extensions" drop down menu and select "Install/Uninstall".

Step 10

Select "Browse", find your template in the "Open" window, select the template and click "Open".

Step 11

Now select "Upload File & Install".

You will either see a message saying "Install Template Success" or a message saying "Install Template Error". If you see "Install Template Success" continue to step #16. If you see "Install Template Error" continue to #12.

Step 12

There is a good chance that your "Install Template Error" message is accompanied my another message that says, "Your Extension appears to be written for an older version of Joomla!. You must enable the System - Legacy Plugin in the Plugin Manager if you wish to complete this task." If this is the case, then you are in luck. We can easily fix it.

If you have some other error message, then we recommend contacting the original source of the template or visiting our Contact Us page to ask for help..

Step 13

The "Legacy Plugin" helps the newer version of Joomla work with "Extensions" created for older versions. In some cases templates require the "Legacy Plugin" to be enabled.

Go to the "Extensions" drop down menu and select "Plugin Manager".

Step 14

Scroll down to the bottom of the "Plugin Manager" page and select "all" from the "Display #" menu.

Step 15

Locate the "System - Legacy" plugin and click the red circle with an "X" in the same row to enable the plugin.

Then repeat steps 9-11 to install the template.

Step 16

Now that we've got a new template installed, let's activate it by setting it to be the "Default" template.

Go to the "Extensions" drop down menu and select "Template Manager".

Step 17

On the "Template Manager" page you will see your new template listed among the other templates. Select the radio button next to your new template and click on the "Default" button.

Step 18

Open a separate browser window or tab and view your home page by typing "www.YOURDOMAINNAME.com" into the address bar of your browser and hitting "Return". You should now see the new templates "look".

Note: Not all templates have the same "Module" positions. As a result, one or more of your menus may disappear from your website. To get them to re-appear you will need to change the menus module position to one that work with the new template. Follow steps 15-17 of Chapter 7 - Create Navigation Menu(s), only instead of selecting "user3" for the "Position", select a position that works with your new template. Often templates will come with some notes explaining the module positions. Otherwise, you may have to use some trial and error or visit our Contact Us page to request some help.