Joomla template developers can include parameters that allow the site owner to change certain functionality from a simple interface within Administrator. This post explores this feature called Form Fields and gives you an overview of how you can include these with your own Joomla templates. 

This week we’re back to our series on creating your own Joomla templates. Remember, you don’t have to be planning to start your own template business to benefit from some deeper knowledge of template building. Maintaining and modifying your templates will also become much easier when you have a better command of this skill.

Creating, modifying and just generally dealing with Joomla templates is not as daunting a task as you might think. There are some jobs that should be left to the professionals, but understanding how templates work and how they are structured can help tremendously in troubleshooting your own sites. It can also save you a good deal of money if you find yourself needing to hire programmers to solve even your basic Joomla template problems.

All Joomla websites are displayed using a series of files that make up a template. This post explains the options that are available when choosing a template from free, to commercial to doing it yourself.

The latest player on the Joomla template scene is TemplateWorks, the same folks who develop some neat Joomla extensions at JoomlaWorks. Their initial template lineup includes seven free templates with the promise of some commercial ones to follow.

There are a huge number of free and commercial templates for the front-end of Joomla but did you know you can also change the template used for the back-end Administrator? The clever folks at JoomlaPraise have released AdminPraise2 which gives your Administrator a new look and new functionality. I especially like the Activity Log which shows you who has made recent updates to your site and what they did.

Last week I told you why I love using templates. But they are not always the best approach so let's have a look at why I hate templates.

I have a love/hate affair with templates. All Joomla pages are displayed using a base file called a template. Free and commercial templates are available from various providers. You can also create your own templates if you know how and I will be producing some training on this process in the future. Let me tell you why I love using templates from specialist template providers when developing Joomla websites.