3 Top Considerations for Choosing a Joomla Template Design

The high level difference between building a traditional static web site design and a Joomla CMS site is not that different since we have to consider all of the same strategic, development and design specifications but the actual development process is very different. Joomla CMS uses a template architecture that allows you to separate the content management and functionality from the design interface. This has many advantages but it requires a different approach to our planning and implementation processes if we are to get the most out of this new Web 2.0 socially aware business model.

Weigh the cost factor of building or buying

Before you go down the path of designing a template you need to make sure you weigh the business impact on the decision to built it or buy it. It is important to realize that a full design process for a Joomla template is much more than just creating some appealing graphical elements in Photoshop. Make sure you review the cost implications and determine where this fits in your priorities. When companies do a realistic assessment of considering this choice we have found that in most cases it is far more cost effective to brand and alter an existing template vs going through the entire ground up design process.

The advantages for using a template

One of the advantages of pre-built templates is you can look at ideas and weed out subjective roadblocks and hone in on what is going to appeal to your clients and their customers. There are so many wonderful Joomla template design specialists that have built incredible and flexible templates with this need for a unique business identity and cost efficiency in mind. Most of these design teams have several highly skilled full time designers and content developers working on maybe one new design per month. Most small businesses can not afford to hire a team with this diverse skill set to build a one off design for their company and thus, why the template strategy was built into the Joomla framework to allow for this flexibility in the first place. It actually creates a win for everyone since designers now have a greater market for their creativity and business owners have a more cost effective solution to achieve world class designs that they can re-brand with their own identity. Another great reason why this approach is so popular and advantageous is that, for the most part, swapping a template (if the actual new joomla template is designed correctly) can take very little time to implement. Where, in the past changing a look and feel for a web site was a rather laborious process of altering every page.

Three key elements of a template:

There are three high level evaluation considerations for choosing or designing a Joomla template design.

1. Graphics and Branding
2. Content Placement
3. Features and functionality

Graphics Elements:

The graphics elements in a well designed template are among the easiest to change by design. Most come with layered source files that allow you to tweak files and make changes to get the fine tuning of your branding to match in the final rendition of your presentation. Most are designed with style variations out of the box to allow you to quickly get a look and feel that aligns with your brand identity. Many cases you can change the logo to your own, change a few settings in the back end and be done. One of the key underlying features of a Joomla template is that it is built using cascading style sheets (CSS) which means that it gives you the flexibility to tweak other template attributes such as fonts and bullets or other typography attributes. Make sure you consider the quality of the CSS development, availability of source files and use rights as part of your decision for implementing a template.

Content Placement:

Traditional design would typically start with a sketch of ideas about where you want your content to show up. This leads to what is called a wireframes mock up to indicate where content is to be placed and help identify what types of content will go where. In Joomla they call this module positions because Joomla is built to allow you to assign particular content to particular module locations. When you are picking your template make sure you consider where you want to place content and if the module positions in that template will support the specific content you have in mind for now and in the future. Keep in mind that just because there is a module, for example, in the left position that you have to populate content there. Most module positions will adjust dynamically depending on if content is assigned to it or not. Once you see how this works on a few demo sites it may open your mind with new ideas about what you may want to try with your site.

Features and Functionality:

Having a joomla template that supports your desired features and functionality is very important. As you add new components and extensions to your site you need to make sure that the template you chose will support them. With the growing need to adhere to web standards and to meet web accessibility requirements you have to make sure your template framework will support any required features and that it is compatible with standards or targeted browser platforms. There are also many new “eye candy” capabilities with the advancements of AJAX libraries that are becoming the norm. Things like “litebox” which brings an image to the front of focus and grays out the back ground or special menu or tab modules that require some code integrations to make them work effectively (mootools is a good example).

Other considerations:

It is good to review all three of these elements in your preferred template or design mock ups with an experienced Joomla professional prior to choosing your template or engaging in a design project. There are a lot of well planned layouts, graphic designs and feature rich capabilities to choose from but you have to strike the right balance with each element to get the best option for your particular needs. Keep in mind there are new templates being generated all the time and with the themplate framework in Joomla you can easily change templates in the future but you need a good foundation. This is especially true if you are just getting started. Your template is the foundation of what you will build and position your content around in a Joomla CMS web site. Another important consideration is the support available from the particular template development teams and the availability of documentation or tutorials for the template features. Having good documentation can save you and your team time and money supporting your project in addition it can help you realize possibilities or limitations of your Joomla template before you implement it.

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