What Are Template Overrides In Joomla

For those of you who have Joomla based websites you may not be aware but what you see by default with a template is not set in concrete. Thanks to Joomla you can now take advantage of the Template Overides freature without having to make hacks to the core structure or programming of components, modules and content pages.

The great thing with any Joomla based website from version 1.6 is that you as a website owner or website designer can change the way that particular things load without worrying that when you make a change it will be lost later on after completing an upgrade. This is one bug bear that a lot of Joomla users have complained about over the years.

While this is not a new feature it is something that a lot of people are not aware of even though it has been available for over 18 months now. Since Joomla 1.6 you have had the ability to literally change the layout and functionality (within reason) of any component and module within Joomla. While you have always been able to change layouts for core content pages, components and modules there has been little / no support available for 3rd party components to be independantly managed.

The only restriction is the quality of the component being built. If they are not up to scratch or have been thrown together by an inexperienced Joomla developer then you may not be able to make such customizations. While there has been a push for minimum requirements and structure quality being introduced it is not a 100% absolute requirement for components or modules to function as yet but in time to come it will become this way.

Making these changes in some cases can be very time consuming or tricky to achieve. If you feel that you are not capable of making such a change we have dedicated Joomla specialists who can help you make the required modifications and ensure that you will not loose them when you complete your next Joomla upgrade.

To find out more about how we can help with your Joomla website contact us today!