Cory Webb's How to Joomla!

Almost four years ago was the first time I ever used Mambo (the predecessor to Joomla!). As I played around with my newfound toy, I thought the template chooser was one of the coolest modules available. I could just imagine the possibilities. Users could customize the look of my site for how they wanted to view it. I could install 100 templates and let the visitor choose which one he or she liked best.

However, over time I came to realize that the template chooser module was a relatively useless feature that was very difficult to manage. Sure, I could install 100 templates and give users a choice, but those 100 templates would likely have very different layouts and include different sets of module positions. For example, one template might put the "left" module position in the left column while another template would place it at the bottom of the layout while yet another template might not include the left module position at all. You can imagine the headaches this type of situation might cause.

When developing your site, you should give careful consideration to where you want your modules positioned on the page and how you want your site to flow. It's difficult enough to accomplish this with one template, much less several templates. Also, your site's brand identity is dependent upon the design of the site. Giving your user multiple layout options only dilutes your brand and sends mixed messages to the end user.

You might have a valid reason to use the template chooser module, although at the moment I cannot think of an example of a good reason. If you do not have a specific reason to use the template chooser module (other than the "hey, that's neat" factor), my advice to you is not to use it.

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t. p. callaway.: ...

if A webb site needs an e-mail address what type of site is it

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June 05, 2007
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Lookinglass: ...

Great advice Cory on many levels - mostly on the need to "design" the site BEFORE choosing the template. Now I just have to figure out how to do that!

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June 07, 2007
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Pingvin: ... http://www.pingvin.biz.hr

Pretty usefull advice , especially for newbies ! The only valid reason to use the template chooser module, as I can remember, could be "Template showcase" made for customer. After the customer makes its mind about the layout, the module should be unpublished. As much as I know, this module will not be part of the Joomla 1.5 core package.

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June 18, 2007
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Jon: ...

If the 'Template chooser' would transform to a 'CSS chooser', now that would be useful.

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June 27, 2007
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Wam: ... http://www.pic-soft.com

I can think of a good reason to use it.
Use it for template variation instead of implementing various color scheme / header images / flash menu / etc. via coding.

It is much less confusing when you make many copies of single template than make one template than can be change.

Another good reason is users tend to see the thumbnail pics before changing the template.

just my 2 cents

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July 28, 2007
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tonii: ... http://www.peskafondo.net

thats right. who needs dozen of templates and dozen of module/component/mambot which must be changed/positioned for each template. it's useless

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February 05, 2008
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mr knowitall: ... http://columbusgeek.com

Everything is useful, you just need to think with a bit more of a open mind.

Potential uses are:
-for a Joomla demo site that you are trying to sell joomla templates on.
-copy your template and make minor color edits so if users like blue, instead of pink they can change it.

You get my drift.

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March 12, 2008
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Cory: ... http://www.howtojoomla.net

I'm still not convinced. If you look at any of the template companies, they use their own custom scripts because they like to flesh out the content differently for each template they have. The template chooser would be of no use in that scenario.

For minor color changes, I can see that as being a possibility. However, a lot of people use javascript color switchers in their templates to accomplish the same effect.

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March 12, 2008
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