40+ Free High-Quality Joomla Themes

In this article we present 40 free high-quality Joomla 1.5 themes. The themes included in this post have all been manually selected, installed and tested over the last weeks with Joomla 1.5.x. All of the themes can be downloaded, customized and used for free in both personal and commercial projects. Where available we have provided links to demo-sites to provide a direct preview of the themes. Today most people are looking Joomla 1.6 themes but already joomla 1.7 has been released.

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High-quality Joomla themes are always worth investigating. Whether you are looking for some inspiration for your personal blog design or for a professional company website you’re developing for a client, you can learn a lot. You may choose apply them directly or you can use them as foundation for a customized designs where you can save significant amount of time by not starting from scratch.

To help you quickly find the Joomla themes you need the article has been divided into 8 sections:

Section 1: What is a Joomla Template and how to use it

Section 2: Business website themes

Section 3: Simple, Minimalistic Themes

Section 4: Vibrant Themes

Section 5: Romantic Themes

Section 6: Nature Themes

Section 7: Gaming Themes

Section 8: Very basic template customization

Section 9: Sources and Further Resources

Also check out the awesome themes we found for this post: 70 Best Joomla Premium Themes or this mega list: 30 Showcases of Joomla 1.6 Template:

If you are new to Joomla or simply need to read up on some details I recommend you read this book or one of the other good book available on this topic.

Joomla! 1.5: A User’s Guide: Building a Successful Joomla! Powered Website (2nd Edition)

If you want to build sophisticated websites that can be easily edited and updated, you need to master Joomla. Now there’s an easy-to-read, easy-to-use guide to Joomla! for every site manager, administrator, and developer. Leading Joomla! consultant Barrie North covers all you need to get results: installation, administration, site organization, template development, content updates, and a whole lot more. You’ll find tips, tricks, and troubleshooting solutions, as well as three start-to-finish case studies.
New to Joomla? No problem! This book starts with the simplest design and system concepts and builds your expertise step-by-step. You’ll rapidly master Joomla!’s power, even if you have no content management, scripting, or CSS expertise. Experienced with Joomla!? You’ll turn to this book constantly for its authoritative, plain-English, example-rich Joomla! 1.5 reference content.

Section 1: What is a Joomla Template and how to use it

The functionality in Joomla that allows web master to upload a zip file containing a new template, module, component or plugin is brilliant. Once uploaded to Joomla the new theme or functionality is just there ready to be configured or used. Templates in Joomla is uploaded using the Administration menu “Extensions”->”Install/Uninstall”. Once uploaded they are awailable for usage in the Administration menu “Extensions”->”Template Manager”. On the Template Manager page the new template can be set as Default and will be used on the next request on the website.

Take a look at the Install guide at docs.joomla.org for more information

Also take a look at the How to switch Templates Guide at docs.joomla.org

Section 2: Business website themes

Team2

[Demo] [Download] (reqistration needed)

PraiseCorp

[Demo] [Download]

Social bug

[Demo] [Download]

DJ-0013

[Demo] [Download]

xiubu

[Demo] [Download]

Vortex

[Demo] [Download]

Colourful World

[Demo] [Download]

Bizcity 2

[Demo] [Download]

Real Estate

[Demo] [Download]

Building 1-5

[Demo] [Download]

Digital Systems

[Demo] [Download]

Rise of technology

[Demo] [Download]

Section 3: Simple, Minimalistic Themes

sg – Joomla 1.5

[Demo] [Download] (reqistration needed)

kodadesign

[Demo] [Download]

Default

[Demo] [Download] [Toturial]

portal-silver

[Demo] [Download]

seiagul

[Demo] [Download]

JA Wezen

[Demo] (select the template in bottom menu) [Download]

Newave

[Demo] [Download]

Akotorro

[Demo] [Download]

Dewey Web

[Demo] [Download]

Bc_Luminity

[Demo] [Download]

Section 4: Vibrant Themes

Jamba

[Demo] [Download]

Nova

[Demo] [Download]

Black Bear Pro

[Demo] [Download]

Green Rays

[Demo] [Download]

Feel the Music

[Demo] [Download]

MyPortfolio

[Demo] [Download]

batik_hijau

[Demo] [Download]

Ski Club

[Download] [Download]

siteground-j15-32

[Demo] [Download]

dmunich

[Demo] [Download]

kangaevolution

[Demo] [Download]

Orange

[Demo] [Download]

Lichtenart Timeless

[Demo] [Download]

Aurora

[Demo] [Download]

Section 5: Romantic Themes

Deco Group

[Demo] [Download]

siteground-j15-53

[Demo] [Download]

JA Mercury

[Demo] (select the template in bottom menu) [Download]

Section 6: Nature Themes

Back to Nature

[Demo] [Download]

Spirit of Nature

[Demo] [Download]

Agriculture

[Demo] [Download]

Mini Website-Builder

[Demo] [Download]

Section 7: Gaming Themes

Go Irresistible

[Demo] [Downloads]

Support tripwire magazine if you buy a Premium Theme

Section 8: Very basic template customization

Once templates have been uploaded, installed and set to default (see section 1 for details) they change the layout and structure of the website to be exactly as the theme designer prepared it. This may be just what you need but in most situations basic changes are needed fx.:

• Replacing or adding the favicon image (link to section below)
• Replacing the logo image (link to section below)
  
• Updating the Stylesheet (CSS) (link to section below)

Basic structure of a Joomla template

In order to be able to customize or to create your own templates, you must understand the basic structure of Joomla templates.

The basic template directory struture for a Joomla Template is:

<Template root>
–| css
–| html
–| images
–| js

Normally template root contains the following files but some may not be included in simple templates:

• favicon.ico
• index.php
• params.ini
• template_thumbnail.jpg
• templateDetails.xml

More may also be included in templates for advanced features but this is not covered here. It is unlikely that you need to change any of these files except for the favicon.ico file.

Replacing or adding the favicon image

favicon.ico defines the small icon shown in the url and bookmarkareas in most lates browser versions.

Creating your own favicon is simple with some online tools. Many tools are available but a few quite useful examples have been shown below:

• Favicon Generator
• FavIcon Generator (beta)
• FavIcon from Pics
• Favicon.ico Maker

Once crated the new favicon.ico must be placed in the template root folder in the joomla website.

Replacing the logo image of a Joomla template

The logo in a Joomla template is normally found in the images subfolder and is called logo.jpg. If the template supports more than one color theme this is normally supported by creating subfolders in the images folder for each color theme. If the logo changes for each color theme the logo.jpg will be found in the subfolders.

Updating the Stylesheet (CSS)

Stylesheets are located in the css folder. The main stylesheet file is always: template.css

As a rule of thumb template.css will contain the markup for font types and font size. So if you need to change fonts start looking here.More complex tempaltesmay have a few more css file and some may have many. If a template features multiple color themes there normally will be a seperate css file for each color theme in the css folder or in a subfolder of css.

Tip!:

If you have difficulties finding the css definitions you want to change you should consider trying out the firebug plugin for firefox. This plugin will give you all the information you need by right clicking an element on the page and selecting Inspect element. This tool is extremely useful!

Get it here: getfirebug.com

Section 9: Sources and Further Resources