FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I install my template?

Joomla Templates

To install a joomla template, you must log in to the administation area of your site, and go to the template installer. You can then upload the zip file and install the template automatically. You will need to set it as the default template in order to see it in action.

Xoops Themes

Unzip the template package to extract the template files. These must be uploaded to the 'themes' folder of your site, then use the admin pages to select as the default theme.

Cubecart templates

Unzip the template package to extract the template files. These must be uploaded to the 'skins' folder of your site, then use the admin pages to select as the default skin.

Zen cart templates.

Unzip the template package to extract the template files. These must be uploaded to the 'includes/templates/' folder of your site. Then go into the admin area of your site, and use the template selector (on the 'Tools' menu). You will also need to use the layout boxes controller to set up the sideboxes.

HTML templates, PHP templates

Unzip the template package to extract the template files. The contents of the 'site' folder in the template package must be uploaded to the root folder of your site, along with all subfolders.

How do I edit a template?

HTML Templates

You can edit the pages with any HTML editor, such as Dreamweaver. If you cannot afford to buy Dreamweaver there are a variety of free, open-source alternatives available. We particularly recommend Kompozer, which provides similar functionality to Dreamweaver and which works well with our templates. See our links page for further information.

Alternatively you can edit the HTML yourself. We have included a quick-start guide to HTML which should give you enough information to do this, plus the pages are extensively annotated to make this easier. We have included starter pages for you, though you can easily create your own. For further information, see our tutorial guide.

Flash Templates

Some of our Flash templates can be edited in the same way as HTML templates. However to edit the Flash movies themselves you will need the Adobe Flash 8+ software. This particularly applies where the complete website template is a Flash movie.

CMS and E-commerce templates

These are more complex to edit, and you may need to seek further information from the download sites for these software.

What support is available with my template?

Our templates for sale are fully supported: just email us at support@spiraltemplates.co.uk. If you purchase a template we can give you advice on setting it up. We can also create your pages for you - just email us to request this, explaining the names of the pages you wish to have created, for example "Further Information", "Where to Find Us" etc. You will of course still have to add the page content yourself.

The templates are designed to be easy to use, and you should only require a very basic knowledge of HTML and a simple text editor such as Notepad to set up your site (a free starter guide is included to help you,) or access to an HTML editor such as Dreamweaver or Frontpage.

For Joomla and other CMS templates you do not need to know any html. There is a lot of general support information available on the Joomla site.

If you are having problems with installation we may be able to do the installation for you, though there may be a small fee for this, unless of course the problem is due to a fault in the template. Please email us for further details.

We are always happy to get feedback about our templates, and to hear any bug reports.

Where templates are currently offered free of charge we cannot guarantee support for them. However we try to offer limited support where possible, so please feel free to contact us.

Why do I have to register? Why do you need my name and other details?

We don't really need your details. If you really feel strongly about this, then please feel free to provide false information.

If you are purchasing a template it does help though if you give accurate information when you register, particularly if you need support. An accurate email address at least is essential for providing support.

We will not pass your personal information on to anyone. We hate spam and are not going to encourage it.

Are all your templates CSS-based? Why does this matter?

Yes, all our templates are CSS based. We do not use tables in our designs at all.

Unfortunately the core output of Joomla! is table-based, there is nothing that we can do about that, so with the Joomla templates the end result will still include some tables.

CSS is superior to table-based design because it separates design from content. It is much easier for search engines and assistive browsers to make sense of. It makes it much much easier to update the design of a site, this can often be done with a simple change in the stylesheet, there is no need to spend hours and hours (or even days and days if it is a big site) altering the content. You can do just about anything with CSS that you can with tables or other devices such as inline frames, plus you can do a whole lot more. There is really no excuse for continuing to employ table-based layouts rather than CSS.