Well, if you’ve done a Google search for Joomla templates, you know that there are tons of available templates. So how do you choose one? And there’s also something called Joomla Frameworks which further complicates choosing a template.
In this post, I’ll recommend only Joomla templates that I have or would use myself.
I use the following criteria when selecting a Joomla template:
- Beautiful yet functional design;
- Well written code;
- Great support;
- Ease of use;
- Easily able to customize.
I’ll also introduce you to the world of Joomla frameworks and recommend a few you may want to explore.
Just an fyi: None of the links on this page are affiliate links. Yes, I believe in affiliate accounts when it’s a product you use or would use yourself and that you totally love! But for this post, I want you to feel secure — knowing my recommendations are unbiased — so that you can comfortably explore the various WordPress themes [read > you don't have to wonder if I'm only recommending a certain theme because I have an affiliate account 
]
Joomla Templates
01. Joomlart
Joomlart offers both templates and extensions, all available via their club membership. Support forums are active and helpful when you need help installing or configuring templates and extensions.
02. JoomlaJunkie
Joomla Junkie has some great templates for their club members, and they are also currently developing the Morph framework for Joomla. They are also in the process of rebranding themselves as ProThemer, where they will provide templates and themes for other CMS applications.
03. JoomlaShack
Joomla Shack has some fabulous Joomla templates available for individual sale (not via club membership). Rock solid, great support.
04. YooTheme
YooTheme has a lot to offer, so be prepared to spend some time exploring their templates, extensions, and their Warp5 framwork. They’ve got awesome stuff — really, check out their extensions! And some really awesome templates as well.
05. RocketTheme
Rocket Theme has some awesome templates, as well as some really cool extensions, all available as a Club member. They have a lot to offer, so you will want to explore the various options. Some of their themes are also customized to work easily with the K2 framework.
Joomla Frameworks
So what are frameworks? Well, each one will give it’s own definition but essentially it’s a framework that you build on, a set of building tools that make Joomla template development easier while providing extended functionality. I have personally only experimented with K2, and I was definitely impressed with it’s ease of use and power to create pretty much any kind of Joomla site that I wanted. But frameworks are not necessarily for Joomla beginners. I would recommend getting really comfortable with Joomla’s core system before diving too deep into one of these emerging frameworks. But once you are comfortable with Joomla, you will want to explore frameworks.
01. Morph
From the Morph guys:
Morph is the new rapid template development framework we are developing for Joomla 1.5 users. Please note that Morph is not your average Joomla template, but a whole new concept.
Morph is still in Beta, but you can read all about it’s development and and play with the interactive demo on the Morph site.
02. K2
K2 is a content component or, as the developers define it:
Using K2, you can transform your Joomla! website to a news/magazine site with author blogs, product catalogs, work portfolio, knowledge base, download/document manager, directory listing, event listing and more, all this bundled under one package!
You’re not limited to just reading or experimenting with K2. Download it for free, install it on a Joomla test site, and see for yourself the power and flexibility it gives your Joomla site.
03. Warp5
Warp5 developers describe it like this:
Warp5 is a fast and powerful template framework for Joomla. It lets you create sophisticated templates in no time, even for comprehensive websites.
The Warp5 framework works alongside the newer YooTheme templates, so you’ll need to spend some time exploring Warp over on the YooTheme website.
That’s all for now…
But known that I will update when I discover new templates/frameworks for Joomla. And please leave a comment if you would like to recommend other Joomla template/framework options.
