As a developer I say clearly and loudly no! However when I first began my journey into Joomla territory a Joomla template with lots of module positions was quite frankly terrifying.

The thought of creating a template from scratch was intimidating; yet looking at the templates available the thought of implementing some of them was a truly daunting prospect. Unless you are working with a thoughtful template designer, who provides a screen shot of module positions and a run through of included typography etc, then a complex template will be a nightmare to implement.

---

So how many Module positions do I need?

A site with a top menu and main content needs only the module position for the menu so 1 module position is a sufficiency and 3 positions becomes overkill.

When choosing a Template you may want to consider the following to allow for maximum flexibility when it comes to configuring your site.

Module Positions:

Enough to fulfill your business needs. It is best to have a simple plan of what you are aiming to achieve for your new site, in terms of layout and the type of content.

Keep this in mind when looking through the module positions and graphics of the templates to find both a design that works for your business needs and placement of menus, side bars, advertising blocks etc .

The page I refer to most when building a new site is always the Module Layout graphic. If a site does not have this then configuring the template will take an age with the developer having to guess at a modules location and names such as user 1 or advert 2 just don’t cut it when guiding a developer. I will be discussing naming conventions in a future post.

A handy tip: To see all module positions in a template add “?tp=1” to the end of the home page address.

www.website.com/?tp=1

Highlights/Module Classes

A second feature that I really like in a Joomla template is the ability to have different formatting for modules, these are normally termed Highlights or Module Classes.

Different colours/shading for the same module position allow for a greater feeling of depth within a site, whilst keeping within the themes of the module.

Typography

The third a final piece of the template selection process, for me, is the styling available as part of the template.

A nice clear selection of typography, error message formatting and span highlighting can save a huge quantity of development time when already in place.

So in summary you can indeed have too many module positions, depending upon your level of confidence in Joomla and the quantity of content your site will be showing. However it is key to remember that enough modules to do what you need are really all you will ever need.

Make sure you have a clear vision for your site, the types of content you want to present and you will be well on your way to selecting the correct template, with the relevant number of modules.

blog comments powered by Disqus