Bloc - model GPL free official Joomla

This is a bloq party! We have just released bloc, a free Joomla template. The bloc name comes from the fact that the model is a grid of blocks and bloc will block building for our future models.

Bloc is certainly our most able free Joomla template so far.module positions 31 (don't use everything at once:, collapsible columns 1-3, 8 colors themes and 5 module styles offer much variation in getting page.If you're color settings in Customizing, and illustrations of bloc Fireworks source give you everything that you need to refine the model for your site.)

[View demo][Download bloc (free registration required)]

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Models of best free Joomla and the need to learn more!

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Warning: This article begins with a short rant.

Last week I started off with an topic for this article that I really thought was going to be awesome; to find 10 of the best Free Joomla Templates out there and tell you why I think they're awesome. I searched high and low, from BestOfJoomla.com to the Joomla Resources Directory, and you know what? I could hardly even find five to make the list (see after the break for the list).

Obviously, I'm not counting the 8 free Joomla templates that we've built for you over the last few years (we have more free templates for Joomla 1.5 than any other club, dontcha know), but even with cutting our own massive collection out you'd think there would be plenty of other great free templates to choose from, right?

Unfortunately, such is not the case. While there are plenty of free templates, some of them are pretty shoddy, at best, others aren't standards compliant, some have malicious code built directly into them and still others just look strange (like a bad '90s movie). I'm not downing template designers and developers, we appreciate everyone's work, but it's tough to provide a resource to people to share some great stuff from other companies and groups when the great stuff isn't available (you know what I mean?).

I know how much it stings to hear a Joomla company admit to a fault in their beloved system, but that is (sadly) what I have to do right here. Do a quick search for free quality WordPress templates in Google, and you'll find resources from Smashing Magazine, ThemeShaper, the Wordpress.org Theme Browser and a few hundred other random development companies.

If you do the same search for free Joomla Templates, you'll first see results for Joomla24 and BestOfJoomla, and then you'll see some stuff for Joomla 1.0, and only after all of that on the first few pages will you see some directories of Joomla templates that list the same ones, over and over again. Where is the variety? Where is the quality? Where are the bonus resources for regular users to enjoy?

Why are Joomla developers hoarding everything cool to themselves (or charging a bunch of money when they release it)?

But, don't forget, Wordpress Theme clubs and developers don't just release good free themes, they also release plugins, iPhone backgrounds, case studies on re-designing a websites UI and a whole lot of other non-WordPress related stuff. Sure, the J community has some of that, but not much, by any means.

What even makes a good Joomla template, anyway, and what are some good examples that can provide inspiration to the rest of us? Here's what we think makes a great Joomla template:

First and Foremost - A Simple Design. With a crazy design you lose flexibility and originality. When people find a great free template, they can always bet that 3000 other people are using that same template. Make it simple and not so flashy/trendy/unique and you'll find that a lot more people will appreciate the hard work that you put into it.Make it Flexible. If the template isn't built to easily change out the logos, font-styles, color schemes or module layouts, then people won't bother for very long with it. Yes, you're giving away the template for free, but that free template may also be your only chance to prove your worth to some people. Give that template some great backend parameters so that they can make the changes that they need to quickly.Make it Generic, but Beautifully Unique. I know that it sucks to make a generic and not more niche-focused, but unless you're hitting group that absolutely need their website to look a specific way (which you aren't), then you'll want to design something that anyone can use for any kind of project. Your free template isn't supposed to one persons every need, it's supposed to fill a lot of peoples basic needs.Make it Pretty. Simple, Generic and Flexible can still mean beautiful, but only if you make it that way. Don't make your template so that people are forced to change it, make it so that they can modify it easily, but can also just leave it the way it is for their quick fix.

With that said, here are some of our favorites (again, forgetting our own free templates which are available here):

Quasar, by RocketTheme, is a great template to get people started on their projects. It is very clean, is simple to use, and of course comes with a lot of very slick features that RocketTheme is known for (in this case, they are definitely desirable features). It has a ton of module positions for easily modifying it to work how you want, and also does a fine job at being flexible enough for most types of websites.

I wish that it came with another set of color themes (there are currently 6) that had a lighter header, but for what you're getting in this package, they've done a very good job.

More Info ~ Demo ~ Download

JoomlaShack has always been a leader in the Free Joomla 1.0 Template area, but their latest free template, Fresh, is a great example of what we hope to see more out of them in the future. It's very clean and simple to use (even more-so than Quasar) and the code/design is so quick to change that anyone can get in there without getting too dirty.

By not having a lot of images hard coded into the design, Fresh gives you the most breathing space when you want to make small and larger changes to it. I could see someone using this free template for anything from a personal blog, to a parenting site, to showcasing a city's music venue.

It's a great template worth checking out.

More Info ~ Demo ~ Download

You may remember JA Purity from your default Joomla 1.5 Template list in the backend. This free template, JA Purity II, is the second iteration of their award winner, and it certainly is a good one. They've kept the same basic style of Purity I and added in some really nice features to make any website using it feel really good to visitors.

This is a great free template, not just because it's got a simple design and is easy to customize, but also because JoomlArt has done a great job adding in some of their best features and making this feel like a premium template. All while still making it easy to use for many different kinds of websites (communities, e-commerce, magazines, etc...)

More Info ~ Demo ~ Download

There's a new kid on the block, and their name is JoomACE. With the launch of a new website they've also released a very good first (and free) Joomla template with Prime. Like the other templates on this list, Prime is very clean looking and is built to be powerful and easy to use. But the developers have also added in some key features that will attract a wide variety of users.

Customize the background image (or color), add your social media connections to the top bar, throw in a rotating banner with featured news from your organization and manage your content using K2 for a great user experience on a new website. If this is a sign of things to come from JoomACE, we look forward to the competition.

More Info and Download ~ Demo

Since our list of quality free templates ran short, feel free to checkout our free Joomla templates.

Did we miss any great free Joomla templates out there? We hope we did, let us know!

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K2 template selling Joomla - AppPraise

Rounded to one of the biggest days we had in some time, AppPraise version is available. AppPraise is a fact Joomla template sell and any type of application market, either for iPhone, iPad, Mac OSX, PC, Palm webOS, you name it.

AppPraise includes a kaleidoscope 10 color themes that should answer almost any App sales site, with an embedded CSS, 10 button styles drop-down list, columns 1-3, and module positions 18 maybe better AppPraise functionality is customized and updated column K2 2 - blog blog K2, a first since JoomlaPraise detail.

When you visit AppPraise demonstration, you will see that we have chosen to test the site offline to sell our own iPhone Joomla template, MobilePraise, who was our 2nd version today .we thought that it would be advisable to eat our own dogfood and use AppPraise as we intend to use, you, and it taste delicious!(note: AppPraise and MobilePraise are 2 distinct models sold individually or in our offer of Joomla).

Our version was a plug-in free Joomla, model by this free plugin navigateur.Permet you route for viewers to different Joomla templates based on their browser.

[AppPraise info]-[Demo]-[Buy now]-[included in Joomla package]

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Fresa, Mercado and e-SimpleShop Remix Commerce templates are 40% off!

Last month was a large for our ecommerce, Web site developers as we launched three new models made for them. Fresa, Mercado and SimpleShop Remix are available so that you can retrieve and use for your projects, but in case you need a more a little incentive to give them a shot, we are cutting off 40% of the cost!

All three of them work with Tienda and Virtuemart to provide rapid e-commerce solutions.In addition to this, Fresa and Mercado also work with K2 (our favorite CMS-in-one-CMS) .Utilisez simply code coupon "Trade" to this page and you get 40% discount on all three.

Need a quick recycling on what these three models can be used for?Here you go:

Our first model of e-commerce built for this game is Mercado, and it is certainly a beauté.Il has a little brighter the other two, but that doesn't take away from the time we spent Tienda, Virtuemart and K2 large eyes early design.

Announcements of important location, a link to the accounts of the Organization of social media, manage your content and users in an enterprise environment and revive your store online with a large model who gets work.Mercado is quite brilliant at Tower-heads and simple enough for anyone to use.

Our second model of e-commerce this month was Fresa, and even if it was released only a few days ago we can already see that this will be a very popular model for many of our users.With Fresa we went back to a simple aspect most 2D, with a high self-lubricating banner (developed by Tiendaslides) on the front page, one tonne of module positions, 8 different and of course color themes, integration with Tienda, Virtuemart and K2.This model is a great to mount an elegant ecommerce site and run, but we limit your imagination so.;)

Our third model of e-commerce this month and the third iteration of SimpleShop, original model is our SimpleShop Remix .a once more, we've taken a simple idea and added some nice making very modern and slick, features everything in making even perfect for what that are needed sont.Nous could see this used in small companies who just needs a quick solution built shops, or perhaps even more stores with a company that can take some time to make some customizations (simple) .the works with Tienda Virtuemart and a fairly popular conception of ours (supports all three SimpleShop all versions).

What do you expect? use our "Trade" coupon code and look at these modèles.puis tell us what you think so that we can continue to offer many products in the future.

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Date of maintenance

We will take JoomlaPraise offline for a little later in the day on October 6. Some system updates and server, suffer us so the site will be unavailable for a short time. We want to have a warning, and it will be provided. We apologize for the inconvenience that this may cause, but put us some new and interesting things in place to improve the website.

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Templates Joomla - Why Do We Love Simple So Much?

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We've all heard the phrase a hundred thousand times, 'KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid'. Looking at our templates and extensions, you might think this is the phrase that we live and breathe on a daily basis. We always talk about how our templates are Simple, Clean, Easy to use and Flexible. But why do all of those things matter to us so much?

More importantly; Why should they matter to you?

A quick story: I was a PixelPraise customer before I was a Team Member. And before that I was an OK Joomla developer who struggled with building websites in 1.0. When 1.5 was released (around the same time when Wordpress was getting updated) I began to look to other CMS's to make my work easier. Had it not been for the simplicity of the PixelPraise products (templates and extensions) I would probably not be a Joomla user today.

I tell you that so that we have a common starting point. I can tell you first-hand that any developer who really wants to be successful with Joomla development should keep simplicity and flexibility at the top of their list while working on projects. Because we don't just work for other developers, we work for a lot of other people who need all the help they can get to build great websites.

First and foremost, Joomla as a Content Management System is about the end-user. We build our websites in Joomla because it makes a hassle-free environment for our site visitors to get into and enjoy. If we have to add on extra administrators, forum managers, authors or a project team, Joomla can be customized to provide the tools to make that happen.

Because of the easily customizable nature of Joomla, many of the people that come to use our CMS have no background experience in web development at all (four years ago I was right there with this group of people). For these people, it's very important to tag things well (in the design as well as in the code) and make it easier for them to get started working.

As you build your code, you should always keep in mind that some people aren't really sure how to follow along to know what needs to be done. If you don't build your code with good comments and tags throughout, and also by having clean code the standard spaces and line breaks, then you'll have one of two really annoying problems:

People will complain that they can't code with your template because you didn't tag your divs and such properly (follow our twitter feed and see what I mean).People will ask you the same basic support questions constantly because you didn't clean up the code structure and leave comments (trust me, as a small business you want to cut back on as much support time as possible). It's their software after they buy it, after all and thus their responsibility, but if you want to keep helping people with the coding, go right ahead. We'll be busy building the next template to release.

Some examples of good code would look like this (taken from our Bloq template.css file):

With our CSS, notice that we keep one 'tab' or about 5 spaces for the style values within each class or ID. Everything is separated and looks clean so that someone new to development can look at the code and immediately see which styles go with which class and also what each class means.

Quick tip: Don't use names that make no sense. If you're styling for the Top Menu, use class name 'topmenu' or something similar.

Structuring your HTML code is similar to CSS in that you want to make good use of your spacing and smart labeling. Leave comments throughout the code to help new developers figure out what to do.

And, of course, in showing you what looks right. I've got to show you what looks wrong. Never ever lump all of your code into one huge block if you want to make your template as easy as possible for your customers to use. Make them happy, and you'll make yourself happy, too.

By the way, if you build an extension and you don't properly label all of your divs, it becomes very difficult for anyone to create templates that work really well with your extension specifically. If you don't code with other developers in mind, then you'll quickly find that you might have screwed yourself over.

While template and extension developers should focus on keeping their code clean and easy to use, designers should keep a simple design in mind so that they can 1. Appeal to many various types of users 2. Make the template easy to understand (so that people can customize it) and 3. Not overwhelm anyone who can't see how a template can be converted into a website very easily. Some examples:

If you are designing a template that is specifically for one niche market, then design it exactly how you think that target market wants that template to be designed. If you are aiming to provide a template for any number of different organizations and target groups, then you need to design something that can be easily translated to fit their purposes.

Two templates that do a great job at this are Newstream by JoomlaBamboo and the Free JoomSpirit by JoomSpirit. As you can see in the screenshots below, you can easily take their designs and change them slightly or dramatically to create a whole different environment for a website.

This is just a matter of opinion, but when I look at a piece of art, if I don't understand the purpose behind it or the meaning of the strokes, then I can't appreciate it as much. In the same way, our templates are designed as pieces of art. A well designed template with a strong purpose and a specific call to action is much easier for a potential customer to grasp and appreciate than a template that seems scattered or unapproachable.

Something that looks as though it was created by throwing tons of flashy and trendy design techniques and styles is going to turn a lot of people off. A great simple template, though, is easy for anyone to approach and understand. It's not filled with a lot of nonsense, but is instead built to last for any kind of website. Plus, if your potential customer doesn't feel comfortable with the demo that you present them, you can bet they won't be buying that template for their website.

Lastly, when you develop a template that is difficult to manipulate or not easy to modify to fit a purpose, you are overwhelming the customer and will often force them to either find another template that is not so daunting to customize, or to build a custom solution themselves. Either way, it is not a likely event that they will return to buy another template from you.

Perhaps by now you've got the point. Building a simple template, in our opinion, is definitely the way to go in most cases. Of course, that doesn't mean that flashy designs and niche market templates don't have a place in our community, but it seems to me there is a much bigger place for easily customizable and widely distributed templates than something that only 5 organizations will ever use.

What do you think?

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SimpleShop - Joomla Tienda and model Virtuemart

Our final template this month e-commerce we found looking back on a previous ecommerce template we did. Simpleshop stuck like a sore thumb. It supported a component called Foxxycart backplane. We thought that there could be a large improvements to what we had already created. We therefore essentially a remix of a remix or a re-remix. However, you want we call it, we believe that this is a vast improvement on previous design.

SimpleShop Remix is better together. We have included some CSS for both Virtuemart and Tienda components.SimpleShop comes with 4 themes begin with menu déroulant.également included in the model with a built-in CSS is custom for our Tienda slides module CSS styles.

[Product info] [Demo][Buy now][Included in our offer of Joomla]

SimpleShop model first offers the big 4 sujets.alors is really simple they are stylish and light almost refreshing.

This is what a Tienda product page in SimpleShop.Vous can see as we focused on simple but effective product screens.

It is a Virtuemart product page for SimpleShop model.A little harder to customize but nevertheless we consider that this brings (however small) light on VirtueMart

Although not too different from our slides Tienda Mercado version we changed the colors based on the theme chosen for the model.

The module comes with individual SimpleShop purchase and is included in our offer of Joomla (on w / all our templates premium Joomla and extensions) .the module is a beta version and is sold individually once add us some more.

[Product info][Demo][Buy now][Included in our offer of Joomla]

Let us know if you feel as it is a great improvement on the previous version of SimpleShop.

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