Hello,

thank you very much Joomlabamboo for your hard work. I have to say, since I've found your website, I never look back at other Joomla template suppliers.

Anyway, Im kinda new to the whole Joomla world and I was wondering whether it's possible to build your own templates for Zen Grid Framework and how to do it?

Thanks
Lukasz

Hi Lukasz,

Of course it is! If you install the Zen Grid Framework, you will see that it installs another 3 'starter' templates (or themes) which you can then modify to create your own template.

They are mostly devoid of styling but provide all of the physical structure and functionality, so you just need to add the graphical styling and you have your own template! For most purposes, the Zen Default template is the ideal starting point.

You can find the Zen Grid Framework documentation, the best place to start, here:

www.joomlabamboo.com/documentation/zen-grid-framework-and-child-theme-installation

I advise you to just install the framework, pick a starting point (default, container or blank) and start playing with it! All of the recent template releases are built using this framework, so you can see the possibilites that exist.

Seth,

What three themes are you refereing to ? are you saying to install a fresh Joomla, then zen grig framework, and then add the zen default template ?

Yep: install Joomla -> install zen grid framework and then add the zen grid default template, all available from the downloads page.
Zen grid framework is not a template, but needs to be installed before you can use the templates "zen default" or "zen blank" (I think there's only two now).

Nathan,

Just trying to clarify here, you mean Zen Grid 960 template ? it comes without the zen grid framework or are you talking about another template ?

I was talking about the zen grid framework, NOT the zen grid 960 template, which is a standalone template.

install zen grid framework and then add the zen grid default template:

What is or where is -> zen grid default template ?

see what I mean

Hey Tornado,

So sorry I just realised that the link to the zgf downloads was incorrect. It pointed to the framework but not the download page. Thats fixed and so you can see we have Zen Default and Zen Blank templates which are minimal starting points for the framework.

www.joomlabamboo.com/downloads/zen-grid-framework-downloads

Apologies again,

Anthony

Ahhh, I see now, thanks for clearing that up...

yep, sorry for the confusion. So for the benefit of everyone:

There's the 2009 Zen Grid 960 Template, which is a standalone, normal template. http://www.joomlabamboo.com/joomla-templates/zen-grid-960-grid-joomla-template

And, there's the Zen Grid Framework, which is not a template, but allows other templates to utilise it's structure/framework. Within this download page, there are two templates set up, Zen Blank, and Zen Default, from which you might build your own template. www.joomlabamboo.com/downloads/zen-grid-framework-downloads
You'll notice all the latest templates use the Zen Grid Framework too.

Heads-up ,

When trying to install JB_Zen_ZenBlank 1.0.6a

JInstaller::install: File '/var/www/zengrid/tmp/install_4c89f62853cb5/includes' does not exist.

Zen_ZenDefault went fine

Thanks for spotting that - releasing a fix now. I know you introduced yourself before but it feel silly to keep calling you Tornado - or maybe that is your real name?

NP,

Not complaining, just reporting.. My name is William Henderson, my Friends call me "Bill"

Zen Blank has just been updated. Thanks again