06
Feb
2009
2009
Where are my Joomla Module Positions?
Modules positions are places on your webpage, set up by your template’s index.php and listed in the related .xml file, that can contain modules such as a menu module or a poll module. You can have more than one module in each position dependent on space available. An example of this would be the left column which might have several menu modules, a login module and more.
Good template designers usually provide a screenshot with the module/user positions marked by name eg: top, banner, user 4, footer, left, right etc. If there is no module assigned to these positions, they ‘collapse’ and take up no ‘browser real estate’. So if you have a banner position but no banners, you won’t see anything in that position on your page.
In the old Joomla 1x it was easy to see the positions, they were available in Admin and you could view your page with the positions outlined. In Joomla 1.5x we can view the positions by adding ?tp=1 to your url. Here is the Joomla demo page exposed!
http://demo.joomla.org/1.5/?tp=1
16 March 2009 at 18:36
Thank you !! Very helpful Just started Joomla and this key bit of info will save me hours of frustration and confusion in setting up site layouts from templates.
24 March 2009 at 03:47
What happens when template controller disable position in some pages, an example displaying position only on home page (front page component), while disabling entire position on a rest pages? If you`ll check tp=1 on another page you will miss it for sure. Always check template xml file for available positions, or use another 3rd party tool like jposition.
04 April 2009 at 08:44
Good advice genCom – but for the more experienced developer of Joomla! sites.
Hils