How to add a new module position in Joomla

Many new users to Joomla find it difficult to understand how to add a new module position to their Joomla template. It isn't as difficult as it first appears. Before explaining how to add a new module position, it might be worth checking your existing joomla template modules to see if any existing ones are suitable for your needs.

If you want to know your existing module positions simply type the following at the end of your url:

?tp=1

You will now see all the available module positions for your existing Joomla template. Obviously if you change your template then your module positions will likely be different.

Adding a New Joomla Module Position

Open up your index.php file found in /templates/YourTemplateName/. You can do this either by downloading with your favourite ftp program or click on Extensions>Template Manager, click on the radio button that applies to your template and click edit. Now click on the Edit HTML button which will open up your index.php in an editor window.

Decide where you want your new module to sit within your code and type the following:

<jdoc:include type="modules" name="newmodule" />

Where 'newmodule' is the name you want for your shiny new module. Place the above code within a <div> so that you can apply different styles to it.

Now open /templates/YourTemplateName/templateDetails.xml and go to the positions section and add the name of your new module to the bottom of the code, in this example I have added 'newmodule' to the code.

<positions>
   <position>breadcrumb</position>
   <position>left</position>
   <position>right</position>
   <position>top</position>
   <position>user1</position>
   <position>user2</position>
   <position>user3</position>
   <position>user4</position>
   <position>footer</position>
   <position>debug</position>
   <position>syndicate</position>
   <position>newmodule</position>
</positions>

When you now look in the Extensions>Module Manager and open an existing module or create a new one, you will now be able to assign it to your new module position.

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UAC for those that don't know is where you restrict user access to certain areas, pages or sections of your website. Nested categories, or rather the lack of, has been moaned about on Joomla forums for years. At the moment, with the latest version 1.5.18 you can only create sections and then unlimited categories within that section.

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