Local folder for template override

francus641

I've been making some pretty extensive changes to a template these days, specifically on PHP files. To avoid losing changes after a template update, it's always been recommended to use custom.css for CSS, but I've never read any forum support replies recommending using the template's "local" folder when making changes to PHP or JS.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about (like me until yesterday), there's a directory called "local" in Joomlart templates. If you create inside "local" a directory structure that matches the one containing the PHP file you want to modify and add a copy of that file, you can modify it, and the changes won't be lost when you update the template. It seems very convenient.

The question is, why isn't it ever recommended when customizations are proposed? Yet, it's a classic case of users asking if the customization will be lost when the template is updated but nobody talk about this simple procedure to avoid it.

Are there any drawbacks using "local"?

Thanks to anyone who can clarify these doubts.

Best regards

Francus

saguaros

Hi Francus,

The local folder is designed to preserve your customizations (layout, style, etc.) within the template. This feature originated from the T3 Framework and has been retained in the T4 Framework, so it’s available in most of our templates.

The main thing to be aware of is that when there are major updates—for example, moving from Joomla 5 to Joomla 6 or from PHP 7.x to PHP 8.x—the template’s core files may change significantly. In such cases, only the base template files and folders are updated, so you’ll need to manually review your overrides in the local folder to ensure compatibility.

Hope that makes sense.

Regards,
Heinz

francus641

saguaros

Hi @saguaros, thanks for the reply.

I had imagined that in a case like the one you described, using local folder wouldn't fix errors that an update should.
Is there another way to avoid this? For example, child templates or something else? Or is there no workaround?

Thanks!

saguaros

francus641 I think the major changes mainly occurred when moving from Joomla 3 to Joomla 4/5. The update to Joomla 6 only required minor adjustments, so hopefully it will be the same for future major Joomla releases. 😉

francus641

saguaros

Thanks @saguaros for your reply.

Perhaps the best thing to do is keep a text file where you can record all changes in case you need to redo them someday.

Thanks!