---
title: "How to install a new Joomla 2.5 template"
description: "Joomla 2.5 has reached its end of life as for 12/31/2014. Please be advised this may be a security risk to your website. You can view more information about the end of life here. One of the more fun..."
url: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/joomla/joomla-2-5/install-new-template/
date: 2012-05-23
modified: 2021-11-19
author: "Brad Markle"
categories: ["Joomla", "Joomla 2.5"]
tags: ["Joomla v2.5"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# How to install a new Joomla 2.5 template

Joomla 2.5 has reached its end of life as for 12/31/2014. Please be advised this may be a security risk to your website. You can view more information about the end of life [here](https://docs.joomla.org/Joomla!_CMS_versions).

One of the more fun (and easy!) things to do in Joomla 2.5 is to change your site’s template. Your site template is what controls the look and feel of your website. If you don’t know how to create Joomla 2.5 templates, you can search the web for *joomla 2.5 templates* and find quite a few results, which will give you many different options to choose from when it comes to picking a template.

In this tutorial, we’ll assume you’ve already found and downloaded a Joomla 2.5 template from the internet. Your next step will be to install the template, and we’ll show you just how to do that in this Joomla 2.5 tutorial.

**To install a Joomla 2.5 template:**

1. [Log into your Joomla 2.5 admin](/support/edu/joomla/joomla-3/how-to-log-in-to-administrative-dashboard/).
2. [![click-install](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/edu_joomla25_install-template_click-install.gif)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/edu_joomla25_install-template_click-install.gif) In the top menu, hover over **Extensions** and then click **Extension Manager**.
3. Click the **Install** tab.
4. [![upload template file Joomla](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/edu_joomla25_install-template_upload-template-file.gif)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/edu_joomla25_install-template_upload-template-file.gif) Under **Upload Package File**, click **Browse** and find the template on your computer that you downloaded. Click the template file to choose it, and then click **Open**. Finally, click **Upload & Install**. This will upload the template to your [hosting account](/joomla-hosting.html).
5. After installing the template, you will receive a message similar to: **Installing template was successful**! At this point, you have successfully installed a new Joomla 2.5 template! Please note that this has not activated your new template, you still need to do this. Activating a new template can be done from the Template Manager, and you can follow these steps to [change your Joomla 2.5 template](/support/edu/joomla/joomla-2-5/how-to-change-site-template/). When you’ve changed to the new template, you should see your Joomla 2.5 site have a new look and feel to it! **Important!** When installing a new template, make sure you go to the **Extension Manager** > **Discover** tab to have the theme show in your dashboard. Before the template change After the template change [![before template change Joomla](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/edu_joomla25_install-template_before-template-change.gif)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/edu_joomla25_install-template_before-template-change.gif) [![after template change Joomla](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/edu_joomla25_install-template_after-template-change.gif)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/edu_joomla25_install-template_after-template-change.gif)