I have written recently about the advantages of using a Content Management System (CMS) such as Joomla! as the environment for creating your websites.  <link here for previous article>

One of the benefits of using a widely distributed open source CMS like Joomla! or DRUPAL is the astounding variety of extensions, plug-ins and theme templates that are available at little or no cost from the user community of your favorite CMS.  I note also that many of the CMS features that I am using in Joomla! are also available in WordPress. So I am finally understanding why so many of you switched to WordPress for your personal blogging sites some time ago.  (OK Cheryl – I get it…)

But it takes time to find the exact template or theme that you may want – and there just may not be any author out there with the same twisted sense of style that I have.  So the solution is to create your own HTML code and CSS files. 

But wait a minute.  I found the Joomla! solution because I am not proficient in coding or CSS creation. In my typical voyage of discovery (keep seeking and you shall find on the internet) method, I seem to have found an answer. 

Website psd2cssonline.com gives you the capability to create your template as a Photoshop (or GIMP) file – that is the PSD part of the name (PSD is the file extension of a Photoshop file).  By using particular layer names in Photoshop for the specific elements of your sytle sheet or web page, you can submit your completed PSD file to the PSD2CSSonline.com site and the service will automatically convert your PSD file into the necessary HTML code and CSS files to create your site.  The system has Joomla! or WordPress specific layer names that permit you to use this powerful conversion site to create template files for your preferred environment.

I recommend that if you need to create template files with full HTML and CSS capability, that you go to psd2cssonline.com  and view the tutorials and check out the documentation which includes the layer names available for template elements.  I am at the beginning of the process, but I believe that this will be a much faster system for creating templates for Joomla! and other environments than HTML coding and CSS file creation.  I also think that the system will help me learn the CSS system as I observe how my Photoshop designed pages are interpreted into Cascading Style Sheet files. 

In addition to simple placement of content, menu and image elements, the system embeds a number of sophisticated and intellegent functions into your pages. 

If you want total control of your on line image and, like me, you have limited background in coding – this website appears to be a powerful tool in your bag of tricks to help you create web pages that meet your needs and specifications. 

Shaun McIntyre is the brain behind the site.  He provides the following You-Tube video tutorial to explain the specifics of creating a Joomla! template from a Photoshop file. 

Enjoy.