by Oscar Wellington

Created on: August 21, 2009

Templates.mamboserver.com is a site that offers free templates for Mambo, an open source engine like Joomla and in the same vein. The site also has forums, a news area containing updates, and other links containing potential free templates.

The free templates on Templates.mamboserver.com are divided into several categories: new collection, general, IT business, real-estate, E-commerce, and personal. While most of the categories are self-explanatory, some deserve more definition. The new collection hosts the latest uploads as well as "fresh" designs. The general category sort of combines personal with business, and the E-commerce templates are designed to work specifically with stores in mind. Each category has a decent selection of templates, with the new collection hosting the biggest (31 templates) and real-estate having the fewest (5).

Clicking on a category allows users to preview, run a live demo, or just download the templates. Users can view the author of each template as well (in URL form for most), which could be handy if a user likes a particular author's work. The templates themselves do leave a little to be desired. They are free however, and so complains have little merit here. In order to download Mambo templates, users must fill out a small form containing first and last name, email, and the URL that a user plans to use the template on (users must also agree to the terms of use).

For those interested, users can upload their own Mambo template to Templates.mamboserver.com. A form is required, which must have the user's first and last name, email, address, country, state, city, and zip code. The template must of course also have its own name, and the author's, along with the author's personal website. Files must not exceed 1mb, and as long as users agree to the terms of use, there should be no problems.

Templates.mamboserver.com also features a handy tutorial on how to install Mambo templates, with step by step details and screen shots to help along the way. For those interested, the terms of use are also available, which explain the use of free templates as well as user rules and author rules (for those who want to submit a template).

The site also features forums, which have loads of categories to choose from. While some of the forums haven't had posts in a while (most haven't seen posts since 2008), the information here is still relevant. In addition, Templates.mamboserver.com has a news section, where they post regarding their partner websites, as well as this template one.

Overall, I would recommend Templates.mamboserver.com. Most free template sites out there focus on CSS/HTML and WordPress themes. While the selection could be improved like nearly all free template sites, the fact that this site does have templates from Mambo definitely makes it worthy for users who need Mambo templates.

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