One of the mistakes I see often by new Joomla users is modifying a core Joomla template and using it directly.

The problems occur when updating Joomla and all their changes are lost in the process.

The solution is to create a copy of the template and modify the copy instead. This will preserve your changes when you update Joomla.

• Go to Extensions > Template Manager.

• Click on Templates in the side menu
• Click on the template you'd like copied (e.g. Protostar)

• Click on the Copy Template button.

• Type your New Template Name. Please use only letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores. Don't use any spaces.
• Click Copy Template.

• After successfully copying the template, click Close.

• Click on Styles in the side menu.
• Either make the template the default or assign it to certain module positions.

Now you can modify the template and not worry about losing your changes on a Joomla update.