I'm looking to clone and modify the blog page and featured articles page. It would operate the same as the current system, but instead of showing the introtext, it would show the metadesc field.
Can someone direct me to which folder to clone, and which file I need to alter?
I've been searching and nothing I've tried has worked. I've also searched the docs without success.
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Custom Blog/Featured that shows metadesc instead of introtext Topic is solved
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- Pavel-ww
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Re: Custom Blog/Featured that shows metadesc instead of introtext
Hi. Create overrides in your templateDavidLGCrawford wrote: ↑Thu Jan 16, 2025 5:28 am I'm looking to clone and modify the blog page and featured articles page. It would operate the same as the current system, but instead of showing the introtext, it would show the metadesc field.
Can someone direct me to which folder to clone, and which file I need to alter?
I've been searching and nothing I've tried has worked. I've also searched the docs without success.

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Then rename and edit files in these folders.
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Also you should to create alternative menu items.
Docs here https://docs.joomla.org/J3.x:Layout_Overrides_in_Joomla (it works the same in J4/5)
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Re: Custom Blog/Featured that shows metadesc instead of introtext
Okay, so thank you for the help. After reading over the manual I was even more lost (it's not very well written for someone who doesn't know what they are doing). However I then asked ChatGPT to explain it, and between your instructions and Chat's was able to get it working... sort of...
I got it to show the metadesc (where there is one, and introtext when there isn't), but it's showing the page in a single column, while I have it set to two columns.
Looking at the page code it's showing differently from the home page (different sections and divs). The home page which uses the default featured is getting code from somewhere else other than only the /components/com_content/tmpl/featured files.
Here's my test page https://sailtosafety.com/test and it should display like the home page https://sailtosafety.com/
Any help would be appreciated.
PS. for the time being, ignore the overlapping images and such... once I get the metadesc written for all the pages that will clear itself up.
I got it to show the metadesc (where there is one, and introtext when there isn't), but it's showing the page in a single column, while I have it set to two columns.
Looking at the page code it's showing differently from the home page (different sections and divs). The home page which uses the default featured is getting code from somewhere else other than only the /components/com_content/tmpl/featured files.
Here's my test page https://sailtosafety.com/test and it should display like the home page https://sailtosafety.com/
Any help would be appreciated.
PS. for the time being, ignore the overlapping images and such... once I get the metadesc written for all the pages that will clear itself up.
- Pavel-ww
- Joomla! Ace
- Posts: 1807
- Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:17 pm
Re: Custom Blog/Featured that shows metadesc instead of introtext
Hi.DavidLGCrawford wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2025 9:02 am ...but it's showing the page in a single column, while I have it set to two columns...
Looking at the page code it's showing differently from the home page (different sections and divs). The home page which uses the default featured is getting code from somewhere else other than only the /components/com_content/tmpl/featured files.
That is why it is important always to provide a link to your site in the first post. Due to the fact that you did not provide the link at once, you will have to redo all the work from scratch.
You use Helix Ultimate. This template has its own layouts of com_content, which are very different from the standard ones. To create alternative layouts of com_content in Helix, tied to Joomla functionality and template styles, you need to use files from /plugins/system/helixultimate/overrides by copy them to /templates/helixultimate/html/ and rename, but not files created through the Create Overrides option.

Note: In some cases If you do not want to rename files (for example you want to make permanent override), then you should add them to /templates/helixultimate/overrides/ but not to /templates/helixultimate/html/.
Always study your template and read its documentation.
Or you can forget about the Joomla settings and use CSS so as not to redo work from scratch.
Code: Select all
.blog-featured .blog-items.columns-2 {
display: grid;
grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr);
gap: 2em;
margin-bottom: 3em;
}

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Re: Custom Blog/Featured that shows metadesc instead of introtext
THANK YOU!!!
I got it working correctly now. I also have made a few other little tweaks like removing the article's title if there's an image (because the image has the title in it), and a few other little tweaks.
Once again, thanks, it looks awesome now.
I got it working correctly now. I also have made a few other little tweaks like removing the article's title if there's an image (because the image has the title in it), and a few other little tweaks.
Once again, thanks, it looks awesome now.
- Pavel-ww
- Joomla! Ace
- Posts: 1807
- Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:17 pm
Re: Custom Blog/Featured that shows metadesc instead of introtext
Hi. Removing these h2 headings is very bad for SEO and quality of appearance. It is better to use pure images, without inscriptions, and some php modifications + CSS to place H2 headings on top of the images.DavidLGCrawford wrote: ↑Tue Jan 21, 2025 2:48 pm I also have made a few other little tweaks like removing the article's title if there's an image (because the image has the title in it)
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