Trouble Loading Template into Joomla

[butlertf]

Hello,
I am currently on a shared server at Aplus.net. I updated and fully installed Joomla to 1.5.3.

The problem I am having is: When attempting to load the template onto Joomla by going to extensions/install, selecting the .zip template file, and then clicking upload and install, I get the following error about 15 to 20 seconds later:

Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 15 seconds exceeded in /home/u6/butlerbp/html/dev/libraries/joomla/filesystem/archive/zip.php on line 292

I talked to Aplus.net about this, and they said that they cannot increase the maximum execution time on shared servers. So, I was advised by them to load the template .zip file to the template (themes) folder in Joomla and then assign it through configuration.php. However, when I try to access configuration.php, I get a blank screen and am unable to assign anything.

Any suggestions, different ways to load templates or do you see anything I am doing wrong?

[Killer Squirrel]

what i do to update templates is using the ftp client the web hosting company provides or use filezilla to upload the template files (extracted from .zip) into the templates folder in the joomla root directory

[Jaxo]

More Info from docs.joomla.org

Below is taken from link above:
Install via FTP (unpacked template file)

Templates can also be installed via FTP without packaging them. Simply select the template folder on your PC and upload it to your server, using your favorite FTP software. Be sure you upload the template folder to the directory: /path_to_joomla/templates/ - where /path_to_joomla/ is the location of your Joomla! installation on the server. This method is mostly used when you have created a template yourself, and do not want to have to package it to install the template, or if you want to upload more than one template at once.

Note: Do not try to use FTP to install Components, Modules and Plugins if you are a beginner/novice. These items need database entries which have to be inserted manually if you bypass the package installer.

[butlertf]

Thanks for the reply! I will try both of those posts!

[butlertf]

I'm having trouble setting up my ftp, Do you know where to find or how to determin where the root directory path would be so I can use that to set it up? It keeps saying I am puting in an invalid root path to my ftp server. Thanks!

[Jaxo]

Check link below out. Hopefully it will help with getting your ftp settings correct.

aplus.net