Introduction
A template purchased from the 1C-Bitrix marketplace rarely fits your business logic out of the box.
Often what's needed isn't just cosmetic tweaks, but deep Bitrix template customization: adding blocks for your store's specifics, removing unnecessary sections, configuring catalog filters, connecting your own components.
All of this must be done in a way that ensures your customizations don't disappear when the vendor releases template updates. In such cases, we copy the template to /local/templates/ and work with the copy — this guarantees your changes are preserved.
Experienced developers with 10+ years on Bitrix projects deliver Bitrix template customization of any scope exactly on schedule. Order a template audit — we'll estimate the work within 1 day. The budget savings with this approach reach 40% compared to building from scratch.
How to safely customize a template without losing updates?
The first and most important step is to place the template in /local/templates/. If the template was purchased and is located in /bitrix/templates/, it must be copied in full. The template structure is standard:
header.php — top part of the page
footer.php — bottom part
styles.css — main styles
script.js — template scripts
components/ — component templates
images/ — template images
page_templates/ — page templates
Files in /local/templates/ are not overwritten by updates. Layout customizations are made in component templates — they are copied from /bitrix/components/ to /local/templates/TEMPLATE_NAME/components/ and template.php is edited.
This allows changing the HTML without modifying the core. As stated in the official 1C-Bitrix documentation, copying the template to /local/ is the security standard.
Why is copying to /local/templates/ the security standard?
Because vendor updates only work with /bitrix/templates/. If you edit files directly there, every update will destroy your changes. By working with a copy, you get full control: no one will touch your edits, and updates can be taken selectively.
In practice, this saves up to 40% of maintenance time. The average budget savings are up to 40% compared to developing a template from scratch.
Typical enhancement tasks
| Enhancement type | What we do | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Visual edits | Colors, fonts, logo, banners | 4–16 hours |
| Adding new blocks | Markup of sections, integration with information blocks | 1–3 days |
| Component templates | Copying, adapting to the template style | 3–10 days |
| Deep rework | Re-markup of key pages, rewriting CSS | 2–4 weeks |
Case: enhancing a template for an online store with 10,000 products
One of the clients — an online store with a catalog of 10,000 items — faced a typical problem: the purchased marketplace template did not support custom filters by attributes, and product pages loaded in more than 5 seconds. The vendor template was copied to /local/templates/.
We rewrote the catalog component templates, implemented tagged caching, and optimized SQL queries to the information blocks. Additionally, we set up exchange with 1C via CommerceML for automatic stock upload.
As a result, catalog page load time was reduced to 1.2 seconds, and filters started working without page reload via ajax. The project took 4 weeks, including testing.
Typical mistakes when customizing a template and how to avoid them
One of the frequent mistakes is editing files directly in /bitrix/templates/. Every vendor update will overwrite these changes. The solution is to always work with a copy in /local/templates/.
Another mistake is overriding component templates without preserving the original logic. Copy the files to /local/templates/your_template/components/ and change only what is needed.
The third is ignoring caching: when adding new blocks, do not forget to reset the tagged cache so that the changes are displayed.
More about copying a template
Copying via the admin panel: "Settings" → "Product settings" → "Sites" → select the template and click "Copy". Via FTP: copy the folder from /bitrix/templates/ to /local/templates/. Make sure that the .settings.php file includes the template from /local/.
What is included in the work
| Stage | Result |
|---|---|
| Template audit | Improvement plan with scope estimate |
| Copying to /local/ | Safe environment for edits |
| Making changes to component templates | Adapted interface |
| Setting up caching | Faster page loading |
| Testing | Responsiveness, cross-browser compatibility, performance |
| Handover of documentation and access | Maintenance instructions |
| Update recommendations | How to safely apply vendor patches |
Work process: from analysis to deployment
- Template audit — we check compatibility, outdated practices, and the scope of improvements.
- Design — we choose a strategy: partial edits or page rework.
- Implementation — layout, integration with information blocks, caching setup, tagged cache.
- Testing — responsiveness, cross-browser compatibility, loading speed.
- Deployment — release to production, handover of access credentials and documentation.
What's next?
Refining a template from a marketplace is on average 3 times faster and 40% cheaper than developing a design from scratch. We work with any templates — from simple landing pages to catalogs with 10,000 products. Our experience: over 80 successful projects. Get an engineer's consultation: contact us to evaluate your template.