Hey Tuan,
Had no issues installing Joomla 3 but I cant install any template extensions. Joomlas display install message but nothing displays in my template manager
Installing Joomla! 3.0.x on local host is straightforward but can be tricky the first time you attempt it. So for this step we’ve provided instructions on how to do it right from scratch.
First, let’s make clarify the meaning of “Localhost”. As you know, any website needs to be hosted on a web server in order to be shown to users. Normally, you would need to buy a hosting package from some hosting provider like Rackspace or GoDaddy. Depended on the package you choose, a hosting provider will install a web server for you on one of their server machines, which is accessible to the public. A localhost is basically the same type of web server but installed on your own computer.
Now, in order to run Joomla!, you need not only a web server, but also 2 more things: PHP script interpreter and MySQL database system. It sounds complicated but thankfully, there is a single package called XAMPP with all the elements included.
Let’s install XAMPP on your computer.

XAMPP Control Panel Application
That’s it, your localhost is now installed. You can check if it works or not by typing the address:
“http://localhost” in your web browser. You should see a page as illustrated below.

XAMPP for Windows interface
From the XAMPP interface, click phpMyAdmin to start creating database.

Click “phpMyAdmin”

Click “Database”

Create database
Now you are ready to install Joomla!.
Now you have your first Joomla! site installed successfully! It’s not too hard, right? If you have any trouble with the installation process, you can try in the following sources for the answer:
The Joomla! forum is one of the busiest (and most friendly) support forums in the world, and it is a great place to get help and meet other Joomla! users. There are a lot of questions and answers which are discussed here. Because our topic is Joomla! 3.0 installation, so you can find help in the category “Installation Joomla! 3.0”.
There are many other websites which you can use a s your Joomla! learning resources:
>>> The next step
Installing Joomla! 3.0.x on your local host is the first thing you need to do successfully before getting started with your Joomla! site. Now, when your website is ready, let’s fill it with content. You can get more details of how to fill it with content by downloading the 108-page ebook "Joomla 3.0 Made Easy".
If you have feedback or suggestions, feel free to leave your comments below.
Tuan is the Joomla Fan lover at www.JoomlaShine.com. In spare time he blogs about Online Marketing from the concept to concrete case studies. Exploring his blog posts you will see truly the meaning of the "Quality Content".