Zeolites are the most important heterogeneous catalysts in industrial applications and number of the processes catalyzed by them continuously increases. In this short overview we address key issues and challenges of the synthesis of zeolites in particular focusing on novel types of zeolites like two-dimensional zeolites (layered materials), manipulation with them using novel ADOR protocol, hierarchical systems and organozeolites. Some challenges in potential applications of these types of zeolites are also discussed.