joomlcreative jc_start demo site

Quick Start Guide

Ok, so you've installed a thousand other Joomla! templates and you just want to dive straight in and get jc_start installed. So what's the absolute minimum you need to know? Not a lot really (thankfully!). jc_start is a pretty simple template to install. Once you've downloaded the template you'll find the main template inside the main zip file you downloaded. It's called "jc_start.zip" (yes, very imaginative we know!) but we're keeping things simple here!

So if you want to just get up and running go ahead and jump straight into your Joomla admin control panel and install the zip file as you normally would.

Done that? Smashing! Now let's go you the low down on what else you should do to get the most out of jc_start.

1. Install and configure extended menu - For extended menu goodness! Should only take you about 4 minutes 10 seconds - honest!
2. Install and setup the slideshow module for your Frontpage Featured images
3. Now stop reading this manual and get cracking managing your Joomla website which just got a hell of a makeover!

Detailed Installation Instructions

Did we gloss over that a little too quick? Ok no problem, here's the detailed instructions. Read on for the rest of the scoop.

Install and configure extended menu

1. For simplicity we included the version of extended menu you need with the template download. Grab it and upload it from the "extended_menu" folder in your template package.
2. Install the module via the Joomla module installer as normal.
3. Go to the module edit page and make the following changes.
4. Show title "no"
5. Enabled "yes"
6. Position "mainnav"
7. Module Class Suffix "navigation"
8. Menu Name "mainmenu"
9. Menu style "Flat List"
10. Split Menu "1"
11. Active Menu Class "both"
12. Hit that big shiny "Save" button!
13. Refresh your Joomla front page

Ok now you should see your main menu appearing like it does on our demo site. If you're having problems jump over to our forums and just shout! If you've made it this far - cudos! You've got your main navigation working as it should. You could leave things as they are now if you don't have submenus on your website. But if you do have submenus then you're going to want to hook them up to the Extended menu. Read on my dear reader - it's only another 2 minutes to get them working spiffingly!

Configuring sub menu

1. Ok so jump back into the "Module Manager"
2. What you want to do now is create a copy of the Extended Menu module.
3. To do this just tick the check box next to the Extended Menu module and click the copy button at the top of the Joomla menu.
4. This should create a copy of the module called "Copy of Extended Menu" (Good 'ol Joomla with their nice and original naming conventions!)
5. Go ahead and enter the edit module page and make the following changes.
6. Show title "no"
7. Enabled "yes"
8. Position "subnav"
9. Begin with level "1"
10. Split Menu "2"
11. Template name "submenu.html"
12. Let's now "Save"

You're done! Sub navigation will now appear as expected under the main menu when it should!

Rokslideshow Install and Configure

Our friends over at Rocketwerx created a brilliant module for nice simple image slideshows which we suggest you use. We've included the version we've tested with jc_start as part of your template package in the "rokslideshow" folder. You can also grab it here:

http://www.rocketwerx.com/products/rokslideshow/download/13-mod_rokslideshow_3-0-3_j15/download

Please make sure to check in over at Rocketwerx for updates now and again. The main Rokslideshow product page is here:

http://www.rocketwerx.com/products/rokslideshow/overview

Seriously guys, great module!

Once you've got it installed, let's make the following quick configurations to get everything just right:

1. Show Title "no"
2. Enabled "yes"
3. Position "slideshow"
4. At this point, hit "save" and jump over to the "Media Manager" and create a new folder called "promos" within the stories folder. This is the folder that is going to store our featured promo images.
5. For demo purposes we've provided you with 2 images in your template install package in the "promoimages" folder.
6. Go ahead and upload them to your "promos" folder.
7. Now jump back into your Rokslideshow module edit page.
8. Width "640"
9. Height "200"
10. images directory "images/stories/promos"
11. Transition Type "fading"
12. Optional Step - if you want to really use the full capabilities of Rokslideshow you can also add text straplines to your promo images.
13. We've provided some examples in the "promotext" folder.
14. Jump back into Media Manager and upload "promo_2.txt" and "promo_3.txt" to the promos folder. Note that the text file names match the image names? That's not an accident. Rokslideshow will look to see if there is a text file matching the image name (excluding the image type extension of course!) and display the contents of the text file over the image on the frontpage. Play around with the contents of the text file to see how it works. It's all very simple really!

Module Positions

We've tried to keep things really simple with jc_start as far as Module Positions are concerned. As much as possible we've stuck to generally accepted Joomla conventions. A few points of note:

• user1=latest news
• user2=popular
• user3=Top menu
• user4=search
• user5, user6, user7, user8 = new content mod

Editing the logo

The default logo included with the template uses the "Blue Highway" font. We've included a native Fireworks png file for you to modify accordingly in the "source" folder. Just make sure you export it as logo.jpg into the images folder. 

Ok, we hope this guide helps you figure out some of the initial things you need to know to working with jc_start. Please feel free to jump onto the forums at any time to ask us a question!

The Joomlacreative Team

www.joomlacreative.com

p.s. Please let us know if you if you see any errors or typos in our documentation. We hate it when that happens but we're only human!