It's been less than two months from when we published Helix3 v1.3 (template framework) - now the time has come for the next version. In the last couple of weeks we collected great feedback from our users, they asked about different improvements, we tried to add in this version most of them. 

Today the developers of the JoomShaper team have released a new version of the great template framework named Helix3 v1.4.

Improvements and new features inside Helix3 v1.4

Menu changes

We added new animation types for Dropdown MegaMenu (Elastic, Drop In, Slide down and Twist) and Animation for Off Canvas Menu.

Preloader more animation effects

Now Helix3 offer 7 animation effects (Circle, Double Loop, Wave, Clock, Static logo) in preloader. Once the content of the page is loaded,  the preloading screen will show small animation object. Compatible with all major browsers. You can also choose the color of the animated object and the background color under the animation.

Go to top arrow

To improve UX on website built with Joomla! and Helix3 we added a new icon button (arrow) "Go to up". It that allows visitors to scroll smoothly to the top of the page. It's a little detail which enhances navigation experience on website with long pages. This gives your website better navigation and also adds a more professional look to your current layout. 

Auto update date in Copyright Notice

We thought that auto update year in copyright section would be a useful feature so we added it.
All you have to do is use {year} tag there.

Custom Social icon

Long list of ready social icons (11 items) is sometimes too short, so we decided to add one more, but this time with custom field.
So You're able to add any FontAwesome icon class with custom URL there, for example Instagram.

Mobile Phone and Open Hours

We added two new fields in Contact Section: Mobile Phone and Open Hours.

Customization of Error Page

From today you can not only add any module in error page like it was before, but also upload & use a unique logo and background image for whole Joomla! Error Page.

Customization of Coming Soon Page

On Coming Soon page you can upload & use a unique logo and background image without creating a custom CSS code.

Preset Styles

Also Preset section got two new options:  Dropdown background color and Dropdown Text Color - which should help you with template customization without using a custom CSS file.



Custom CSS file

Custom.css file where you can add all custom CSS class'es and IDs (to override our styles or add new ones) is used in both Error page and Coming Soon page. It means more customization capabilities for Joomla! web designers. 

Template feature after or before module

From template settings you can choose the order of used template features (Footer and Social icons) - they can be loaded before or after Joomla! module.

 

Layout Override

Helix3 Frontend Generate overwrites option by layout (file should be in templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/html/layouts/helix3/frontend).

 Documentation link

As a new menu item in template settings, we added links to the Documentation section, we hope that will help understand how you can use a template.

ChangeLog Helix v1.4

  • Front-end Generate overwrite option by layout (path should be ( templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/html/layouts/helix3/frontend).
  • Load feature before module and after module.
  • Off-Canvas Menu variations & improved offcanvas functionalities.
  • Mega menu animation.
  • Dropdown Menu text color and background color changing option.
  • Load custom.css in error & coming soon page.
  • Preloader with 7 animation.
  • Go to top button (arrow).
  • Coming Soon Logo & Background Image.
  • Error Page Logo & Background Image.
  • footer copy right {year} (year replace current year).
  • insert mobile number in contact feature.
  • Documentation Tab in back-end.
  • Article Social share improved & added LinkedIn share.
  • Custom icon and url option in social feature.
  • 1,11,12 column use facilities in layout builder column.
  • SEO friendly frontend.
  • Box Layout header width problem fixed.
  • Responsive and CSS issues fixed.

We hope you will enjoy new changes in Helix3 template. If you have any questions, comments or suggestion please add them below.