Joomla System Requirements

Most hosting providers and personal installations on Unix/Linux/Windows systems should be able to host Joomla 3.x under very common configurations. But we recommend to check the following settings before not after the problem appear

Database:  

1. MySQL 5.1 or greater
2. MSSQL 10.50.1600.1 or greater
3. PostgreSQL 8.3.18 or greater

Web Server:

1. Apache 2.x+
2. Microsoft IIS 7+
3. Nginx 1.0(1.1 recommended)

Browser:

1. Firefox 29+
2. Google Chrome 30+
3. Opera 10+
4. Safari 5+
5. IE 10+

Development Environment:

We recommended the following local configurations in development machine.

Windows:

1. Wamp Server
2. Xampp for Windows
3. Jamp for Windows

Linux:

1. Lamp Server
2. Xampp for Linux

Mac OS:

1. Mamp and Mamp Pro
2. Xampp for Mac OS

How to install a Helix System Plugin

Although Joomla comes with a lot of built-in functions by default, with extensions you can add a whole new functionality to your site with just a few clicks. Our templates offers many unique features but they request the Helix Framework to be installed and enabled.

For most extensions also Helix system plugin, the procedure of installing will be this same:

1. Download the System Plugin Joomla 2.5&3 package to your local machine as a zip file package (~900Kb).
   It is a common, compatible with both versions of Joomla (3.x & 2.5) plugin file.
2. The first thing you need to do is to login to the administrative area of your Joomla website.
3. From the backend of your Joomla site  from top menu select Extensions -> Install/Uninstall.
4. Click the Browse button and select the plugin package on your local machine.
5. Finally, click the Upload File & Install button.

6. At this point you have successfully uploaded and installed a JoomShaper Helix Framework plugin. But plugins are not enabled by default, so our next step is to enabled our plugin.

7. In the top menu, hover over Extensions and click Plug-In Manager. Use the Filter feature to find your "helix" plugin faster.

8. Then click on the plugin checkbox in the list below and set Status to Enabled.

9. Congratulations, you have just downloaded, installed and enabled a Joomla System Plugin!

Installing and Changing Templates in Joomla

Using Joomla features, you can easily change your website's template at any time. Changing your template lets you explore a variety of design styles and color combinations, which can completely change the look and feel of your website. In this tutorial we will teach you how to install a new Joomla template and set it as default for your website.

1. The first thing you need to do is to download the new Joomla template you're willing to use for your site on your local disc. We'd recommend you to check out all our Joomla templates. We are offering over 60 professional designs that you can use for your private, nonprofit and commercial projects.
2. If your site have content already you can install template and modules only. Quickstart is good only for new websites because it contain Joomla package itself.
3. Before installation, check the compatibility whether the downloaded version of template is compatible with your version of Joomla.
   
4. Once you have your Joomla template downloaded on your computer, login to the administrative area of your Joomla website and upload the template through the Extension Manager (Extensions -> Extension Manager).
   
5. Click on Browse button and select the template bundle archive you downloaded earlier. Finally, click on upload & install.
   After installing the template, you should receive a message "Installing template was successful!". At this point, you have successfully installed a new Joomla 3.x/2.5 template. Please note that this has not activated your new template, you still need to do this if you want to use this design.
6. Once the template is installed in your Joomla 3 system, you need to make it default for your website so your pages get the new design. First, you need to go to Extensions -> Template Manager. Now select the template checkbox near its name and click on Make Default.
7. You can also assign new template for specific subpages (menu items) only - using Assign option inside settings.

8. Don't forget to install Helix System plugin - it must be installed and activated for this template to function properly.

How to install a JoomShaper Quickstart Package

Note: A quickstart is basically a fully functional and entire Joomla! package containing the CMS itself, the all used modules, plugins and the chosen template with Helix framework with all the configurations and data that we used on the demo site in one place. So basically, it's all in one.

The whole process of installation is very easy and may be treated as a normal installation of the Joomla! (2.5/3.x) environment, but with all the extensions and their settings, and of course demo content in order to perfectly match the template as it appears on our JoomShaper demo page.

Here is the tutorial that will direct you to step by step installation process of a quickstart package (Joomla 3.3 / 3.4):

Step 1: Obviously, the first thing you need to do is download Quickstart pack with chosen template name.

Step 2: The next step, unpack the compressed zip file (for example shaper_xeon_quickstart_j3.zip) to a folder on your hard drive.  It's good idea to create a new folder which will contain downloaded QS package. Now you have to unzip package it, all modern versions of OS you don’t need any additional software for it operation. Once extraction is complete, the extracted folder will contain all files needed to perform the installation of Joomla! along with the template, demo images and modules, and their respective settings saved temporary in .sql files.

Step 3: Before the installation you should check if the server that hosts your account meets all the Joomla! system requirements, especially if you intend to install the latest version of Joomla! 3.x.

Step 4: Using your preferred FTP software (for example FileZilla), upload all the files into the directory where you would like to install your new Joomla! project, such as the webserver. You can upload your files directly through cPanel also using the File Manager. The specific directory you will upload them to will depend on whether you are working with the main domain, an addon domain, or a subdomain. In most cases, the public_html folder is the webroot for your primary domain name. This means that it is the folder where you put all website files which you want to appear when someone types your main domain. Depending on the upload speed of your connection or your server configuration, this process of uploading may take several minutes.

Step 5: Open your preferred browser and navigate to the address (for example, http://www.my-new-site.com) or directory on your server where you will perform the installation. The installation screen will come up.

Step 6: On this page you have to configure the website name, administrator e-mail, Admin username and password. Administrator data will be necessary to access the administration panel. Please do not use "admin" as a default username – it’s not safe. Hackers can perform a brute force attack on your account using the common "admin" username in order to retrieve your password and gain access over your website. Using not typical Username you're better protected against common attempts at gaining access to your Joomla! website.

Step 7: Then you can press the blue "Next" button in the upper right corner. You’ll be taken to the Database Configuration screen. Before we can fill all form fields, you will need to create a MySQL/PostgreSQL database, database user (and assign him all privileges) and password  in Hosting Panel. Without exception all Joomla! and Wordpress installations requires the database to be created using the utf8_general_ci character set.

Note: If your settings are not correct, you might be unable to connect to the database. An additional option is to change the Table prefix. Just don't forget to put the underscore character(_) at the end of the prefix. By default offers a random default prefix. This may be helpful for security purposes.

Once all database field are complete, click the Next button. The Joomla! installer will now check if it can connect to the database. If you see an error message, you’ve probably made a typo when entering the database details or you forgot to create a new database, so please double-check these details.

Step 8:  The last page of the Joomla installation contains all the information about the installation.

The section is divided into 4 groups:

• Main Configuration: All the website specific information, such as the website name, description, admin username, etc.
• Database Configuration: contains the information about the database Joomla! will use.
• Pre-Installation Check: These requirements must all be shown as Yes, otherwise you will not be able to install Joomla! With the exception of the PHP Version, the rest are usually controlled in the php.ini. You may need assistance from your host in correcting these settings or checking to see if it is possible to adjust them. For more information, see PHP configuration file file.
• Recommended Settings: These are settings are recommended in your PHP configuration, but will not prevent Joomla! from being installed. You can refer to the above instructions on how they may be changed.

This includes the options (at the top) for installing sample data and the server configurations (at the bottom).

Because demo content is not automatically installed. So if you need it you should also CLICK Install the Sample Data, this will help with learning about Joomla.

CMS installer runs also a series of system and server checks to ensure that Joomla will be able to install, and function correctly (check bottom of screen). If any option are not green (they'll be red and say "No") then you will need to take action to correct them. Remember those are official Joomla recommended settings. If everything is correct and all checks are passed, you may now click the Install button in the top right corner of the Overview page. 

Step 9: Press the next button to install the demo content and complete the installation.

Step 10: The installation has successfully completed. Now the final step. However, before you enjoy your new website, you have to remove the “installation” folder. Click the Remove Installation Directory button.

Before removing the installation folder you may install additional languages for both the Joomla! front-end and the back-end. If you want to add extra languages to your Joomla! application click the Install languages button.

 Now you can navigate to the Administrator log in by clicking Administrator or go right to your site by clicking Site.

The eye-catching features of Helix V2 Framework based template administration interface comes to you with options for configuring the main features for the template. As you have dropped in, having a quick glance at the following configuration options will be worth it:

Layout Control

Website can be viewed different devices and varieties of screens. On the basic section layout width can control by layout options. Layout width can be 1170px or 940px also choose your website layout type- fixed or responsive.

Logo Type

The Logo feature controls the output of the template's main logo. You can set the logo type as image or text type or none. Logo can be set in different positions.  You can also set the logo width and height. You can also specify the logo title and logo slogan, if you select logo type as text.

Footer Settings

By default Footer section of this layout has 2 columns. First column is footer1 and contain span 8 and the other column footer2 contain span 4. You can customize as you need by yourself. You can select the position where footer section will be published. Other options are Copyright- from this option you can enable/disable the display of the copyright text and input custom copyright text to be displayed, Helix V2 Logo and Joomla credits. The Copyright feature is there to control the output of the copyright text which ensures that your website’s copyright is not claimed by anyone else out of the blue.

Brand Info

We are proud of our Helix V2 framework and it has a deep meaning for us. You can show a credit info of Joomshaper also HTML & CSS validation link.

Go to Top

You can select Go To Top feature controls the output of a link/button which, when clicked, will smoothly scroll the page back to the top. From this option you can enable/disable the display of the to top button.

How to rename JoomShaper template name and folder name

Introduction

Since Joomla 1.5 there have been big changes in the Joomla! Template Manager. Right now in Joomla 3.x you cannot simply rename a template folder by using FTP to change its name, because information regarding the name are stored in different locations. This is because the Joomla! template is treated as an extension, so some information is in the database as well as in the files and language file name.

Rename before installation

There are a few solutions which may help you in this case, but here we will show you the simplest method, using a new JoomShaper template package that has just been downloaded from our download section. Please follow those steps:

1. Rename the zip filename, example from "shaper_onepage_template_only_j3.zip" to "new_template_only_j3.zip".
2. From package extract (unzip) templateDetails.xml file - to edit the xml file use your favorite text editor (Notepadd++ or other similar). Then rename template name inside.
   from:

    <name>shaper_onepage</name> 

   to (for example):

    <name>new</name>

3. Also in templateDetails.xml you can change description of template.

4. Rename the language file name according to new template name, for example, from:

<language tag="en-GB">en-GB.tpl_shaper_onepage.ini</language>

to

<language tag="en-GB">en-GB.tpl_new.ini</language>

5. Save changes, and then copy inside template package changed templateDetails.xm file.

6. Unzip from template package language file,  rename the language file according to a new name, for example, en-GB.tpl_new.ini and copy into template zip (repack). And of course you can delete language file with old name, you don't need it anymore.
7. Install this template as a new template and set as default. Don't worry it would be independent from original one even if you used QuickStart before.

Remember that renamed template may not have all settings from quickstart so you have to set them manually as they were/are in "old" one looking at them. So if you are using QS uninstall old template after you will rewrite all settings.

Note: If you want change template name after installation is request changes not only in files but also in database.