Fresh Install - Template Messed Up?

One of the most asked questions we get in our support ticket system, is why a particular template is 'messed up, broken, not right, etc etc' upon first installation.

The following is taken from a tutorial on how to set up the Onyx template with Joomla 3, however, there are some concepts that might help a user of any Joomlashack template understand why a template does not look like the demo right out of the box.

This information is not designed to help you set up any particular template besides Onyx (for that please see the template documentation in the demo of the template you are seeking help with) but it is important as a user of Joomla to grasp some concepts that will make life a little easier as you learn how to use this sometimes confusing system.

Default Template installed

This is how our Onyx template with demo content looks, within the style variations.

Colors dark

So you've installed Joomla successfully, and now you want to us a profession template. First you need to install your template. For help with installing that template, see the tutorial 'How do I install a Joomlashack Template'

Joomlashack Template installed

This is how Onyx template looks without the demo content.

onyx sample install no demo

You've successfuly installed your template and set it as the 'default', and gone to view your wonderful new template... and WHOA! It looks like something went terribly wrong!

...it's not all that bad - you just need to do some simple template setup now. Keep reading and it will all look good in a time.

First Things First - know your available module positions!

module positions

Before you can put things where they belong (or where you want them), or move things from where they don't belong, you need to know what module positions are available with your particular template. Each template demo contains a 'Module Map'. The module map will outline your available module positions. This is the Module Map for Onyx, to view the module map for your particular template, see the Demos.

Where is my menu?

You'll notice in the default template (Protostar), that menu module is published nicely to the 'position-1' position. When you change the default template to the Onyx template (in this example), you need to change that menu module to the 'menu' postion.

Know your available module styles

module styles sample

module styles sample 2

Just as you need to know what module positions are avaialbe if you want to put things where you want them - you also need to know the styles that are available for your particular template. And just as each demo contains a Module Map ... guess what?.... they also contain info on what styles are at your disposal!

The above image shows the 'Module Class Suffixes' and corresponding formatting for the Onyx template (for your template's available suffixes, see the demo).

Add the suffix.

The module itself will gain styles based on the Module Class Suffix, which is added in the module's parameters as seen in the screenshot below:

module class suffix

 

Remember, if you need help further assistance after viewing this information and the documentation for your template, please submit a ticket (only available for customers).

Thanks for using Joomlashack's template, and Have Fun!

CSS Grid #11: How to Place Items with Grid Template Areas

How to Name the CSS Grid Lines

Welcome to the 11th tutorial in our series on the CSS Grid.

We are presenting this series to help Joomla developers learn about CSS Grid. The introduction of CSS Grid will be one of the major changes in upcoming Joomla 4.

In past tutorials, you learned how to place items on a grid using the span keyword and/or using a line-based placement.

There’s another method for placing items on a grid. You can create areas inside the grid with your own specific names and then position the items

Read more: CSS Grid #11: How to Place Items with Grid Template Areas

How to Use Marker Clustering in Shack Locations Pro

Introduction to Shack Locations Pro Marker Clusters

Shack Locations allows you to create a map directory on your Joomla site. Using Shack Locations, you can display multiple places on a map, each with their own custom marker.

Shack Locations Pro offers a ton of extra, really cool features. One of these features is "Marker Clustering". This enables you to group markers together if you have multiple locations that are close to one another.

Read more: How to Use Marker Clustering in Shack Locations Pro

Shack Editorial Calendar Is Now Live at Joomlashack

Shack Editorial Calendar Is Now Live at Joomlashack

We are happy to announce that Shack Editorial Calendar is now available for Joomlashack members.

Shack Editorial Calendar is designed for people with busy Joomla sites. With this extension, you can manage large amounts of Joomla articles. You can create, edit and schedule all your content from a single calendar screen.

Shack Editorial Calendar is the second of several extensions we'll be launching as part of our acquisition deal with PixPro Labs. This extension was previously called PixPublish.

This is the 25th extension available for Joomlashack members!

Read more: Shack Editorial Calendar Is Now Live at Joomlashack

OSYouTube Has New Settings for Related Videos and Your Video Display

No Info Setting and Changed Related Video Setting in OSYouTube 3.8.12

We recently posted about our plans to change the OSYouTube Pro Joomla plugin. The OSYouTube Pro 3.3.12 release implements those changes.

This update is needed because Google is making some signifcant changes to how embeds are displayed. In short, you will have less control over the display of your video title and the YouTube logo. You will also lose the ability to disable the "Related Videos" feature.

Read more: OSYouTube Has New Settings for Related Videos and Your Video Display

CSS Grid #10: How to Name Grid Lines

How to Name the CSS Grid Lines

Welcome to the 10th tutorial in our series on the CSS Grid.

We are presenting this series to help Joomla developers learn about CSS Grid. The introduction of CSS Grid will be one of the major changes in upcoming Joomla 4.

In the previous tutorial, you learned how to place grid items according to the numbered lines that compose the grid.

As humans though, we find much easier to process names rather than numbers. 

In this tutorial, you will learn how to name the lines that compose the CSS Grid.

Let's start!

Read more: CSS Grid #10: How to Name Grid Lines

What Is a Legend in Shack Locations?

What Is a Legend in Shack Locations?

In one of our previous blog posts, you learned what a location type in the Shack Locations map directory extension is.

You learned that a location type is actually a cornerstone of a Shack Locations map directory.

A Shack Locations location type always belongs to a Shack Locations legend. 

In this definition blog post, you will learn what a Shack Locations legend is.

Read more: What Is a Legend in Shack Locations?

What Is a Location Type in Shack Locations?

What Is a Location Type in Shack Locations?

We launched a new extension Shack Locations, formerly FocalPoint a few days ago. Shack Locations is the best Joomla extension to create an easily searchable map directory with multiple locations.

The Location Type feature is one of the cornerstones of a Shack Locations map directory.

In this blog post, you will learn what the Location Type feature is and take a look at one of its practical applications. 

Read more: What Is a Location Type in Shack Locations?

YouTube is Changing Their API So We're Updating OSYouTube

YouTube is Changing Their API So We're Updating OSYouTube

Starting from September 25, we will be making some changes in our OSYouTube Joomla plugin.

In this blog post, you will learn what exactly will be changed and why we are making these changes.

Read more: YouTube is Changing Their API So We're Updating OSYouTube

Shack Locations is Now Live at Joomlashack

We are happy to announce that Shack Locations is now available for Joomlashack members.

Shack Locations is based on FocalPoint,  an excellent extension, originally developed by John Pitchers. 

Two of our extensions already support Google Maps. Both OSEmbed and Shack Toolbox allows you to show Google Maps in Joomla. 

However, the FocalPoint extension goes much, much further. 

With FocalPoint, you can create advanced map-based directories with custom legends, markers, infoboxes and hundreds of locations. You can define the content for each location using CCK functionality. You can also give your users the ability to search and filter all the locations.

Read more: Shack Locations is Now Live at Joomlashack