Build your site like Demo

This is the list of steps that you need to know when you want to build a site like Demo site.

  • Check the Template release article. The article will tell you details on the compatible version (J 1.5, J 1.6, J25 or J3.x), included (free) extensions, JA T3 framework (JA T3v1, JA T3v2) or T3 framework and links to live demo, forums and downloads.
  • Now, check the download folder for the included extensions. You will need to install these one by one and configure them as per the settings in the demo site.
  • Please check the Userguide or the template, in the userguide, we provide settings of included extensions, HTML for Custom HTML Module ... so you can get and apply to your site.
  • Install the template and make it default template. The template will install with all default settings as in demo site. Configure template parameters once the complete set up is done.
  • Install the T3 plugin (available in the download section of each template) and enable it (our t3 templates need this to work). You do not need this for our non-T3 templates.

It Does not look like Demo Site ?

  1. On comparison with the demo site. You will see that it does not look like the demo site. So, what’s Missing?
  2. We use many modules / plugins in our template demo and unless those are installed and configured, the site won’t look like demo site. You can check the download folder for the template for included extensions and also in the article release page.

  3. Demo content is missing, especially the images, please note that the images can be of specific size for example the slideshow module will require specific sizes of images as JA Anion requires images of 660x330 whereas JA xxx requires sildeshow image size of yy x yy.
  4. To use the demo images, download the quickstart package, unzip it, copy the demo images from the images folder and place them in your respective image folders.
  5. Frontpage layout for articles. This will also be different for each template. You need to make sure that the main menu >> home is configured correctly for the number of intro articles, links, and so on. Refer to the screenshots in the userguide.

Next step, install the included Extensions (modules / plugins / components) and configure them.

How to start ?

2.1 Install the modules first

  • It is important to note that if you are not using the quickstart the modules will install with default settings which are way different from those used with the demo site.
  • To help with this, we provide screenshots of backend settings of each module from the demo site for your reference. So, all you have to do is install the module, then check the userguide for its settings screenshot and replicate the same in your site.
Do this for all the included modules. DO NOT try different settings at this stage please. Complete the setup and then tweak the settings.

Custom HTML Modules :

If you are trying to configure Custom HTML modules, then you will need to copy the exact code from the setting screenshot or from quickstart installation. Please remember, we use special HTML tags and div classes for the layout. So, simply typing your content may not be sufficient all the time.

2.2 Install the plugins

  • As with the case of modules, the plugins will install with their default settings, which again would be way different from the settings used in the demo site.
  • So, refer to the setting screenshot in the userguide and replicate the same for your site.

Now comes the important part - Assign menidule to specific pages

You will need to assign the modules for menu items, since the menu items would be different for your site, you will need to assign the modules as per your site pages.

Most JA Templates support third party extensions like: K2, Kunena, Virtuemart, JoomSocial ... If you want to have the third party extensions worked in your site as our demo site, you need:

  • Install the third party extension to your site (K2, Kunena, JoomSocial ...)
  • Download the package for the extensions from the download page of the template, extract it then add to your site folder.
  • Configure as demo site (check the userguide of the template, you will see a section for Third Party extension configuration.

If you are new to mega menu, then it is advised to install quickstart on your localhost and refer to each link for the settings, We are sure that it would be one time process and next time it would be easier for you to configure it.

Look at your site now. It should look same as the demo site. Now you can try to tweak the settings in the template / modules/ plugins to suit your taste.

IMPORTANT :

If you are using T3 V2 framework, then you can disable the development mode and enable the compression / optimization of CSS / JS in the template backend. Do this only after completion of your site development or the cache will interfere and you will not see your changes in the frontend.