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[TomC Moderator TomCJoin date: October 2014Posts: 14077Downloads:58Uploads:137 Thanks: 948 Thanked: 3155 times in 2495 posts]

#168881

The VALUE of the QUICKSTART Installation

PREFACE:
The premise and principles of Quickstart installations are applicable to our Joomla, Magento and Drupal themes/ templates alike.
For the purposes of this posting … “Joomla” is used as the CMS example.

More and more frequently, a good number of questions and issues we see within the Community Forum and Support Ticket submissions involve members wanting either a virtual clone of a template’s demo showcase or certain aspects of their site to look “just like the demo.”

Well, this is exactly what you get with the Quickstart installation process.

Admittedly, when first starting to work with Joomla, it is easy to be resistant to utilize a Quickstart installation for a template. Some don’t like the thought of having to install another complete installation of Joomla – be it locally (XAMPP/WAMP) or on one’s web server account (if one already has an instance of Joomla running, that is). It is also understandable why the more intermediate/advanced Developers might prefer to start with more of a “blank slate” in terms of creating their own structures and content from scratch.

Nevertheless, assuming that an attraction to a particular template’s demo presentation is what encouraged/inspired one to become a JoomlArt Template Club (JATC) Member and use the template in the first place. the value of utilizing the Quickstart installation – especially for the novice-to-intermediate level user – is in being able to begin the modification/customization process from a virtual clone of the template demo as a starting point.

After all . . . Why re-invent the wheel ??

For the Joomla beginner, perhaps the even greater value is being able to view, study and learn from seeing how the template Developers configured various elements of the template (as showcased within the template’s demo) . . . learning not only how to understand such configurations, but how to create one’s own customizations – such as customizing css styling, new custom modules and creative navigation (as the mere tip of the iceberg).

To better assist our Members, JoomlArt has created several step-by-step visual tutorials for performing Quickstart installations for each of our Template/Theme Clubs . . .

JOOMLA QUICKSTART

MAGENTO QUICKSTART

DRUPAL QUICKSTART

So, for those of you who are new to Joomla and/or are not, as yet, fully comfortable with creating various elements from scratch – and if you really like some (or all) of the showcased elements of the JoomlArt Template/Theme demos – we encourage you to utilize the Quickstart installation process (also installing the sample data) and see if it makes your own learning and customizing your new website a little easier.

ADDENDUM:
For our “New To Joomla” readers, you may find additional encouragement/inspiration in reading THE THREE “P’s” – PATIENCE, PRACTICE & PERSEVERANCE

😎

As always … BEST OF LUCK with your website development journey.

1 user says Thank You to TomC for this useful post

1. webjwn

[boizan Friend boizanJoin date: October 2010Posts: 188Downloads:122Uploads:27 Thanks: 38 Thanked: 4 times in 1 posts]

#421078

Hello,
Yes I find you post very useful, but now reading about installing the sample data (it means the standard sample data that comes with Joomla?) am afraid about the result that I will get. It means that I will get the sample template, and later I will need to select JA Template as default?
Thanks,

[TomC Moderator TomCJoin date: October 2014Posts: 14077Downloads:58Uploads:137 Thanks: 948 Thanked: 3155 times in 2495 posts]

#421102

<em>@boizan 278071 wrote:</em><blockquote>Hello,
Yes I find you post very useful, but now reading about installing the sample data (it means the standard sample data that comes with Joomla?) am afraid about the result that I will get. It means that I will get the sample template, and later I will need to select JA Template as default?
Thanks,</blockquote>
The “Install Sample Data” as part of the quickstart for the template you are installing refers to the sample content you see within the demo version of the template – i.e. menu items, articles/content, configurations, etc. From that point, you can not only learn from seeing how the elements you see within the demo were styled/configured, but you can modify elements from there – thus not ‘re-inventing the wheel.”

Make sense?

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