General Documentation 2008 Template Documentation Vision2 Documentation
Vision2 Documentation
The Vision2 Joomla template was released in November 2008.
The following steps will help you to work better with the Vision2 template. Please follow the instructions and use this item as a guide for setting up your site and configuring the various options found in the template as well as the extensions and scripts that are showcased on the Vision2 demo site.
Getting Started
Choosing between the template or the quickstart.
Installing the template.
Choose this option if you already have your site created or have at least made changes to the default Joomla installation and want to overlay this theme onto your site. For a complete installation of the demo site on your server please refer to installing the quickstart package.
Installing the template is achieved using the same method as installing any other template or extension.
Installing the quickstart.
The Joomlabamboo quickstart packages are complete replicas of the particular template's demo site. They are basically the same as the Joomla installation zip except they come with the template, watermarked images and extensions you see on the demo site. They are a quick and easy way to have your site setup and ready to edit.
You can read the tutorial on installing the quickstart packages here.
Extensions used on the demo site
Extensions used on the demo site include:
- jFlickr
- JB Slideshow v3.0
- Extended menu - Superfish and Panel menus
Installing the extensions
Installing the modules.
Configuring the Extensions
Configuring the Template
Snapshot of the template configuration
- Enable jQuery - In order to use all of the jQuery javascript effecs such as the panel menu, fsuperfish menu, front page slider,hidden panel, or the JBslideshow you must set the first option to yes. Once jQuery is included in the template then there is noneed to include it anywhere else on your site. Some of our modules also use jQuery and if you are using them please set the option to no to include jQuery in the module administrator.
- Superfish Menu - Set this option yo yes if you want to use the superfish menu. The first jQuery option must be set to yes. If you set the superfish menu to know then the superfish menu will degrade to a standard suckerfish menu using the Extended menu module.
- Template Width - This option determines the default width set for the template on your website.
- Main Body Layout - The Main body layout determines the positioning of the left module position, the right module position and the main content. There are three settings: left module then right module then main content, left module then main content then right module and main content then left module then right module.
Slider Configuration
- Slider Height - This option configures the slider height for within the template
- Slider Duration - This option is set to determine the time it takes for one slide to show.
- Slider Labels - This is the labels assigned to each slide on the template.
Hidden Panel Configuration
- Panel Title - This is the title that will show up on the tab for the hidden panel.
- Panel Speed - The time length taken for the hidden panel to appear once it has be initiated.
Layout and module positions
Vision has a whopping total of 28 module positions available and 3 different main content area layouts. Most of the module positions are collapsible which means that this template is extremely flexible and its quite easy to create a unique format and layout for your site.
Modules in the top area.
- The hidden panel contains the module position called cpanel and the link to the hidden panel and the panel are only published if you have a module published to the cpanel position
- The slideshow is published to the banner position.
- The logo at the very top left is a background image in the css file and can be found in the images directory of your template. The source file can be found in the source zip in the Joomla Bamboo download area.
- The module position user1 is posiitoned directly above the logo.
- The top right menu is positioned at the user 2 position and is a basic Joomla menu module with the flat list attribute.
- The search module is positioned to the user4 position.
- The spiele beside the logo in the center of the header area is a custom html module in the inset position.
- The Superfish menu is positioned at the user 3 module position and uses the extended menu module to create the beautiful suckerfish that you see here on the demo. Please take the time to read the tutorial on setting up the superfish menu elsewhere on the demo site.
- The pathway and the date are published in the index.php in J1.0 file and the templateadministrator in J1.5.
Modules in the main content body.
- The modules in the main bodyinclude the usual left and right positions which vary in their position according to the layout you have selected in the template administration.
- The top position is positioned directly underneath the date and pathway elements and stretches to the full width of the template.
- The Advert 1 position sits above the main content while Advert 2 sits below the main content.
The slider
- The titles for the slider are set in the index.php file for Joomla 1.0 and the administrator area for the template in Joomla 1.5.
- The slider slides upto 9 module positions called slide1, slide2, slide3, slide4, slide5, slide6, slide7, slide8 and slide9. If you are using Joomla 1.0 then you need to create the module positions in the module position manager. If you are using Joomla 1.5 then simply select them from the drop down list when you are setting up the module in the module admin.
Modules in the bottom area.
The bottom area of the template contains the footer module position on the left and the bottom position on the right.
Menus
Superfish menu
1. Install Extended Menu module v1.06 for use on Joomla 1.5.
2. Install the module by using the Joomla module installer.
3. Publish the module to the module position called menu or in older templates to the top position.
4. Disable the module title.
5. Select the menu you want to use.
6. Select flat list as the menu type.
7. Set expand menu to yes.
8. Set use menu template to yes.
9. Set the menu path to superfish/menu.html if its not already set.
Here are some screenshots of the admin panel so you can see exactly the way we have created the drop down effect.
Panel Menu
The Panel Menu is an accordion like menu effect that utilises the extended menu module and presnt your menu items in a sliding panel based menu. Its ideal for displaying a large number of links with a small footprint. The setup for the accordion menu is pretty much the same as the superfish menu except for one key difference - instead of using the superfish/menu.html template the menu uses the accordion/menu.html template. 1. Install v1.05 of the extended menu module if you havent done so already. 2. Publish the module to either the left, right or inset position depending on your layout configuration. 3. Disable the module title. 4. Select the menu you want to use. 5. Select flat list as the menu type. 6. Set expand menu to yes. 7. Set use menu template to yes. 8. Set the menu path to accordion/menu.html if its not already set. Here is a snapshot of the settings used to generate the panel menu.
working with hidden Panel
In order to publish the hidden panel on your site all you need to do is publish any module to the 'cpanel' position. In the template admin you can also change the time that the panel takes to open.
The trigger for the panel automatically appears at the top right of the screen whenever any of these positions have modules published to them.
Slideshow3 Settings
