SMF install steps
-
-
Hello Everyone,
Is there any existing documentation for installing smf and the rocket smf themes?
Thanks,
Carol
-
-
-
I can't comment on the RocketTheme's SMF templates (I'm not a member of the SMF club yet, but Bloc's first release is spectacular), but as far as SMF goes in general, it's quite easy. I'm going to work under the assumption the template is stored "properly" to match SMF's install system.
Basically, you'll want to get into your SMF admin area. Once there, on the left side menu area, hit the option that says "Themes and Layout". That'll take you to the general theme control area.
On that page, near the bottom, you'll see options to install a new theme. Usually you're either working off a RAR/ZIP file, or have already FTP'd the folder to your server. SMF is set up great, you can just tell it the location of the archive file that holds your new template. Hit the browse button and locate your new template archive file. Once done, hit the install button. SMF will automatically install the new template and take care of everything for you.
The last thing you'll (probably) want to do is set the template as default/override everyone's template settings. On that same "Themes and Layout" page you can tell SMF which template to use as default, and also tell it to overrride any previous user theme selections if you wish. (Most people I would think would only want to use one template, and not give users the option to chage it) Set both fields to the name of the template you sent, and you're set to go.
-
-
- Thanks Donna for your help. I've installed the smf forum ok with the fire theme template. I'm not sure if I need to install the smf/joomla bridge. Under what circumstances would I install the bridge?
-
-
-
If you use any Joomla modules that needs to track a user (blogging, anything with comments, Flyspray, etc etc) you want the bridge, otherwise your users will have to deal with two login's, which is just a pain in the butt.
If your site is 100% static that a user can't really interact with, except the forums, you can probably get away without the bridge. (Just for example, I play World of Warcraft off and on. The main site just displays news, FAQ's, and the like, I can't really do anything, but I can post on their forums and such.. that would sum up an un-bridged site)
99% of the time tho you're probably going to want it bridged. Basically it's tying the Joomla and SMF user databases together, so a user would only need to log in once. It takes all of 5 minutes to install if you follow the directions. Can't comment on the other one, but I've been using the one by Orstio from the SMF forums, and it works great. Un-publish the default login module and use the one with the bridge, and have SMF handle new user registrations, not Joomla. (SMF's registration system is much nicer, plus you got CAPTCHA and so on, much better at stopping spambots in their tracks)
-
-
-
Thanks again Donna for explaining the bridge. It makes much more sense now. I did install one of the bridges earlier and got some error message. Maybe it's because I did that first before installing smf? But, I'll give the Orstio one a try.
So, for all of you fellow newbies, when attempting this, install smf first, then install the smf theme from the smf administration page. (I originally thought I had to install all of this from the joomla side.)
-
-
-
No problem -- and yes, there's a few things that'll easily trip you up if you're not aware of it.
- Make sure SMF is functioning before installing the bridge. (I believe I tried that once my first time, installed the bridge before actually having a working SMF forum.. it failed spectacularly, and I'm not positive but I think the resulting crash set my neighbor's dog on fire)
- Users will be set via the SMF control panel, for the most part you can forget the user administration area in Joomla.
- Joomla and SFM have two seperate templates and are installed in seperate areas. (Fudging them to play nicely together is a topic you'll find elsewhere)
- And just keep in mind you have two admin areas in general.. the SMF one handles users and everything related to the forums itself (mods, templates etc etc), and the Joomla one controls the rest of the site.
I can't say on the one bridge, but the one by Orstio is pretty simple to figure out, and the support on the SMF forums for it is great, helpful bunch. Pretty much everything you can think of has been asked already, just poke thru it and you're set.
-
Time to create page: 0.046 seconds