Documentation
Requirements
Who are these Templates for
Live Demo
What's in the Templates package
Installation
Using the Template
Support
Requirements
Our Templates are compatible with CMS Made Simple
2.2.16.
Modules required like Gallery, FormBuilder, CGBlog etc. - please refer to each template for additional information and exact info on modules requirements
Who are these Templates for
Templates on this site are suitable for web developers, designers and site admins that have at least basic knowledge of working with CMS Made Simple.
If you are new to CMS Made Simple please visit:
http://www.cmsmadesimple.org - official site
https://docs.cmsmadesimple.org - CMSMS documentation
http://forum.cmsmadesimple.org - project forum
Live Demo
Eeach Template has a Live Demo link which is strongly recommended to check. Live Demo will show you the Template in action along with additional information on what is available, how to use it etc.
What's in the Templates package
- Theme XML file, which contains: CMSMS customizable template, Menu Manager template, full stylesheet, design images, js files
- Gallery XML files for Slider and Photo gallery
- News Summary and Detail templates
- Search template
- FormBuilder template
- Instructions - README_FIRST.txt
* each Template package could be slightly different, please refer to Details page of the Template of interest
* photos not included - images for slider and gallery in Live Demo are copyrighted material and are not included within a package
Installation
Please keep in mind that this is a general procedure. Each Template package contains README_FIRST.txt file with installation instructions for that particular template.
In this tutorial, we are using a generic template name 'tpl-buddy-id', where 'id' is actual number of your Template (001, 002 and so on).
Before installing the Template
- Install latest version of CMS Made Simple
- Install Modules (latest versions) as stated in README_FIRST.txt (like Module Gallery, FormBuilder, GBFilePicker etc.)
- Unpack Template package (zip archive) to the local folder
- To open and copy .txt files from a package use plain text editor (like Notepad or similar)
- Please install this Template on a test environment first. This way you can examine it and see what is available, different content parts etc.
If you want to install it directly on a live site, backup your old site first (all files and database)!
Importing the Template (through sites Admin panel)
- Go to 'Layout > Theme Manager > Import' , click Browse button, select tpl-buddy-id.xml file and choose 'Import'.
* If xml file fails to import, please move to MANUAL INSTALLATION section. - Go to 'Layout > Templates', find row tpl-buddy-id:Default and click on the red cross in the column "Default" to make it Default (this should also make it Active). Click 'Set All Pages' as well.
* after this step you should have all the files (images, scripts) in a folder uploads/tpl-buddy-id.
News set up (through sites Admin panel)
- Go to 'Content > News > Summary Templates', click 'Create a New Template', name it (like newsSummary), delete all defualt code and copy/paste code from News/newsSummary.txt. Click Submit. Make this template a Default one.
- Go to 'Content > News > Detail Templates', click 'Create a New Template', name it (like newsDetail), delete all defualt code and copy/paste code from News/newsDetail.txt. Click Submit. Make this template a Default one.
Tip: changing the News sliding effect
Default effect for sliding News is scrollUp. If you want to change it, open the js file: uploads/tpl-buddy-id/news-banner.js and change the line fx: 'scrollUp' to for instance fx: 'fade'. Save the file and overwrite this file on your server.
Search set up (through sites Admin panel)
- Go to 'Extensions > Search > Search Template', select and delete all code in a textarea, then copy/paste code from Search/searchTemplate.txt. Click Submit.
Gallery module set up (through sites Admin panel)
- Go to 'Content > Gallery > Templates tab', Import template via XML file, click Browse, choose file Gallery/Gallery-tpl-buddySlider.xml. Click Save.
- Go to 'Content > Gallery > Templates tab', Import template via XML file, click Browse, choose file Gallery/Gallery-tpl-buddyGallery.xml. Click Save.
* now you should see two Gallery templates in a list, ready to be used - buddyGallery and buddySlider - Go to 'Content > Gallery > Field definitions tab', click on 'Add Field Definition' and fill out as follows:
Name: link
Type: Text Input
Field properties: 255
Apply field for: Images
Public: ON (checked)
Click Save.
Menu Manager set up (through sites Admin panel)
- Go to 'Layout > Menu Manager, and check if the simple_navigation.tpl is a Default one. If it is not, set it by clicking on a red cross (turn to green check mark) in a row simple_navigation.tpl.
Form Builder set up (through sites Admin panel)
- Go to 'Extensions > Form Builder > XML Form Import', click Upload form from XML file (Browse) and choose file FormBuilder/form-buddy.xml. Click Upload.
Click on a form-buddy name in a forms list and adjust Form Fields, set emails etc.
* this is just a form theme - you should set all parameters for both CMSMailer and FormBuilder to make the form work
Logo image replacement (through ftp connection)
- In a folder uploads/tpl-buddy-id find and replace (overwrite this file on your server) the file logo.png (check exact size in README_FIRST.txt) with your own logo image. We provided logo image with a text 'CompanyLogo' just as a placeholder.
Using the Template
It is very important that you did finish Installation steps carefully, that you set tpl-buddy-id as a default template and applied to all pages of the site. We will show you how to use our Templates to achieve same result as in Live Demo.
* there is no template that could cover all possible situations - feel free to modify the Template to your needs.
Setting up Image/Content Slider
For an Image/Content Slider in the Template we use Module Gallery along with jQuery Nivo Slider plugin.
To achieve good quality output, upload images of at least 1024px width, as module will resize it down automatically.
Go to 'Content > Gallery > Galleries tab', click Add subgallery and fill out 'New directory name' field.
Type in the name you want, like 'slider' or so but remember it or write it down for later use when adding/editing content.
Gallery Title and Comment fields: leave empty.
Template dropdown: select buddySlider.
Click Save.
After you saved your gallery, part for adding images will show up.
Click 'Add images', browse an image from your local drive and wait for upload to finish. Your first image should show in a list. Fill the Title and Comment field - these will show as a text in a slider (beside an image). Click Save (important!). To make 'Read more' link work (or in some templates linked image), click on 'Edit Image details' and fill out the 'link' field with actual link that this slide should point to. Click Save.
Repeat above step for second image and so on. If you leave just one image in a gallery, slider will be static (no sliding content).
Now we can move on, just remember gallery folder name you choose for your slider.
Tip: changing the slider effect
Default effect for sliding images/content is fade (or random). If you want to change it, open the js file: uploads/tpl-buddy-id/init.js and change the line fx: 'fade' to for instance fx: 'scrollLeft'. Save the file and overwrite this file on your server.
Adding News articles
We assume that you installed News templates for Summary and Detail (and set these to Defualt) as described in our Installation guide. Now you just need to add articles as a standard procedure in CMSMS, with summary and detail (content) fields.
We show 3 News articles per page in a Summary view, which shows in a sidebar of a page.
To see sliding News effect, you need at least 2 News articles created.
Template explained
* Each Template has its own customizable parts, so check Live Demo and Template details to see what is available.
Go to 'Content > Pages' and click on a 'Home' page from a list to edit it. We assume that you have installed default content initially. If not, the same explanation is valid for adding a new page.
As we use Tab feature within a {content}
tag, you will see few tabs available for editing. Usually there are Main, Header, Sidebar, Footer, Options etc. Each Template has its own editable content parts that were divided into logical tabs, so please refer to details page of the Template of interest.
Creating a Photo Gallery
For a standard photo gallery, we use Module Gallery along with Fancybox script for opening images.
Before creating a gallery, set resizing image format that suits your needs.
Go to Content > Gallery > Options tab, you will see following 'Before upload, resize big images to these maximum sizes' - defaults are width:800px, height:640px. We usually use 640x480px format. Click Save.
Go to 'Content > Gallery > Galleries tab' and click Add subgallery.
Type in 'New directory name' field - for example 'photos'.
Type in Gallery Title and Comment (description) that will show on a page before thumbnails.
Template dropdown: select buddyGallery.
Check 'Hide link to parent gallery'.
Click Save.
After you saved your gallery, part for adding images will show up.
Click 'Add images', browse an image from your local drive and wait for upload to finish. Your first image should show in a list. Fill the Title field - this will show as caption text in a Fancybox image window. Click Save (important!).
Repeat above step for second image in photo gallery and so on.
Now open the page that will contain photo gallery and in a standard content block add: {Gallery dir='photos'}. If you choose another directory name for your gallery, change a call according to that.
Adding Contact Form to a page
Assuming that you have imported provided form as described in Installation part, just add following code to the content block of a page: {FormBuilder form='form-buddy'}.
Important: this is just a form theme - you should set all parameters for both CMSMailer and FormBuilder to make the form work.
Adding a Sitemap to a page
This is rather simple, just add following code to the content block of a page: {site_mapper}
Support
For support regarding Templates installation and usage, you may contact us.
We do not provide support related to CMS itself, Modules installation / usage, or hosting/server support.
Please keep in mind that customization is not regular Template support.