Manual VEMACO 2.8. for Joomla 2.5

Manual VEMACO 2.8 for Joomla 2.5

Content 1 Introduction... 4 2 Installation... 5 2.1 Update... 6 3 Features... 7 3.1 Global configuration... 8 3.1.1 The global parameters of VEMACO... 8 3.1.2 Vehicle classes... 10 3.1.3 Makes... 11 3.1.3.1 Create new makes... 11 3.1.4 Models... 11 3.1.4.1 Create new model... 12 3.1.5 Vehicle class attributes... 12 3.1.5.1 Creating new attributes for a vehicle class... 13 3.1.5.2 Creating options for an attribute... 14 3.1.5.3 Creating search options for an attribute... 16 3.1.6 Frontend configuration... 16 3.1.7 Prices... 17 3.1.8 Extras... 17 3.2 Vehicles view... 17 3.2.1 Create a vehicle... 18 3.2.2 Upload images... 19 3.2.3 Edit images of a vehicle... 19 3.3 Dealer Management... 20 3.3.1 Create Dealer... 20 3.3.2 Create contact persons... 20 3.3.3 Rights management... 21 3.3.4 The Frontend... 21 3.4 Reports... 22 3.4.1 Sold vehicles... 22 3.4.2 Turnover analysis... 22 3.4.3 Vehicle Inventory... 22 3.5 Translation... 23 3.6 Import... 24 3.7 Export... 25 3.8 Open / Save import files in MS Excel... 25 3.9 Menu items... 26 4 Additional Features... 27 4.1 VEMACO Module Manager... 27 4.2 VEMACO Search Module... 27 4.3 Editor Plug-in... 27 5 Errors... 28 WERI-Design GbR 2

Table of figures Figure 1 - Installation... 5 Figure 2 - Main Menu... 7 Figure 3 Global configuration... 8 Figure 4 Vehicle class overview... 10 Figure 5 Create a vehicle class... 11 Figure 6 Create a new model... 12 Figure 7 Attributes... 12 Figure 8 Create a new attribute... 13 Figure 9 Create a new attribute... 14 Figure 10 Create a new option for an attribute... 15 Figure 11 Create a new option for an attribute (parent)... 15 Figure 12 Configure search options for an attribute... 16 Figure 13 Create a new search option for an attribute... 16 Figure 14 Editing Frontend view... 16 Figure 15 Vehicle options... 18 Figure 16 Vehicle Information... 18 Figure 17 Vehicle Metadata... 19 Figure 18 Dealer list... 20 Figure 19 - Contact persons... 20 Figure 20 Main report screen... 22 Figure 21 Vehicle inventory... 22 Figure 22 Translations... 23 Figure 23 Import... 24 Figure 24 Export... 25 Figure 25 Menu options... 26 Figure 26 VEMACO Module... 27 WERI-Design GbR 3

1 Introduction VEMACO (Vehicle management component) is a component for the open source Content- Management-System Joomla. With VEMACO 2.7 you as a dealer can manage and offer your available vehicles of a different vehicle class (e.g. cars, motorbikes, caravans, trucks, etc). At the moment there are more than 6,000 vehicle models included. It is possible to create own and individual vehicle classes with own attributes for each vehicle class. SO if you want to store more information to a vehicle you can add more attributes and decide how the new attribute should be displayed in the frontend (e.g. dropdown, checkbox, textfield, etc.) In VEMACO 2.7 also a multiple dealer management system is implemented. This functionality allows to manage the vehicles of different dealers. VEMACO is divided into two parts. The frontend is for the presentation of your vehicles to the internet user. The backend is for administration and the reports. WERI-Design GbR 4

2 Installation The installation will be started with the upload of the VEMACO package with the installation function in Joomla backend. After the upload the following screen will be shown: Figure 1 - Installation Here you can install all the preconfigured VEMACO data (vehicle classes, makes, models, attributes, extras,...) in different languages. NOTE: The installation do NOT include the language files for the Joomla! backend and frontend. Just the English files are included. All other files you can download from the download section on the website of WERI-Design GbR (www.weri-design.de). First of all you have to choose your main language (Step 1). The selected language will be installed for the whole backend administration of VEMACO. After that you can choose optionally additional languages. With this option the translation of the preconfigured vehicle attributes for the frontend will be installed. NOTE: If you have made changes to the templates/default folder, make a backup of this folder before updating the component; otherwise all files will be overwritten. WERI-Design GbR 5

2.1 Update VEMACO 2.7 supports an automatic update by installing the install packages of the Component, Modules and Plugin. IMPORTANT: BEFORE UPDATING TO VEMACO 2.7 MAKE A COMPLETE BACKUP OF YOUR SYSTEM. The backup should include the folders: - images/vemaco - administrator/components/com_vemaco - components/com_vemaco - modules/com_vemaco - modules/mod_vemaco_search Furthermore make a complete backup of the database. For a backup we recommend the Joomla! extension AkeebaBackup. NOTE: It is only possible to update to VEMACO 2.7 from a VEMACO version newer than 2.5. To update from an older version of VEMACO to version 2.7 you have to update to version 2.6 first. All older install packages you can download from the download section on the WERI-Design GbR website (www.weri-design.de). After the update you have to reconfigure all frontend menu items and VEMACO modules because of the new database names and changed views because of the possibility to create own vehicle classes. WERI-Design GbR 6

3 Features The VEMACO administration is reachable under the menu item Components. The main menu of VEMACO consists 7 items: Figure 2 - Main Menu Vehicles List view of your available vehicles Dealer Dealer management Reports Different Reports of the vehicle inventory Global configuration Global parameters and managing of vehicle classes and the attributes Translation Frontend translations for the attributes and vehicle data Import XML-Import of vehicles Export XML-Export of the vehicle inventory WERI-Design GbR 7

3.1 Global configuration Figure 3 Global configuration In the global configuration dialog the user has the possibility to edit several configurations of VEMACO. 3.1.1 The global parameters of VEMACO The global parameters of VEMACO can be edited by clicking on the Options button on the top right. The following parameters can be edited: General configuration Templates Automatic offer number Presentation of vehicle images Lightbox Maximum number of images Dimensions (width, height) of the images Thumbnail Dimensions (width, height) of the thumbnails The user can create individual templates for the frontend. All templates are located under components/com_vemaco/ templates Enable if the offer number should be generated automatically Selection of the type the images in the vehicle detail view should be displayed. JavaScript Slideshow or HTML-Method. Selection of lightbox type (Lytebox, Slimbox, Joomla Standard - without navigation function) Allows setting the maximum number of images, which can be uploaded for each vehicle. If the number will be reduced afterwards and vehicles existing, where more images available than the new parameter allows, all images will be shown. Note: Changes affects only new stored images Note: Changes affects only new stored images WERI-Design GbR 8

Currencies VAT Email Captcha Print icon Here you can add or delete used currencies. Currencies will be comma separated. Amount of VAT rate in percent Email addresses the messages of the contact form should be send to. Multiple addresses have to be comma separated. Selection of the captcha plug-in that should be used. The settings for the plug-in must be set in the plug-in area of Joomla. Display icon for print view in vehicle detail view Dealer settings User group Dealer information Contact person Dealer logo Dealer name Legally represented by Address Phone Fax Email The Joomla user group for new contact persons Enable if the dealer information should be displayed for a vehicle ad Enable if the contact persons should be displayed Enable if the dealer logo should be displayed. Enable if the dealer name should be displayed. Enable if the legally represented person should be displayed. Enable if the dealer address should be displayed. Enable if the dealers phone number should be displayed. Enable if the dealers fax number should be displayed. Enable if the dealers email should be displayed. Website Enable if the dealers website should be displayed. TAX-ID Enable if the dealers TAX-ID should be displayed. Additional text Department Title Name Enable if the additional text should be displayed. Enable if the department of the contact person should be displayed. Enable if the title (job description) of the contact person should be displayed. Enable if the name of the contact person should be displayed. WERI-Design GbR 9

Phone Fax Mobile Contact Email Enable if the phone number of the contact person should be displayed. Enable if the fax number of the contact person should be displayed. Enable if the mobile phone of the contact person should be displayed. Enable if the email of the contact person should be displayed. General vehicle configuration Price Discount price Labels vehicle list Display price search Thousand separator VAT Extras Images Contact form Enable if the price should be displayed. Enable if the discount price should be displayed. Enable if the label of the attribute should be displayed in the frontend vehicle list (e.g. Doors: 4 doors otherwise 4 doors ). Option for choosing between 1 dropdown field or 2 separated dropdowns. Choose dot, comma or inverted comma, (e.g. 1.000 / 1,000 / 1 000 ) Choose the option for the VAT text. Enable if the extras of a vehicle should be displayed. Enable if the images of a vehicle should be displayed. Enable if the contact form should be displayed. 3.1.2 Vehicle classes In this configuration dialog there is the opportunity to set a vehicle class to published or unpublished. If a vehicle class is unpublished it is no longer available in all filter options and no new vehicle of this class can be created. Furthermore one vehicle class can be set as Standard. The standard vehicle class is preselected in all vehicle class filter dropdowns. Figure 4 Vehicle class overview WERI-Design GbR 10

Create new vehicle class By clicking the New button in the vehicle class overview the following screen will be shown: Figure 5 Create a vehicle class After editing the user can save the vehicle class. The alias of the vehicle class will be used for all vehicle class specific database tables. So after creating a new vehicle class don t change the alias! 3.1.3 Makes In this configuration dialog there is the opportunity to set a make to published or unpublished. By clicking on the name the make can be edited. Besides this the user can create or delete a make by clicking on the menu item on the right top menu. Available filter options: State Vehicle class 3.1.3.1 Create new makes By clicking the new button on the top right a new make can be created. But first of all you have to choose in the filter the vehicle class to which the new make should be assigned. 3.1.4 Models In this configuration dialog there is the opportunity to set a model to published or unpublished. By clicking on the model name the model can be edited. Besides this the user can create or delete a model by clicking on the menu item on the right top menu. Available filter options: State Vehicle class Make WERI-Design GbR 11

3.1.4.1 Create new model First of all you have to choose the vehicle class for which you want to create a new model. After that you can create a new model by clicking on the New button. Figure 6 Create a new model After choosing the make you can entry the new model name and the status of this model. 3.1.5 Vehicle class attributes The most powerful feature of VEMACO is the individual attributes feature. The overview shows all configured attributes for all vehicles. Figure 7 Attributes The ordering of the attributes manages the order of the attributes in the vehicle edit view. WERI-Design GbR 12

3.1.5.1 Creating new attributes for a vehicle class First of all you have to set the filter in the overview to this vehicle class for which you want to create a new attribute. Figure 8 Create a new attribute The Name field is the internal name of the field in the backend. The Title will be shown in the frontend. For field type Dropdown (one) you can select a parent attribute. This could be the make, the model, or each other attribute of type Dropdown (one). If a parent attribute is selected, the attribute will be directly connected with this parent attribute. In the frontend it will be displayed as a dynamic / chained list. So you have to select a value of the parent attribute first and after that you can select a value that depends on this selected value. (More information in chapter 3.1.5.2) Now you have to set which type of field your attribute is: Field type Text Checkbox (one) Date Dropdown (one) Text area with Editor Text area Description A normal text field A normal checkbox A date field with a calendar A dropdown where you can select only one option. Options can be configured in attributes list view. A text area with the editor of Joomla A text area without the editor of Joomla 2 text fields Two text fields will be displayed, e.g. can be used for HSN / TSN in Germany. Month / Year Headline Two dropdowns with month and year. It is necessary to set the Years parameter. This can be used for structuring the frontend vehicle details view to build up groups in the frontend, e.g. Motor details, Environmental details,.... WERI-Design GbR 13

The unit can also be edited, e.g. km/h or miles. On the right side, other options can be set (depending on the field type): - Required: Is it a required field during the creating process of the vehicle - Size: Insert the size of e.g. the text field. - Search type: Choose the option which you like to have in the search module in frontend - Values: Which values or format should be allowed to insert - Cols / Rows: Define the number of columns and rows of the text area The following search types can be selected: - Text: A single text field - 2 Dropdowns: Two dropdown boxes to select a from-to value. If selected Dropdown as attribute type the two drop down boxes contain the configured options. Just works with integer values. - 1 Dropdown: Contains the options of the dropdown attribute, or if selected Text as attribute type you can configure special search options in the attribute list view. - 2 Text fields: Two text fields from a from-to selection - Years 1 Dropdown: Show a drop down list of years. In the parameter Years you have to specify how many years should be shown. Positive values are years to the future, negative values to the past. (e.g. 5: Shows 5 years to the future; -7: Shows 7 years to the past) - Years 2 Dropdown: 2 drop down lists of years to select a from-to value - 3.1.5.2 Creating options for an attribute If you have created an attribute as a dropdown field, you have the possibility to insert the options which can be selectable in the frontend. For this please go to the attribute overview and click on the Edit options link. Figure 9 Create a new attribute WERI-Design GbR 14

Figure 10 Create a new option for an attribute Name: Each option has a name. This is the value that is shown in the dropdown field. Image: You can select an image for each option. The image must be stored in the folder: administrator/components/com_vemaco/images/attribute_options Show Image: Choose how the value should be shown in frontend vehicle list and vehicle detail view if an image is selected. You can either show the image and the name of the attribute, or just the image or just the name. Parent: If in the attribute options a parent attribute is configured, you can select to which parent option the current attribute option should be connected. Figure 11 Create a new option for an attribute (parent) In this example an attribute Engine type was created this the parent attribute Model. For that attribute an option 1.4 TSI was created, which is connected to several models of make Volkswagen. In the frontend there will be only displayed the option 1.4 TSI in the list if one of the selected models is chosen (e.g. Golf). WERI-Design GbR 15

3.1.5.3 Creating search options for an attribute If you have chosen the attribute type Text and the search option Dropdown you can configure which values should be shown in the search field. Figure 12 Configure search options for an attribute Figure 13 Create a new search option for an attribute For each search option you have to enter a name and a value. The Name will be shown in dropdown list. the Search option value is the value for the search. For this value you have to choose how this should be compared. 3.1.6 Frontend configuration Figure 14 Editing Frontend view Now with VEMACO 2.6 you can display and show only these features on the frontend which you would like to have. You only have to drag and drop the field from the right list to the left view and its location. This must be done for all vehicle classes, because some fields are vehicle class specific. The following frontend views can be configured: WERI-Design GbR 16

- Vehicle list (the list of the vehicles) - Vehicle (The vehicle detail view) - Search (The vehicle search form) - Module VEMACO - Module Search 3.1.7 Prices In the prices section you can configure the list of prices that should be shown in the price search field in frontend. So you can create for each vehicle class an individual list of price. 3.1.8 Extras Here you can add, edit and delete extras of each vehicle class which can be checked or unchecked during the entry process of a vehicle (e.g. ABS, Sun roof, etc.). 3.2 Vehicles view The detailed vehicle view shows all available vehicles in the system VEMACO. For each vehicle class there is an own list. The columns are: Checkbox field Column Picture (shows the preview picture of the vehicle)+ Column Offer number Column Make Column Model Column Price Column Sold (yes/no) Column Sold on (e.g. 2011-12-24) Column Created by (e.g. Employee 1) Column Created on (e.g. 2011-12-24) Column last modified by (e.g. Employee 1) Column Last modified (e.g. 2011-12-24) Column Hits Column Published Column ID (internal system ID of the vehicle) The table has several filter options: State (published or unpublished) Sold state (sold, not sold) WERI-Design GbR 17

Dealer (Show vehicles of a specific dealer) Vehicle class (car, motorbike, etc.) Make (depends on the choice of the vehicle class) If the Checkbox of one or more vehicles are selected, the user has the following options: Set vehicles to the sold state Set vehicles to the not sold state Enable / disable Delete Edit Figure 15 Vehicle options 3.2.1 Create a vehicle First you have to select a vehicle class in the filter Vehicle class. For the selected vehicle class you can create a new vehicle by clicking on the New button. The form shows all enabled configured attributes in the order of the attribute list. The Offer number is a unique number for each vehicle (Allowed characters: 0-9; a-z; A-Z; -). Furthermore you can mark the vehicle as sold and change the date of the sale. Also you can set a start and end date of publishing the ad and a start and end date for the discount. Figure 16 Vehicle Information For each vehicle you can enter a meta description and different meta keywords. WERI-Design GbR 18

Figure 17 Vehicle Metadata 3.2.2 Upload images In the index tab Images the user can upload several images (.jpg,.png,.gif) of the vehicle. The maximum number of images can be edited in the global configuration of VEMACO. If there are already images stored for the selected vehicle, the user can select images that should be deleted while saving the vehicle. Furthermore a message will be shown how many images already stored and the user can upload the remaining image amount. In the global configuration of VEMACO it can be set the dimensions (width and height) of the thumbnail and the full image. 3.2.3 Edit images of a vehicle In the detail view of a vehicle, the button for editing the images is shown on the right top of the page. Within this screen the user can change the order of the images, delete images, rotate the images and set the state to published / unpublished. NOTE: The image at first position, which is published, is the preview image in the frontend for html-image view and the backend. WERI-Design GbR 19

3.3 Dealer Management With VEMACO 2.5 a dealer management was added. For each dealer information and several contact persons can be assigned. For each contact person an own Joomla login can be created. Figure 18 Dealer list 3.3.1 Create Dealer The following information can be assigned to a dealer: Dealer company name legally represented by Company logo Address Telephone Fax Mail address Website Tax-ID number Additional information Imprint 3.3.2 Create contact persons For each dealer variable amount of contact persons/employees can be added. The overview can be shown with the button Contacts in the dealer section or over the linked numbers of assigned contact persons. Figure 19 - Contact persons WERI-Design GbR 20

During the creation of a new user the following information can be inserted: Department Title First name and surname Telephone Fax Mobil phone Mail address For each contact person you can decide if a Joomla user account should be created, if the new contact person should be assigned to an existing Joomla user account or without any Joomla user account. Furthermore the user can set the checkbox if he wants to get a copy of the mails if someone uses the contact form in frontend. 3.3.3 Rights management In the VEMACO options the administrator has to choose a Joomla user group. We recommend creating a new user group especially for VEMACO. If someone creates a new user and the option Create user account is chosen, the new user will be assigned automatically to this chosen user group. For this user group the rights have to be set in the VEMACO options. Note: If dealers should have the right to change only their vehicles and information via the frontend, the user group of VEMACO users must have NOT the right for general editing of contents. Only the right for editing OWN contents! The right for creating and deleting can be assigned. 3.3.4 The Frontend In the frontend the possibility is given to create a new dealer account. If a new dealer was created, a new Joomla user account will be created automatically. For the registration a name and mail address is necessary. Each dealer can create and edit own vehicles and edit information about his company. Furthermore the dealer can create more contact persons / employees. WERI-Design GbR 21

3.4 Reports There are three reports in VEMACO 2.6 available. Each report can be selected on the main report screen. Each report can be exported as an Excel file. Figure 20 Main report screen 3.4.1 Sold vehicles This report shows the sold vehicles in a pre-defined time periods grouped my makes. Above the table the user can set an individual time period. The result of this time period will be shown in the user defined column. The user has the possibility to filter the vehicle class. 3.4.2 Turnover analysis The report turnover analysis shows the turnover of all sold cars in a pre-defined time period. Above the table the user can set an individual time period. The result of this time period will be shown in the user defined column. The user has the possibility to filter the vehicle class. 3.4.3 Vehicle Inventory The vehicle inventory is a list of all available vehicles grouped by make and model. The price will be summarized. Figure 21 Vehicle inventory WERI-Design GbR 22

3.5 Translation Since VEMACO 2.0 the integrated multi-language support of Joomla can be used. For all vehicle attributes, options, search options, extras and vehicle descriptions a translation of all installed languages can be set. If the visitor of the website in frontend chooses a different language the attributes will be shown in the new language automatically. If one or more attribute is not translated the standard language will be used. To set a translation the new language must be selected. After that a certain table must be selected. After a click of the attribute it can be translated. On the top of the view the user can install and uninstall translations for vehicle attributes that are included in the VEMACO package. Figure 22 Translations WERI-Design GbR 23

3.6 Import VEMACO supports a XML import of vehicles. Figure 23 Import You can import vehicles either by uploading the import zip file or from a directory. The directory has to be in the images/vemaco folder. The name of the XML file must be: - VEMACO_Export_ vehicle class alias.xml You can import pictures and an attachment file for each vehicle too. To do that, you have to create a folder in the same directory as the import file. The folder name must be the vehicle offer number the pictures belong to. Note: Allowed characters for offer number are: a-z, A-Z, 0-9,, - WERI-Design GbR 24

3.7 Export Figure 24 Export In the export section you can export all vehicles for each vehicle class. The export creates a zip file, which will be saved in the images/vemaco/vemaco_export folder of your webspace. Further you can download the XML template files for each vehicle class. 3.8 Open / Save import files in MS Excel If you want to edit the XML-files in MS Excel and the content of the files contains special characters (e.g. German umlauts) you have to open the files via the import function of MS Excel. The XML-files have to be saved as XML-Data. WERI-Design GbR 25

3.9 Menu items VEMACO has several menu options which can be shown on the frontend. Figure 25 Menu options List of Vehicles This menu item adds a menu item where a list of all available vehicles will be shown You can select specific makes or attribute options to create individual vehicle lists for them. Search for vehicles This menu items adds a menu item which shows the search page Insert Vehicle This menu items adds a menu item which shows a vehicle import form Create dealer account This menu item adds a menu item which shows a form to register a dealer Edit dealer account Edit the data of the dealer account (for logged in users) Edit contact persons Edit the contact persons of a logged in dealer Edit vehicles Edit the vehicles of a logged in user Which vehicle details should be shown in the vehicles list and the search view you can configure in the Frontend view in the VEMACO configuration. For each frontend view it can be selected an individual template and stored an introduction text which will be shown below the headline (html-tags allowed). It can be selected that only specific makes of the vehicle class should be shown in the vehicle list. Furthermore it can be selected, that all vehicles of a specific dealer should be shown in the vehicle list. WERI-Design GbR 26

4 Additional Features 4.1 VEMACO Module Manager Figure 26 VEMACO Module The module manager allows showing different vehicles on the frontend page on different module positions. There are two different types of display. A list of vehicles or as a slider. There are 4 different module types: Newest vehicles, Top offers, Random vehicles, Featured, Special. Newest vehicles show the latest inserted vehicles. Top offers show the vehicles with the highest discount. Featured shows the vehicles that marked as Featured. The type Special shows vehicles which can be configured by the user. The vehicles have to be chosen by Id and must be written in the field Vehicles and have to separated by,. For each module type it can be selected if the alignment should be horizontal or vertical. Furthermore it can be selected if the label of the attributes should be shown. Which information for a specific vehicle class and vehicle should be shown you can configure in the Frontend view in the VEMACO configuration. 4.2 VEMACO Search Module The VEMACO search module allows to search for a specific vehicle class. Which search fields for a specific vehicle class and vehicle should be shown you can configure in the Frontend view in the VEMACO configuration. 4.3 Editor Plug-in With the editor plug-in vehicles a link to a specific vehicle can be set in each article. The vehicle will be selected by clicking on the preview image or the link vehicle. WERI-Design GbR 27

5 Errors Error code Description Vehicle-Import 1 The uploaded file exceeds the upload_max_filesize directive in php.ini. 2 The uploaded file exceeds the MAX_FILE_SIZE directive that was specified in the HTML form. 3 The uploaded file was only partially uploaded. 4 No file was uploaded. 6 Missing a temporary folder. 7 Failed to write file to disk. WERI-Design GbR 28

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