Steven Zahm@ Roland
The design philosophy behind Connections … I try to closely mimic that of the WordPress developers. Provide decisions, not options. Where I deviate … for advanced users willing to tweak or take the time to learn to tweak I provide an very wide range of configuration and option. So, there’s really not much to configure. The only required setting is setting the directory home page which Connections will nag about until the settings has been set.
For extensions, even those have absolutely minimal required setup. Those details are provided on the Installation Instructions sub-page of the item. For example, on the main nav, hover over Extensions, then hover over Link. You will see an Installation Instructions sub page. You can also get to this page by clicking the Documentation link under the Extension Info in the right sidebar as well under the Documentation section at the bottom of the page on the Link.
In addition to the minimal setup, if required at all, there is a FAQ page for each template and extension. You can find that page the same way as locating the installation instructions.
The instructions and FAQs are separated like this on purpose because lumping everything together would far more difficult and confusing.
On to answer your secofc questions…
re: How do I use the SiteShot, – I just don’t get how it works?
If you have followed the installation instructions, adding image=siteshot to the [connections] shortcode like so [connections image="siteshot"] a screenshot of the entries website, if one has been entered, will be used. Nothing else to do.
re: How do I give customers the login details they need to modify their information?
You need a plugin to handle user registrations or use the default WordPress registration page. On you site it would be http://www.glasshousecountry.com/wp-login.php?registration which you currently have disabled. Make sure Link is installed and activated. When the user registers and logs in, they will be linked to their entry based on matching the meila address in the user account and Connections entry. As for the rest of the installation and configuration, refer to that page as it has much more detail.
re: I read about require login, but I do not understand all the options that available.
Because you said this; “I want everyone to be able to browse the directory without login.“. You do not need to configure the two options related to this which is if it is required or not and the message to display if the user is not logged in.
re: I do not understand the difference between image and logo
A logo is not a image. Semantics really, that’s all. People generally use the logo for a business logo and the image for an individuals photo or some other image relating to that entry. Ultimately, that is up to you.
re: why does the logo not appear in the Dashboard
It does, it is viewable when you edit the entry. If there is an image uploaded, that will be display, as a visual cue only, on the Connections : Manage admin page. The logo is not displayed there, that does not mean one is not associated with the entry.
re: The other thing I do not understand is the payment and billing options for customers which I read about
There is none with Connections, you might be confusing it with something else. Users that want this with Connections generally use a membership plugin like Restrict Content Pro to handle user registration and verification while limiting access to the add you entry Connections pages with the membership plugin. This type of setup is generally very complex. Sounds like you might need someone to setup all this for you. This is not a service I provide.
I hope this really does help and provide a little more clarity. Excuse any typos above, which I’m sure there are many :)