[Roland]

Hello Steven

I have gone ahead and purchased the Pro Pack because I have every confidence that that Connections is a great product and that its the best Directory for my community website.

Forgive me for saying so but I’m finding it hard to get all the information and configuration options I need in one place, to set up and configure this Plugin. (or to find out exactly what the product can do). Is there a Printable Guide or Help Manual that I can refer to.

Some of the questions I have are

How do I use the SiteShot, – I just don’t get how it works?

How do I give customers the login details they need to modify their information? I want everyone to be able to browse the directory without login. but not necessarily change the data. – I read about require login, but I do not understand all the options that available.

I do not understand the difference between image and logo, and when I look at the Dashboard I new entries without a logo/image and after approval the logo appears in the directory. – why does the logo not appear in the Dashboard.

You can see what I am trying to do at http://www.glasshousecountry.com/business-directory

I am reaching the point where I am willing to pay someone to help me set this up in the way a Community Directory should work. – lol :)

The other thing I do not understand is the payment and billing options for customers which I read about, I just do not see these options available anywhere? – I’m sure I just need to be pointed in the right direction.

Thanks for your time and for a great product.
Roland

[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 :)

[Roland]

Hi,

I have puzzled over the difference between Logo and Image for some time.

Where exactly should I expect the logo to appear if for example I was using cMap?

For example in the Submission Form I had only ticked/checked the Logo and unchecked the Image, and after a user submission it did not appear anywhere in the publicly viewable listings but I could see the logo (in the admin console)

Sorry to to re-ask but I just don’t understand where the logo or image would appear in the listing if I checked those options in the submission form

http://www.glasshousecountry.com/business-directory

To phrase the question another way, If the submission form offered both Image and Logo I still only see one “graphic” in the listing?
\

[Steven Zahm]

@ Roland

Where exactly should I expect the logo to appear if for example I was using cMap?
On the card, by default, unless you change it to use the image instead using the applicable shortcode option.

The image would show in the bio content tray, if there is text in the bio field by default unless changed d by using the applicable shortcode option.

When visiting you site:
http://www.glasshousecountry.com/business-directory

I see you’re using the Default Entry Card template, not the cMap template, this template shows the image and that can not be changed only the premium templates can change the image type to be displayed via its shortcode options it enables when it is used.

To put it more succinctly, I hope, different templates could show a different image type based of the intended design intent. This is not unlike how themes can display different images based on design intent.

Maybe another way you can think about template is like little mini themes, does that help?

re: To phrase the question another way, If the submission form offered both Image and Logo I still only see one “graphic” in the listing?
Depends on the template. As mentioned above, the Default Card template would only show the image. The cMap template would show the logo on the card and the image in the bio content tray if there’s text entered for the entry in the bio field.

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