Upgrade

{typography icon type="alert" boxstyle="float: none; margin: 5px;"}It is absolutely necessary to make a backup of your whole site before you upgrade your shop! An upgrade failure can always happen! So please: BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP!{/typography}

Upgrade from VirtueMart 1.1.x

Place holder for VirtueMart 1.1.x update instructions..

Upgrade from VirtueMart 1.0.x

If you're a user of VirtueMart 1.0.x (or mambo-phpShop >= 1.2 stable) you can easily update your existing shop.

  1. Download the file VirtueMart_1.1.0-Manual_Installation_Package.tar.gz (or the .zip file if you have difficulties unpacking a .tar.gz file).
  2. Unpack that archive using WinRAR or a similar Archive Software (7-zip).
  3. You should now see some directories:
    • /administrator
    • /components
    • /modules
    • /mambots (/plugins for the Joomla! 1.5 version)

    The directory structure in those directories is the same as in your Joomla!/Mambo site.

  4. Open up an FTP Connection to your site, change to the root directory of your Joomla!/Mambo site and upload the directories.

    {typography icon type="info" boxstyle="float: none; margin: 5px;"}The FileZilla FTP Client is a fabulous FTP client (Open Source!) and reports transfer errors, so you know if everything has been successfully uploaded or not.{/typography}

    You will probably have to confirm overwriting some existing files in these directories. An existing configuration file will not be overwritten.

  5. Login in to the Joomla! / Mambo Administration (the so-called Backend). http://www.xxxxxx.com/administrator/
  6. When having logged in, navigate to your VirtueMart. You should now see the "Installation was successful....[UPDATE MODE]..." Screen. There you can click on "UPDATE NOW" - do that now. Your database structure will be automatically updated.
  7. Go to the Store Configuration Form (Admin => Configuration) and make all necessary adjustments. Make sure you Save the Configuration Form once you're done.

That's it.

{typography icon type="alert" boxstyle="float: none; margin: 5px;"}This has been said often enough before, but now once again: before you attempt to upgrade your existing Store to VirtueMart 1.1 create a BACKUP first and test the upgrade on a local copy of your store!{/typography}

{typography icon type="alert" boxstyle="float: none; margin: 5px;"}Themes are a new feature introduced with VirtueMart 1.1. So the complete templating system has been changed. If you have modified the shop templates (product_details, browse, order_email) that shipped with VirtueMart 1.0.x, you will have to manually convert your existing templates to the new theme structure!{/typography}

Upgrade from mambo-phpShop

You want to upgrade to VirtueMart from mambo-phpShop? That is possible.

All you need to do is install VirtueMart! It will automatically convert your installation of mambo-phpShop.

So just follow the instructions for the automatic installation (or if you have difficulties with it: the manual installation).

{typography icon type="alert" boxstyle="float: none; margin: 5px;"}It is recommended to uninstall the old mambo-phpShop modules after you have installed the VirtueMart component and then install the new VirtueMart modules.{/typography}

Language Installation

Virtuemart is localized and its Interface can be switched to various Languages. From the start, VirtueMart only comes with english language files.

To make your VirtueMart run in the language of your choice you need to follow these steps:

  1. Download & Install new Joomla! Language Files

    To be able to use other languages, you must first find the right language File for Joomla!/Mambo.
    Joomla! Language Files can be downloaded from the Joomla Extensions Directory: Translations for Joomla!.

  2. Upload the VirtueMart Language Files

    VirtueMart Language files are available in a separate "Language Pack". You can find the Language Pack for your version in the VirtueMart Downloads Directory. Please note that the language files of VM 1.0 and VM 1.1 are of a completely different structure and not compatible.
    After you have extracted the Language Pack on your local hard drive, upload its contents to the directory

    /administrator/components/com_virtuemart/languages

    If you have no access or permission to upload the files via FTP, you can upload the whole Language Package (as one complete archive) to that directory using the eXtplorer. After that you can extract the file directly on the server.

     

  3. Switch the global Language + Locale

    For Joomla! 1.0/Mambo: go to the global Configuration Screen, switch to the Tab "Locale" and change the language option to the language of your choice.

    For Joomla! 1.5: go to "Extensions" => "Languages", select the language of your choice and make it "default" by clicking that icon in the toolbar.

    VirtueMart should now pick up the correct language from its own language folder.

    {typography icon type="alert" boxstyle="float: none; margin: 5px;"}The Language Files for Joomla!/Mambo and VirtueMart should have the same file name (or a correct value for the tag "backwardLang" in the XML installer file of the language under Joomla! 1.5).{/typography}

This section doesn't cover information on how to set up a multi-language site with contents in more than one language.
This can be achieved by using 3rd Party Tools like

Manual Installation

The installation has failed? Does your site run with PHP's Safe Mode?

You don't need to pull out your hair! You can still attempt the manual installation.

Manual Installation is a little bit harder than the automatic installation.

    1. Download the Manual Installation Package (this is just another Package Form of VirtueMart).
    2. Unpack the archive file VirtueMart_x.x_Manual-Installation-Package.tar.gz you have downloaded in Step 1 to a local directory using Winzip or Winrar.
      You should now see at least four directories. The directory structure in those directories is the same as in your Joomla! / Mambo site:
      /administrator
      /components
      /mambots (/plugins for Joomla! 1.5)
      /modules
    3. Open up an FTP Connection to your site, navigate to the root directory of your Joomla!/Mambo site and upload the directories.

      {typography icon type="info" boxstyle="float: none; margin: 5px;"}The FileZilla FTP Client is a fabulous FTP client (Open Source!) and reports transfer errors, so you know if everything has been successfully uploaded or not.{/typography}

      You will probably have to confirm overwriting some existing files in these directories.

    4. Login in to the Backend (Administration) of your site (http://www.your_site.com/administrator/).
    5. When having logged in, you see this URL in the address bar:

      http://www.yoursite.tld/administrator/index2.php

      In Joomla! 1.5 it's http://www.yoursite.tld/administrator/index.php

    6. Now just add "?option=com_virtuemart" after index2.php, so it looks like this in your browser's address bar:
      http://www.yoursite.tld/administrator/index2.php?option=com_virtuemart
      and hit Enter.

  1. You should now see the "Installation was successful..." Screen. There you can click on "GO TO THE SHOP >>" or "INSTALL SAMPLE DATA >>" (when you want to have some sample Products and Categories in your Shop). That's it for the first.
  2. To install the Modules and Mambots/Plugins for VirtueMart, follow the instructions of the Automatic Installation, Step 6 and Step 7. If this doesn't help you, because NO automatic installations are possible, you can manually upload the files (you have probably already done this in step 3).

    Modules and Mambots/Plugins require entries in the tables docs_mambots/docs_plugins and docs_modules before they can be used.

    You need to add these entries by uploading an SQL file (using phpMyAdmin) that contains all necessary queries:

    /administrator/components/com_virtuemart/sql/virtuemart.installation.addons.joomla.sql

    Use the file virtuemart.installation.addons.joomla15.sql when you're on Joomla! 1.5 and virtuemart.installation.addons.mambo.sql when you're on Mambo.

Now you should have installed VirtueMart correctly.

Automatic Installation

Automatic Installation

To install VirtueMart into Joomla! or Mambo you need to download the file VirtueMart_1.1.x-COMPLETE_PACKAGE.zip (or VirtueMart_1.1.x-COMPLETE_PACKAGE.j15.zip if you want to install on Joomla! 1.5). This file contains various Elements for VirtueMart.

{typography icon type="alert" boxstyle="float: none; margin: 5px;"}This "complete package" file is not installable! It's contents are, but they must be unpacked first.{/typography}

"Complete Package" Contents:

  • 1 Component (com_virtuemart_1.1.x.zip)
  • 1 Main VirtueMart module (mod_virtuemart_1.1.x.zip)
  • 10 additional Modules
  • 2 Mambots (1 Search, 1 Content Mambot)
  1. Unpack the file 'VirtueMart_1.1.x_COMPLETE_PACKAGE.zip' to a local directory.
  2. Log in into the Backend (using the URL 'http://www.yoursite.tld/administrator') to access the administrative interface.

    Backend Login Screen
    You need to have the privileges of an Administrator / Super Administrator to install Elements.

  3. In Mambo/Joomla! 1.0 click InstallersComponents. In Joomla! 1.5 click ExtensionsInstall/Uninstall in the Top Menu.

    Joomla! 1.5 Extension Manager

    {typography icon type="alert" boxstyle="float: none; margin: 5px;"}You must check if the directories listed above the component list are writable! If the directories are not writable, use ftp or JoomlaXplorer to change the permissions. For proper installation, the directories should be set to 777, after that you can change back to 755.{/typography}

    In the part Upload new component (or Upload Package File) select the file 'com_virtuemart_1.1.x.zip'. This is the package file which contains all files for the VirtueMart Component, located on your computer (see Step 1).

    Now click on 'Upload File & Install'.

    {typography icon type="alert" boxstyle="float: none; margin: 5px;"}Since the ZIP file is about 2 MB in size, you will have to wait a moment while the file is being uploaded to your server and unpacked. If the upload takes too long, try Step 4 or do the Manual Installation.{/typography}

  4. Alternative: You can unpack the contents of 'com_virtuemart_1.1.x.zip' and upload those files to a directory in your Joomla! site (e.g /media or /tmp) using an FTP client. After you've done that, specify the directory on the server from where you want to install the files and click 'Install'.

     

    {typography icon type="alert" boxstyle="float: none; margin: 5px;"}Package Files are mostly a ZIP or tar.gz compressed file directory, which includes all information for the installation. The main file is an XML document which describes the installation process. In order to use this function for your installation, your web server must support the zlib extension. You can check this in the Admin Section Menu item, System > System Info > System Information.{/typography}

  5. The VirtueMart Component shouldbe installed now. You'll see the Welcome Message Screen with some options for the next steps:

     

    Installation Welcome Screen

    You can now choose whether you want to install Sample Data (some Products, with Attributes, sorted in Categories) to see how things have to be set up.

    Or you can 'go directly to the Shop >>' without installing Sample Data.

    {typography icon type="alert" boxstyle="float: none; margin: 5px;"}This step again takes some time & the VirtueMart Installer is performing Database Queries now. So please be patient (especially when you're on Mambo)!{/typography}

  6. Now you must install the VirtueMart "Main Module". In Mambo/Joomla! 1.0 click InstallersModules. In Joomla! 1.5 click ExtensionsInstall/Uninstallin the Top Menu.

     

    Choose the file mod_virtuemart_1.1.x.zip in the File Dialog and click 'Upload File & Install'.

    Repeating this step you can install the additional modules for VirtueMart.

    Publishing the Module:

    Click 'Modules' ⇒ 'Site Modules' in the Top Menu. Now browse through the list of installed modules and find the one with the name 'VirtueMart Module'. Select it (click on the name) and modify its settings/details. You can now choose where to put the Module on your Joomla! site. For more information about modules please consult the Joomla! documentation (help.joomla.org).

    {typography icon type="alert" boxstyle="float: none; margin: 5px;"}Anywhere you place the module on your site, IT MUST BE PUBLISHED. If it is not, you can't access or browse your shop.{/typography}

    Additional modules

    mod_product_categories

    "Product Categories Module"

    It can display the product categories you have set up.

    mod_productscroller

    "Product Scroller Module"

    It can scroll certain products somewhere on your site using a marquee tag.

    mod_virtuemart_allinone

    "All-in-one module"

    Can display the latest, featured, top-ten or random products in one module using tabs.

    mod_virtuemart_cart

    "Mini-Cart Module"

    Displays the mini-cart for the customer with a link to the cart page.

    mod_virtuemart_currencies

    "Currency Module"

    Displays a drop down list of the Currencies, which are available/accepted in your Store.

    mod_virtuemart_featuredprod

    "Featured Products Module"

    Can display featured products in your store. Featured products are those which are "on special".

    mod_virtuemart_latestprod

    "Latest Products Module"

    Displays the newest products in your store.

    mod_virtuemart_login

    "Login Module"

    Displays a Login Form for VirtueMart Users.

    mod_virtuemart_manufacturers

    "Manufacturer Module"

    Shows all manufacturers from your store with a link to find all products of the selected manufacturer.

    mod_virtuemart_randomprod

    "Random Products Module"

    Does what the name says: displays random products from your store or a certain category.

    mod_virtuemart_search

    "Searchbox Module"

    Displays the VirtueMart searchbox (which lets the customer search for products).

    mod_virtuemart_topten

    "Top Ten Products Module"

    Displays the bestsellers from your store.

  7. Recommended: Mambot/Plugin Installation

     

    Click on 'Mambots' ⇒ 'Install/Uninstall' (or 'Extensions' ⇒ 'Install/Uninstall when using Joomla! 1.5) in the Top Menu.

    Search Bot

    Performs a search on the product table and delivers search results for Joomla's / Mambo's site search. Select the file 'vmxsearch.mambot_1.1.x.zip' (called 'vmxsearch.plugin_1.1.x.j15.zip' for Joomla! 1.5) and click 'Upload File & Install'.

    ProductSnapshot Mambot/Plugin

    Displays product figure/price/add-to-cart link in content items.

    Select the file 'vmproductsnapshots_1.1.x.zip' (called 'vmproductsnapshots_1.1.x.j15.zip' for Joomla! 1.5) and click 'Upload File & Install'.

    Publishing the Mambots/Plugins:

    Mambots/Plugins need to be published before they do ANYTHING. Click on MambotsSite Mambots (Joomla! 1.5: ExtensionsPlugins) in the Top Menu. Now browse through the list of installed Mambots/Plugins and find 'vmxsearchbot' and 'vmproductsnapshot'. Select one (click on the name) and modify its settings/details. Remember to publish it. For more information about Mambots/Plugins please consult the Joomla! documentation (http://help.joomla.org).

You're now done with the Installation of VirtueMart and its Elements.