RokTabs Demo

  • Source Ordered Layout
  • Javascript Styling: Radios and Checkboxes
  • Sortable / Draggable Elements
  • phpBB3 / RokBridge
  • K2 Component
  • Community Builder
  • JomSocial Support
Source Ordered Layout
Affinity continues the latest trend of SEO optimised templates. The layout of the template has been constructed differently to the norm. A typical Joomla template, in regards to the mainbody source, will load the left column first, then the right column and finally the main column (where your main articles are loaded). Affinity takes a different approach and loads the main column code before the left and right columns. Therefore, this template loads in this order: Header, Menu, Showcase, Main Column, Left Column, Right Column, Bottom, Footer. This is perfect for SEO purposes as the search crawlers will find your main content before your subsidiary content in your side columns. This is a major step forward and will improve your search engine results for your pages.
Javascript Styling: Radios and Checkboxes
One of the many new features in the template is the inclusion of JavaScript powered styling for radio icons and checkboxes, such as the ones used on the Polls and the Search pages. Traditionally, styling of these form elements is bland, default and ordinary. However, using special scripts, these elements can be manipulated as to allow styling as is present on the many demo pages. The template styled itself changers depending on body type chosen as well as the type of module class suffix in use. Yet another diverse and additional feature in the May template release.
Sortable / Draggable Elements
Sortable is a primary and prominent feature of the Affinity release, allowing you the ability to interact with the layout of your site, by moving different areas of your site with graphically integrated handles. There are 3 types of movement which will be addressed below, horizontal area movement, vertical area movement, vertical modular movement.
phpBB3
phpBB3 is a powerful forum, and is the platform of choice for Joomla.org as well as our very own RocketTheme forum. The Affinity phpBB3 style is a product of the RocketTheme phpBB3 styles club and you will need to be a member in order to access the theme. Note: Joomla Template Club members do NOT have access to this theme.

However, as a community template, the joint launch of bother Joomla and phpBB3 counterparts is important, hence the synchronicity. Although, there are important Joomla elements that should be noted. Firstly, the Joomla and phpBB3 sites are synced via RokBridge, a free bridging component for the two platforms, and a series of modules to extract data from phpBB3 into Joomla are present, such as Latest Posts.
K2
K2 is a content construction component (similar to CCK for those acquainted with Drupal), which lets you create custom content types (items) for your Joomla! website. With K2, you can transform your Joomla! website to a news site with author blogs, product catalogs, work portfolio, knowledge base, download/document manager, directory listing, event listing and more, all this bundled under one component. Again, Affinity has styled support for this component to visually integrate the powerful component from JoomlaWorks.gr.
Community Builder
Community Builder is an iconic community platform for Joomla. It serves primarily as a profile extended to Joomla, allowing more substantive controls and options for user profiles. The template has individual styling for the Community Builder profile pages for seamless integration and similarly, the component is not included in the RocketLauncher but you can easily download from JoomlaPolis.com.
JomSocial Support
JomSocial is a community / social networking component from Azrul. The extension is commercial and is available for Joomla 1.5.7+ only. The Affinity template has inbuilt support for the component, using the override feature of Joomla 1.5 to restyle the default variations to seamlessly integrated into the July template release. JomSocial is the perfect compliment to a community geared template. Note, JomSocial is not included in the RocketLauncher due to its commercial status.

Extensions

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Written by Administrator Wednesday, 01 July 2009 02:40

Learn all about the exciting RocketTheme exclusive extensions that are included in the Affinity template release. Here you can find instructions for installation and configuration for each of the custom extensions/addons.

Step One: Installing the Extension

  • Download the affinity-extensions-j15.zip archive from the Affinity download section of the RocketTheme Joomla! Club. Unzip the archive and inside you will find individual zip files for each of the extensions.
  • Login in to your administrator console on your Joomla! website and navigate to the Extensions menu item, and select Install/Uninstall from the dropdown menu.
  • In the Upload Package File section, click the Choose File button and select one of the extension_name.zip that was inside of the zip file you downloaded earlier. Next click the Upload File & Install button to install the module.

Step Two: Publishing the Module/Plugin

  • Now the module is installed it must be published in the appropriate module position and configured to suit our needs. From the top menu, select Extensions → Module Manager
  • This will take you to the Site Module Manager which allows you to configure the placement and configuration of all modules in your Joomla website.
  • Locate the module from the list. Remember there could be a few pages. Once you have found it, you can publish in 2 ways: The first is selecting the cross next to the title or clicking the title then set Publish to Yes followed by Save.
  • Plugins behave in a similar way, simply go to Extensions → Plugin Manager and enable the plugin. You can also configure it from the same manager.

What Extensions accompany the Affinity release?

  • RokStories Module
    RokStories is a great module to display your articles and accompanying images as a featured item. The module itself is facilitated by Mootools to transition between images and articles seamlessly. Perfect for showcasing featured articles on your site, as seen on the frontpage.
  • RokTwittie Module
    The latest extension from RocketTheme provides a means to showcase various aspects of Twitter, from your tweets to profile information plus much more. The perfect addition to any site geared towards social networking.
  • RokBridge Application / phpBB3 Style
    phpBB is a powerful forum platform, which is the perfect companion for any Joomla site wishing to expand with a forum-based community. The forum itself is very functional, highly configurable and overall, extremely versatile. Now, with the RokBridge component, you can sync the users and logged in sessions of both Joomla and phpBB3. Similarly, with the RocketTheme phpBB3 styles club, you can have a matching style for your Joomla template.
  • RokBox Plugin
    RokBox, the successor of our popular RokZoom plugin, is a mootools powered JavaScript slideshow that allows you to quickly and easily display multiple media formats including images, videos (video sharing services also) and music. RokBox provides a theme system that allows you to create your own custom ones to fit your websites design. It includes two predefined themes, a Light theme and a Dark theme that will fit seamlessly into your site design. RokBox is as easy as pie to install and customize, providing an easy way to create your own custom themes for it.
  • RokAjaxSearch Module
    RokAjaxSearch brings fantastic search functionality to Joomla, using the powerful and versatile javascript library, Mootools. So, what does the module do? The best description is an example, simply type test in the search box in the upper right of Affinity and wait ... and a popup shall materialise, showcasing the Joomla search results for you.
  • RokTabs Module
    RokTabs, the fully independent and incredible flexible standalone version of the former RokSlide. The module itself is installable into Joomla and can be easily utilised on any template, not just Affinity. As its name implies, it is a tabbed based module to efficiently showcase your content to your visitors.
  • RokNavMenu Module
    RokNavMenu is now an essential ingredient of RocketTheme templates. It provides various functions which are above and beyond what the mainmenu, and the subsequent template overrides can do. Therefore, a much more sophisticated menu can be constructed providing you with a much greater degree of usability. This makes the incredible advanced multiple-dropdown menu possible. It is an essential install for the integrated menu systems to operate.
  • RokCandy Component
    The popular plugin from RocketTheme which allows you to implement typography easily, without fear of the WYSIWYG editor ruining your formatting and allows you, and/or your clients to add them to your content with ease. This is through a method similar to BBcode (as seen in a forum). WYSIWYG friendly syntax can be used, or even custom configured that will transform a set snippet to the correct HTML when it is parsed by Joomla.