Before you start, please keep in mind that HotStart is a new Joomla installation. Don't try to install it into your existing Joomla. After you accomplish this process, you would get a new Joomla with the Hot Relief template preinstalled. Basically, HotStart is like ordinary Joomla installation, but the SQL file with sample data is modified so it included the demo data that you can see on our Hot Relief demo.
What you can expect at the end of this process is an exact copy of our demo site on your server. So, you will save a lot of time as you don't need to make any settings in default Joomla. Everything will be pre-configured so you can start changing our demo content with your site's real content. The HotStart installation process is available in all commercial Joomla templates that we are offering. So, if you accomplish this simple procedure with this free template, you'd definitely be able to install any of our premium Joomla templates, no matter how complex they look to you at the first sight. So, we will now explain this process step by step, and remember, HotStart is a full Joomla installation. You should not install plain Joomla prior to this procedure.
Download our Hot Relief HotStart package (you need to open a free account and log in) and let's start!
- Unzip the archive "hot_relief25_hotstart.zip" to your computer.
- Using any FTP software (such as FileZilla) upload all files and folders to your hosting space. Make sure that the folder, where you uploaded files, is writable and accessible by the server (chmod 755).
- In your favorite browser, open address http://www.your_site_address.com/folder_where_uploaded_files/index.php (change "your_site_address.com" with your site address, change "folder_where_uploaded_files" with folder name where you uploaded files, if you uploaded files to the root folder, you don't need "folder_where_uploaded_files" in the link).
- Select your language and click Next. This language is only for the installation procedure. Joomla will be installed in English, but you can add more languages later.
- The installer will check your server to find out if it's compatible with Joomla. If you see any parts marked red, please contact your hosting provider to resolve the problem. If all items are green, you can click Next.
- You can read Joomla License on this page and then click Next.
- You should enter MySQL database connection parameters now. Please enter the Host Name (usually "localhost"), username, password, and database name and click Next. If you get an error message, please check the database parameters. If you don't know the correct parameters, please contact your hosting provider.
- On the FTP Configuration page, you can enter the parameters of your FTP server. This is not necessary and can be entered later if needed. So, just click Next.
- On the Main Configuration screen you should enter the Site Name, e-mail, and administrator's username and password (twice). Click Install Sample Data button. (Otherwise, demo content won't be imported!). Once you get the "Sample data installed successfully" message, you may click Next.
- As the Finish screen says, please remove the "installation" folder from your server (use your FTP software if clicking on the button doesn't work).
- Congratulations, you are done! Click the Site button to see your site's front-end, or Admin to see the site's backend (login required with username and password that you selected during installation).
If you have an active site with content, we understand that you can't use this installation method. Therefore, you may expect additional work. This is unfortunately necessary whenever you are changing a template on an active site. We believe our article about changing Joomla template will help you to understand why is that so.