Administrator's Guide Dashboard Overview Administration dashboard gives you an overview of all the activities you can do using the JomEstate extension. It provides you a view of all the menu items, system configuration checks, license information, and links to the documentation. Screen 1: Dashboard screen Menu Items The following table provides an explanation about different menu items available: Dashboard Home or dashboard for the JomEstate extension Address Shows the Address administration screen Custom Fields Shows the Custom Fields administration screen Categories Shows the Categories administration screen Price Types Shows the Price Types administration screen Property Types Shows the Property Types administration screen Companies Shows the Companies administration screen Agents Shows the Agents administration screen Membership Plans Shows the Membership Plans administration screen Messages Shows the messages received Add New Click to quickly add a listing to the site Documentation Access the JomEstate documentation. System Configuration Checks Any configuration problems or current configuration status is displayed in this area as shown in the following screen: Screen 3: System configuration checks area Address Overview The Address feature, as the name suggests, lets you provide the country, region and city for the respective product listing. The advantage with the Address field in Extensions is that after you configure a particular address, it is shared across various components in the Comdev extension. Based on the depth of levels you want, such as the continent as Europe, country as the UK and region as Wales, you can configure the Address tree to have unlimited levels. The Address feature provides multilingual support. This means you can specify different names based on your language preference. For more information, see Languages . Creating A New Address The following image shows the Address Feature screen. To add an address, click Components > Comdev > Address . Click New to create a new address.  Screen 1: New Address screen Let us understand each of the buttons seen on the screen using the following table. New Creates a new Address entry. You must create separate entries for each level of depth that you need. Edit Provides the edit mode to make changes to the existing level or titles created. Publish Publishes the created address entry. Unpublish Removes the entry from the list of published address entries Archive Archives address entries that are not used anymore. Trash Deletes the address entry that is not required anymore. Rebuild Refreshes to incorporate the changes made to the entries in the Address feature. Address Structure The structure of the Address tree is maintained as follows in our example. You can create any structure as per your requirement.   -- -- –  -- – --   Editing address entries If you want to edit existing entries, you can either click the entry from the Address screen or select the check box next to the entry, and then click Edit . After you click the required entry that you need to edit, you can change the configurations based on the options as seen in the following table. Title Custom Address Field Alias URL alias for “SEF/SEO” URL Parent Select the parent address entry Text box Provide a description about the entry. You can format the text using the formatting options in the text box. You can also insert images or links to URLs for more information. Category Image Upload an address image Publishing tab After you have provided the above information, you can provide the publishing information in the Publishing tab as seen in the following image. You can change the values for the given options using the following table. Status Based on the status seen here, the visibility changes as follows: Published - Entries are visible on the front-end.  Unpublished – Entries are invisible in the front-end, but can be published later.  Archived – Older entries that are not ready for deletion yet.  Trashed – Older entries that should be removed. Access Access level for site users is as follows: Public access grant access to everybody. Registered access grants access only to registered and logged in users. Special access only grants access to users specified as “Special”. Language Select the language for the address entry. ID Address ID, which can be used in modules, plugins and menus. Created by User name who created the entry. Created Date Date when the entry was created. Modified by User name who modified the entry. Modified Date Date when the entry was modified. Metadata tab The metadata tab is used to provide metadata information for a particular address entry. The options for this tab can be seen as shown in the following image. You can change the values for the given options using the following table. Meta Description Meta-description for search-engine listings. Meta Keywords Meta Keywords for the search-engine Author Content author metadata. Robots Robots instructions: Use Global Index, Follow No Index, Follow Index, No Follow No Index, No Follow Categories Overview Categories allow the site owner to categorize listings into appropriate sections. Extension categories are independent from the Joomla category system. Nested categories (sub-categories) are supported in Extension. Component comes with a category named "UNCATEGORIZED", which is the default setting. This category holds listing items that are not attached to any category (same function as the default Joomla system). You can create a categories menu link under Menus using information provided here . Ensure that for creating this link you use the Item menu type as Categories . Creating A New Category The following image shows the Category Feature screen.  Screen 1: Adding a new category Let us understand each of the buttons seen on the screen using the following table. New Creates a new Category entry. You must create separate entries for each level of depth that you need. Edit Provides the edit mode to make changes to the existing level or titles created. Publish Publishes the created category entry. Unpublish Removes the entry from the list of published category entries Archive Archives category entries that are not used anymore. Trash Deletes the category entry that is not required anymore. Rebuild Refreshes to incorporate the changes made to the entries in the Category feature. Editing category entries If you want to edit existing entries, you can either click the entry from the Category screen or select the check box next to the entry, and then click  Edit . New Category tab The New Category tab is seen as shown in the following image: Screen 2: New Category tab After you click the required entry that you need to edit, you can change the configurations based on the options as seen in the following table. Title Custom Category Field Alias URL alias for “SEF/SEO” URL Parent Select the parent category entry Text box Provide a description about the entry. You can format the text using the formatting options in the text box. You can also insert images or links to URLs for more information. Toggle editor Toggle between a rich text box with formatting options and plain text box. Category Image Upload a category image Publishing tab After you have provided the above information, you can provide the publishing information in the Publishing as seen in the following image. You can change the values for the given options using the following table.  Status Based on the status seen here, the visibility changes as follows: Published - Entries are visible on the front-end.  Unpublished – Entries are invisible in the front-end, but can be published later.  Archived – Older entries that are not ready for deletion yet.  Trashed – Older entries that should be removed. Access Access level for site users is as follows: Public access grant access to everybody. Registered access grants access only to registered and logged in users. Special access only grants access to users specified as “Special”. Language Select the language for the category entry. ID Category ID, which can be used in modules, plugins and menus. Created by User name who created the entry. Created Date Date when the entry was created. Modified by User name who modified the entry. Modified Date Date when the entry was modified. Metadata tab The metadata tab is used to provide metadata information for a particular category entry. The options for this tab can be seen as shown in the following image. You can change the values for the given options using the following table.  Meta Description Meta-description for search-engine listings. Meta Keywords Meta Keywords for the search-engine Author Content author metadata. Robots Robots instructions: Use Global Index, Follow No Index, Follow Index, No Follow No Index, No Follow Custom Fields Overview Custom fields are a powerful tool to build content. We provide a variety of field types with the ability to outline into groups. Each field can be assigned into a single category or all categories. Creating a Custom Field Creating a custom field involves setting certain options. To create a custom field, click New as shown in the following image. Screen 1: Custom Field screen The following table explains the different options available on the screen. New Creates a new Custom Field. Edit Provides the edit mode to make changes to the existing level or titles created. Publish Publishes the created custom field. Unpublish Removes the entry from the list of published custom fields. Archive Archives custom fields that are not used anymore. Trash Deletes the custom fields that are not required anymore. Options Navigates to the Extension options screen. Editing Custom Fields If you want to edit existing entries, you can either click the entry from the Custom Fields screen or select the checkbox next to the entry, and then click Edit . Custom Field Edit After you click the required entry that you need to edit, you can change the configurations for the fields as shown in the following image. Screen 2: Custom Field Edit tab The following table explains the different options seen on the screen: Custom Field Edit Title Title for the Custom Field.   Alias URL alias for “SEF/SEO” URL.   Order Provide a value from 1 onwards. The lowest value will appear on the top.   Field Required? Enable whether to make the field required.   Category Category where the Custom Field will be published. When you select a custom field for a particular category, it is visible only for that category. While creating a listing if you select the said category and save, the custom field is available only then.   Field Type Set the Field Type for the Custom Field. For more information, see the Field Type Table .   Field Database Type Set the field type, needed for database settings. String - Used for text Decimal - Decimal number e.g. 10.060 Integer - Number e.g. 1232   Field Group There are 5 custom field groups. Custom fields are grouped into groups. It has many advantages, one of them is display purposes. There are few groups available: Items - group displayed on the listings page under the description Item - group displayed on the left-hand side of the slideshow under detailed view. Tabs - special group to create own Tabs in detailed view. Features - special group for featured listings. Paid Items - Paid group displayed on the listings page under the description. Paid Item - Paid group displayed on the left-hand side of the slideshow under detailed view. JomEstate, JomEvents only Location - group displayed under the Location Tab in listing details. Groups are static and cannot be created. Paid groups are related to the membership plans that are applied to custom fields. Paid Items are displayed in the Items list, while the Paid Item is displayed in an Item (detailed) view.   Field Can Be Searched Enable to make the field values searchable. This setting applies only for the Search Module -> Layout Filter.   Field Search Type Provide the type of search option to include: Single Input Field Type Range Input Field Type Range Dropdown Field Type Range Slider Depending on the Field search type you select, the search criteria field will be displayed in the search module – layout side search. This field is functional when the Field Type is selected as Input and Field can be searched set to Yes   Minimum Value When, as an example, the Range Dropdown option is selected, you can select the range between which the options can be selected. For example, for Price range between X and Y, with incremental steps of 2, you can set x value in this field.     Maximum Value Set the Y value for the range in this field.   Steps Define the incremental steps. For example, for increments of x+2, provide the value as 2.   Custom Field Template Custom fields have own templates that can be used and customized. There are 3 templates available: default horizontal horizontal float  horizontal float + icon horizontal no label default no label If you would like to create and customize your own templates, see the Developer Guide .   ID This field is auto - generated. Custom fields values area Add new If the field type is selected to hold multiple values , this button lets you create the multiple values.   Delete Delete the value. Custom Field Values This area lets you create values when the field type requires multiple options to be provided.  For custom fields that can have values, to add multiple values, navigate to the custom fields listing screen. Click the  icon next to the field where you want to add values as shown in the following image. Screen 3: Adding values to custom fields area Here, the Field Type is selected as Checkbox and the Field Database Type has been stated as String. This means the Custom fields value area should provide options that can be seen when editing listing and displayed on the component front page. Hence, the Sample Values are provided in this area as Street, Garage, Underground. The following screen shows the values added at the back end. Click Delete  to delete the entry. Screen 4: Values added to custom field area The following image shows how the field looks on the add listings page. Screen 5: Custom Field as seen on new listing page The custom field is seen on the listings page as shown in the following image: Screen 6: Custom Field as seen on published listing page Field Types With Extension extension, you get several field types that you can create based on your requirement. The following image shows the available field types. Screen 7: Field Types The following table explains the different options seen on the screen. Type Multiple select Multiple Values Description Radio button No Yes Standard radio button with multiple values Checkbox Yes Yes Standard check boxes with multiple values Dropdown No Yes Dropdown (select) field with multiple values Multiple Select Yes Yes Select box with multiple values Input No No Single text box Web Address No No Single text box for URL, it will display as the link in the front page Email No No Single text box for email Text No No Text area Date Time No No Select a date and time from the Calendar icon on screen. Date No No Select a date from the Calendar icon on screen. Editor textarea No No Creates a rich text editor box, it can be combined with Tabs group. Publishing tab After you have provided the above information, you can provide the publishing information in the Publishing tab. You can change the values for the given options using the following table. Status Based on the status seen here, the visibility changes as follows: Published - Entries are visible on the front-end.  Unpublished – Entries are invisible in the front-end, but can be published later.  Archived – Older entries that are not ready for deletion yet.  Trashed – Older entries that should be removed. Language Select the language for the address entry. To create a custom field that applies to a particular language, you need to select the appropriate language from the drop down. For each language that you want it to appear for, create a separate entry. Created Date Date when the entry was created. Start Publishing Date when publishing needs to start in case of limited viewing of the field. Finish Publishing Date when publishing needs to stop in case of limited viewing of the field. Modified Date Date when the entry was modified. JomEstate custom fields: Beds, Baths, Garage For custom fields such as Bed, Bath, and Garage, icons are displayed alongside. To change the style css for these icons, edit the jomestate.css file located in the components/com_jomestate/assets/css folder. These icons are only available for the single language. If the site is multilingual than additional suffixes are added, therefore additional styles needs to be created. .beds .jd-lab-horizontal-float-icon {background: url("../images/beds.png") 0 50% no-repeat;} .baths .jd-lab-horizontal-float-icon {background: url("../images/baths.png") 0 50% no-repeat;} .garage .jd-lab-horizontal-float-icon {background: url("../images/car.png") 0 50% no-repeat;} Property Types Overview Property types allow the site owner to categorize property types into appropriate sections. Nested property types (sub-property types) are supported in JomEstate. JomEstate comes with a property type named " UNCATEGORISED " which is the default setting. This property type will list properties which are not attached to any property type (same function as the default Joomla categories system). Screen 1: Property type listing Creating A New Property Type To add a Property type to JomEstate, click New.  Screen 2: Create a new property New Category tab Provide the values as given in the following table. Title Title for the Property Type. Alias URL alias for “SEF/SEO” URL. Parent Choose the parent category item. Text area Provide a description in the text area. Toggle editor Button Click to toggle between rich text and plain text editor. Article Button Click to select a relevant article. If an article is provided, it can be seen under the Details tab in the listing. Image Button Click to select an image you want to add to the listing. Category Image Currently not being used. Publishing tab After you have provided the above information, you can provide the publishing information in the Publishing tab. You can change the values for the given options using the following table. Status Based on the status seen here, the visibility changes as follows: Published - Entries are visible on the front-end.  Unpublished – Entries are invisible in the front-end, but can be published later.  Archived – Older entries that are not ready for deletion yet.  Trashed – Older entries that should be removed. Access Access level for site users is as follows: Public access grant access to everybody. Registered access grants access only to registered and logged in users. Special access only grants access to users specified as “Special”. Language Select the language for the property type. ID Address ID, which can be used in modules, plugins and menus. Created by User name who created the entry. Created Date Date when the entry was created. Metadata tab The metadata tab is used to provide metadata information for a particular address entry.  You can change the values for the given options using the following table. Meta Description Meta-description for search-engine listings. Meta Keywords Meta Keywords for the search-engine Author Content author metadata. Robots Robots instructions: Use Global Index, Follow No Index, Follow Index, No Follow No Index, No Follow Listings Overview Properties are nothing but the product listings that you want to create in the JomEstate. Each listing is attached to a category. They are created in the same manner as Joomla articles, but are not related to Joomla articles in definition. Creating A New Listing The following image shows the Listings screen. Screen 1: Properties screen The following table explains the different options seen on the screen. New Creates a new Address entry. You must create separate entries for each level of depth that you need. Edit Provides the edit mode to make changes to the existing level or titles created. Publish Publishes the created address entry. Unpublish Removes the entry from the list of published address entries Archive Archives address entries that are not used anymore. Trash Deletes the address entry that is not required anymore. Edit Listing If you want to edit existing entries, you can either click the entry from the Listings screen or select the checkbox next to the entry, and then click Edit. This tab provides options to add title, description, select category, and other options for the Listing as seen in the following image: Screen 2: Edit Listing screen The following table shows the options available: Edit Listing area Title Title for the Listing.   Alias URL alias for “SEF/SEO” URL.   Category Category where the listing will be published. Property Type Select the property type from the drop down.   Text Area Provide a description for the listing. You can create a short description as well a long description. In the above image, the red dotted line appears when you click Read More . Any content above the red line is the short description , while the entire content is the long description . Also, note that if there is no content after the Read More tag, the event description will be blank when users view the listing. Ensure that you have content after the Read More tag.   Article Button Click to select a relevant article. If an article is provided, it can be seen under the Details tab in the listing.   Page Break Button Insert a page break in the displayed text.   Toggle editor Button Toggle between plain text and rich text editor Address area Address Address of the listing   Street, House No. Street and house number of the listing - If both Address and Full Address specified, map location will position automatically. Location area Maps latitude It utilizes the GEO-location based on Google Maps. Provide the latitude information for the location mapping.   Maps longitude The information provided in this field is used to map the exact location. It utilizes the GEO-location based on Google Maps. Provide the longitude information for the location mapping.   Maps Search Search for a specific location. Type in the location and press Enter to go to the exact location. Sidebar Featured Enable to make the listing appear as featured listing.   Approved Enable to approve the listing. Listing will not be published.   Language Select the language for which the listing needs to appear for. For multiple languages , you must create separate entries for each language.   Status Select the required status. Published Unpublished Trashed Archived   Created by Select the user who created the listing.   Access Provide the access level for the listing. Guest Public Registered Special   Date created Select the date when the listing was created. You can select a future date for publishing the listing as well.   Publish Up Select a date when you want to publish the listing. Here too, you can schedule to post the listing at a future date.   Publish down Select a date when the listing should stop being published.   Modified Date Select a date when the listing was modified.   ID This is an auto-generated field. Understanding the Location area in Edit listing tab Let us understand how to provide the address and Street/House No for providing the exact locations on the map. When you provide the address, street and House No. in the backend when creating listings, the location position automatically. If the House No. is not provided, additional location fields needs to be used. Mapping using longitudes and latitudes If you provide the latitudes and longitudes, and the Maps Search setting is left blank, the location mapping is done based on these parameters as shown in the following image. Screen 3: Map using longitudes and latitudes values Mapping with Map Search values  If the Map Search field has a value provided to it, it takes precedence as shown in the following image. If the Map Search field value is given as “New York”, the location will map to this location. Screen 4: Map using Map Search Field values Custom Fields tab This tab includes all the custom fields created for a particular category. If the custom field is not applied to a specific category, it can be seen for all categories when creating a listing. The following image shows the Custom Fields tab screen. Screen 5: Custom Fields tab For more information about creating custom fields, see  Custom Fields . Price tab This tab includes information about the pricing details related to the property listing.  Screen 6: Price tab Provide the information as per the following table. Add New Click to add new pricing category. You can provide weekly, monthly, and other offers per listing. Price Netto Provide the pricing value. Price Group Select from the following options: Price Price per day Price per week Price per month Auction Offers from After installation, the price types are not defined. You should insert your own , they will be populated in this drop-down field. When searching, price type always needs to be provided as part of the search criteria. Images tab This tab includes information about images and videos attached to the listing. Before you can add images to the listing, you must save your listing at least once. This ensure that all the other data you have filled for the listing does not disappear after the images are added. The Images tab can be seen as shown in the following image: Screen 7: Images tab To set the the Order of the images, which one displayed first, drag and drop images to switch positions. The first image in the gallery is used as the image thumbnail for the listing. Provide the options as shown in the following table. Images Add file area Add Files Click to select the image that needs to be uploaded.   Drag & Drop Files Here Drag a bunch of images to this area to upload multiple images.   Upload Into Select which category the image falls under: Slideshow - detailed view main gallery Gallery - in gallery tab Logo - displayed in sidebar under custom fields and over the image with transparency in listings page.   Add available images & attachments Click to add already uploaded images and attachments to this listing. Images area Editing an Image   Click the  Edit icon to edit the image details. The options are as seen in the following image:   Click the Delete icon to delete the image. Attachments area   Click the Edit icon to edit an attachment that is linked to the listing. The screen is as shown here:   Click the Delete icon to delete the attachment. Attachments are detected automatically based on file extension that’s are allowed in Configuration . YouTube Video Provide the YouTube video URL in this field as shown in the following image. Opeh House Calendar tab This tab includes an ajax calendar where you can add the date-wise information related to the listing. Based on the services you offer, you can show the availability for that service. Screen 8: Open House To set the availability for a range of dates, drag and click the required range of dates. Provide the information about availability as shown in the following image. Screen 9: Availability information Click Save to save the availability information. If you want to delete a particular entry, click the colored band of availability and click OK as shown in the following image. Price Types Overview Price types allow the site owner to categorize price types into appropriate sections. Nested price types (sub-price types) are supported in JomEstate. JomEstate comes with a price type named " UNCATEGORISED " which is the default setting. This price type will list properties which are not attached to any price type (same function as the default Joomla categories system). Screen 1: Price type listing Creating A New Price Type To add a Price type to JomEstate, click New.  Provide the values as given in the following table. Title Title for the price type. Alias URL alias for “SEF/SEO” URL. Parent Choose the parent category item. Text area Provide a description in the text area. Toggle editor Button Click to toggle between rich text and plain text editor. Image Button Click to select an image you want to add to the listing. Category Image Currently not being used. Publishing tab After you have provided the above information, you can provide the publishing information in the Publishing tab You can change the values for the given options using the following table. Status Based on the status seen here, the visibility changes as follows: Published - Entries are visible on the front-end.  Unpublished – Entries are invisible in the front-end, but can be published later.  Archived – Older entries that are not ready for deletion yet.  Trashed – Older entries that should be removed. Access Access level for site users is as follows: Public access grant access to everybody. Registered access grants access only to registered and logged in users. Special access only grants access to users specified as “Special”. Language Select the language for the price type. ID Address ID, which can be used in modules, plugins and menus. Created by User name who created the entry. Created Date Date when the entry was created. Metadata tab The metadata tab is used to provide metadata information for a particular address entry. The options for this tab can be seen as shown in the following image. Screen 4: Metadata tab You can change the values for the given options using the following table. Meta Description Meta-description for search-engine listings. Meta Keywords Meta Keywords for the search-engine Author Content author metadata. Robots Robots instructions: Use Global Index, Follow No Index, Follow Index, No Follow No Index, No Follow Companies Overview JomEstate has a built in mechanism to create/control Real Estate Companies and Agents. Each Company can have unlimited Agents, however an Agent can join only one Company. The main difference between Agents and Company is that a Company can control Agents listings and Agents itself by adding or deleting them. Screen 1: Companies listing Company Agents Each Company or Agent needs to have an actual Joomla user-assigned to it: This user needs to be unique for each Company or Agent When adding an Agent from the Front Admin by the Company, Joomla user account needs to be created for that Agent Agent does NOT have any membership.The Agent inherits the membership details of the company he belongs to. There are two user types in JomEstate: Public User who can add listings. Companies that have Agents. Creating a new Company To add a Company to JomEstate, click New. Edit Company tab This tab includes information such as company logo, address information, contact details and so on.  Provide the values using information given in the following table. Options Usage Name Title for the Company. Alias URL alias for “SEF/SEO” URL. Logo Click to upload the company logo. This logo will be seen on the company tab on listings and item view. Phone Provide the phone number for your company. Website Provide the website URL for your company. Background Set desired tab background color to match the Company logo. User Select a Joomla user account that will be assigned to the Company. It has to be unique for each Company . Membership Choose a membership plan assigned for the Company. Address Select the appropriate locations to provide your address. Street, House no. Detailed address like street and house number. Intro text Provide a short description about the company. Text area Provide a description for the listing. You can create a short description as well a long description. Article Button Click to select a relevant article. If an article is provided, it can be seen under the Details tab in the listing. Page Break Button Insert a page break in the displayed text. Toggle editor Button Toggle between plain text and rich text editor Read More Click to separate the short description in the text area. In the above image, the red dotted line appears when you click Read More . Any content above the red line is the short description , while the entire content is the long description . Also, note that if there is no content after the Read More tag, the event description will be blank when users view the listing. Ensure that you have content after the Read More tag. Images tab This tab is used to add images to the company gallery Provide the options as shown in the following table. Add Image Click to upload images to the company gallery. Images area Click the   Edit icon to edit the image details. The options are as seen in the following image: Click the  Delete icon to delete the image. These images will be displayed under Company details page as shown in the following image. Agents Overview Agents can function only if they are assigned to a Company and can have a different phone number, social contact configured, and so on. An agent inherits the membership plans possessed by the company it belongs to. Screen 1: Agents listing Creating a new Agent To add an Agent to JomEstate, click New. Edit Agent area This area includes information such as agent picture, company it belongs to, contact information and so on. Provide the values using the information given in the following table. Options Usage First Name First Name Last Name Last Name Status Select from the following status: Published Unpublished Archived Trashed Alias URL alias for “SEF/SEO” URL. Image Upload a photo of the Agent. Phone Provide the phone number of the agent. Website Provide the website URL of the company or agent's personalized page. Fax Provide the fax number of the agent. User Select a Joomla user account that will be assigned to the Agent. It has to be unique for each Agent. Company Choose a Company that Agent belongs to. Address Select the required address levels to create the address of the agent. Street, House no. Detailed address like street and house number. Text area Provide a description for the listing. You can create a short description as well a long description. In the above image, the red dotted line appears when you click Read More . Any content above the red line is the short description , while the entire content is the long description . Also, note that if there is no content after the Read More tag, the event description will be blank when users view the listing. Ensure that you have content after the Read More tag. Article Button Click to select a relevant article. If an article is provided, it can be seen under the Details tab in the listing. Page Break Button Insert a page break in the displayed text. Toggle editor Button Toggle between plain text and rich text editor Read More Click to separate the short description in the text area. MSN Provide the msn id of the agent. Google Talk Provide the google talk id of the agent. Skype Provide the skype id of the agent Twitter Provide the twitter handle of the agent. ID This field is auto-populated. Sorting Agents To sort Agents, double click on second column and drag/drop to set ordering. Membership Overview Memberships in Extension are required to set user group level based on the monthly/Yearly pay plan the user selects. Using membership plans, you can decide how much to charge a user and how many listings a user can make for a particular membership plan. Membership are well integrated with Joomla groups and have a dependency on each other. Ensure that you have created Joomla groups before creating membership plans. By doing this, you can select groups when creating membership.  Create a new Membership Plan Click Components > Extension > Membership Plans > New to create a new membership plan as shown in the following image: Screen 1: Create new membership plan First membership plan should be a Free (basic plan). When user logs into the Front Admin, he will be assigned to that plan. From that point, User can upgrade his membership to paid plans. Edit Membership Plan If you want to edit existing entries, you can either click the entry from the Membership screen or select the check box next to the entry, and then click  Edit.   The following image shows the Edit Plan screen. Screen 2: Edit Plan screen The following table explains the different options seen. Name Provide a name for the membership plan. Number of Listings Provide the number of listings the users in the plan can create. Group ID Select the Joomla user group ID for the plan. It is recommended that you create your membership under the Registered group. Number of Images Provide the number of images the users in the plan can add. Price Monthly Provide the monthly charge for the plan. Price Annually Provide the annual charge for the plan. Best Value Best value badge, that shows in Front Admin (informative) No of Premium Listings Provide the number of premium listings the users in the plan can create. Attachments Enable to allow users to add attachments to listings. Video Enable to allow users to add Video link to the listings. Custom Fields Enable custom fields for particular plan. Custom field needs to be assign into Paid Groups to be shown here . ID This field is auto generated. Adding paid custom fields to the Membership plans For adding a custom field to the membership plan, the field group needs to be set to Paid item. Click Extension > Custom Fields . Click the field you want to add to the membership plan as a paid item. Change the Field Group to Paid item for the Item view and Paid items for the Items view as shown in the following image: Screen 4: Adding a paid custom field This field needs to be enabled in the membership plan as shown in the following image. Screen 5: Enabling the paid custom field This field can be seen in the front admin under the membership plan as follows: Screen 6: Viewing the paid custom field Membership expiry email configurations Before the membership expires, an email can be sent to a user that informs them about his membership nearing expiration. The setting can be seen in the following image: Screen 3: Configure expiry email field Cron Setting for Membership expiry check Under your hosting panel a link needs to be added that launches a script. This script checks all users’ membership and sends an email if membership is about to expire: curl -sS 'http://yourdomain.com?option=com_jomdirectory&task=expiry.send' or wget -q -O /dev/null 'http://yourdomain.com?option=com_jomdirectory&task=expiry.send' If you are unaware about where the cron setting needs to configured in the hosting panel, contact your hosting support center. Ensure that the script is launched every day at a particular time consistently. Set Single User expiry date and group To set plan expiry and attach a group for each user, do the following: Click Users > User Manager . Click the user for whom you want to set the membership expiry. Click the Additional Options tab. Provide the expiration date in the Plan expiry field. Click the Assigned User Groups tab. Select the check box next to the group you want to attach the user to for a particular membership plan as shown in the following image. Click Save . For more information about membership expiration setting, see Configuration documentation. Creating a new Group for Membership Plans In order to add users to groups for membership plans, you must create a super group named JomEstate. Then, under it you must create groups for each of your membership plan. These groups are used to provide Group ID when creating a membership plan. Users created using User Manager can be linked to each of these membership plan groups. To create the JomEstate group and other groups, do the following: Click  Users  >  Groups  >  Add New Group . Provide a name for the group. We need to create JomEstate group before creating other groups. So, provide the name as  JomEstate . Repeat steps 1 and 2, but select the parent as JomEstate. Click  Save . Name JomEstate for the main group is mandatory, however groups for membership under that group can have any names e.g. Lite, Pro or Free, Basic etc... User Permissions based on groups For the users to access Front Admin certain user permissions need to be granted. These settings need to be done in the JomEstate and Comdev Options. To provide user permissions for JomEstate, do the following: Click  Components  >  JomEstate Click  Options  from the right-hand side of the screen. Click  Permissions . Provide the permissions as shown in the following image. Click  Save . User permissions also need to be set for Comdev extension as explained here. Click  Components  >  Comdev . Click  Options  from the right-hand side of the screen. Click  Comdev . Provide the permissions as shown in the following image. Click  Save . Users, which belongs to Joomla group JomEstate, will now have access to Front Admin. If Permissions for the Comdev component are not set, users would not be able to upload images. A 500 error would show that permissions are denied.  Messages Overview Messages related to the Contact form available on each listing. If the user wants to contact Owner of the listing, a copy of the email will be saved under Messages. Additional send email copy to admin can be set under Configuration The messages are always sent to the owner of the listing. The user email address is taken from the User Account settings. The Contact area on the listing page is as seen in the following image. The options are provided as given here: Screen 1: Sending a message on the site Viewing messages Once the user accepts the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy, he clicks Send Email. The email is now available for the owner of the listing to view as seen in the following image: All the messages that are sent through the site from the Extension listings can be seen on backend Messages section. To view a message, hover the mouse pointer over the message as shown in the following image. Screen 2: View the message If you want to archive older messages or any message, select the checkbox next to the message and click Archive .  Messages sent using the contact form are available on the Messages tab for the owner of the listings. You can view the message or delete it based on your requirement. Front Admin Messages To view messages, from Front Admin, click the  Messages tab to see the following screen. Configuration Overview The JomEstate extension can be configured using the options provided with it. You can control multiple factors such as SEO, Printing, Security, Image widths, and more using the options provided. General tab This tab controls the elements for Layout, SEO, Security, Contact, and Print options. The following image shows the options available on the General tab. Screen 1: General tab The following table explains the different options seen on the screen. Layout Choose Layout Select a layout based on existing components. Global layout is selected by default.   Default Listings Sort Select the Listings from the following options: Latest Updated Alphabetically Rated DESC Rated ASC Most Viewed   Listings Per Page Select 15, 30, or 60 listings per page.   Premium Listings on Top Enable to see premium listings on top. Layout Elements Enable Print Enable the “Print” button on listing pages.   Enable Tell a Friend Enable the “Tell a Friend” button on listing pages.   Enable Save Listings Enable the “Save” button on listing pages.   Enable Social Networking Enable social networking buttons on listing pages.   Enable Address Show the listing address on listing pages.   Enable Short Descr. Enable short description.   Enable Youtube Enable YouTube video embedded on listing pages.   Item Map Enable google map in the detailed view - location tab   Enable Image Enable display of image on listing pages.   Listings Map Enable Google map on the listings (items menu link)   Enable Date Enable date on listings   Enable Energy Class Enable Energy Class for the listing Contact Email Send To Enable Send Email button on listing pages.   Enable Contact Enable the contact function on listing pages.   Send Copy to Agent's Company Enable to send a copy of the email to the agent's company's registered email.   Enable Terms & Privacy Activate a check-button for TOS and Privacy statements on contact requests.   Terms & Condition Provide Terms & Condition statement by category.   Privacy Policy Choose Privacy Policy by category. Security Enable Captcha Enable Captcha for non-registered/logged-in users. Captcha needs to be configured in Plugins -> ReCaptcha and enabled under Joomla Global Configuration   Enable Captcha for Registered Users Enable Captcha for registered users as well. SEO Maximum Characters for Meta Title The maximum amount of characters used in the meta title.   Maximum Characters for Meta Description The maximum amount of characters used in the meta-description. Print Print Location Print the map on print requests. Other Enable Powered By Link Enable the “powered by” link on listing pages. Media tab This tab provides options to control display of media such as images or videos on the listing pages. Screen 2: Media tab The following table explains the options seen on the screen. Default Image Library Select the default image library for the listings component between “GD” and “iMagick”.  For more information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GD_Graphics_Library http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagick   Max Attachment Size The component wide settings for maximum Attachment size in kilo-byte. (1024 KB = 1 MB) Video Width Embedded Video width in pixels.  (size of the grey-box video player)  Default Youtube.com size is either 480×385 for a 4:3 video, or 640×385 for a 16:9 video. Video Height Embedded Video height in pixels.  (size of the grey-box video player)  Default Youtube.com size is either 480×385 for a 4:3 video, or 640×385 for a 16:9 video. Allowed Files Extensions Comma separated list of allowed attachment file-extensions. Listing Image Width The main listing image width in pixels. Listing Image Format The format for the main listing image.  1:1 = Image will be unchanged.  4:3 = image will be resized to 4:3 format.  10:9 = Image will be resized to 10:9 format. Items Logo Image Width Image width in pixels for Items Logo on the listing page. Item Logo Image Width Image width in pixels for Item Logo on the listing page. Main Gallery Image Width Image width in pixels for main gallery image. Ensure that the width value given here is as wide as or more than the slideshow width (generally 800-1200 pixels). If this is not done, the slideshow images will be blurred.   Main Gallery Image Height Image height in pixels for main gallery image. Main Gallery Image Format The format for the main gallery image.  1:1 = Image will be unchanged.  4:3 = image will be resized to 4:3 format.  10:9 = Image will be resized to 10:9 format. Gallery Image Width Image width in pixels on the photo gallery on the Items view (Gallery tab). Based on the dimension you provide here, the image can be seen as follows:   Gallery Image Format The format for the main listing image.  1:1 = Image will be unchanged.  4:3 = image will be resized to 4:3 format.  10:9 = Image will be resized to 10:9 format. After the images width or format are changed in the Media tab, ensure that you clear the cache for JomEstate extension. Click System > Clear Cache -> check com_jomcomdev to clear the Joomla cache for our extension. If possible, image format should be constant for both component and modules. Otherwise, cache issues may appear.  Currency & Price tab This tab provides options to control display of currency formats for listings. Screen 3: Currency & Price tab The following table explains options seen on the screen. Currency Select the currency to use. Additional currencies can be added by editing a config file administrator/components/com_jomestate/config.xml Vat The current vat rate for estates in the operating country. Decimal Digits Select the number of decimal digits required. Number Format Select the number format most suitable for your currency. Display Digits Select the format for the digits. Currency Position Select if your currency sign will appear before or after the price. Integrations tab This tab provides options to control map integration for listings. Screen 4: Integrations tab The following table explains the options seen on the screen. Map Type Select the map type from Google maps. Satellite Hybrid Terrain   Default Zoom Select the default zoom factor for the listing map. Listings (Items) map zoom is calculated automatically based on all listings and can't be adjusted, same apply for the ajax map search module. Map Starting Location Default location or starting point for map search. Front Admin This tab controls how the menu links are seen on the front admin for JomEstate. It also provides other options related to front admin. Screen 5: Front Admin tab The following table explains the options seen on the screen. Default New User Group Set default group (membership) for users which are not assigned into any component group. Usually it is the first free group. Welcome Article-ID Set the component's welcome article from Joomla articles. Help Article-ID Set the component's help article from Joomla articles. Profile Menu Link Set the page for the Profile Menu Link. Login Menu Link Set the page for the Login Menu Link. View Profile Menu Link Set the page for the View Profile Menu Link. Approve Listings When listings are added from the Front Admin, they will not be published unless the site admin approves it. Enable Alias For Non-English Characters Enable to set Non-English titles in other languages automatically Enable Paypal Enable the Paypal facility for user subscriptions. Paypal Email Address Provide the Paypal email that will receive the payments. PDT token Provide your Paypal PDT token for secure payments. Use Paypal Sandbox Enable for testing your configuration with the Paypal sandbox facility. Paypal Sandbox Merchant Email Enable to set your merchant sandbox email address for receiving payments. Paymens success article ID Provide the article from Joomla articles that points to the page that the user will go to after payment is made. Membership expiration reminder Provide the number of days after which a notice will be sent about membership expiry. For this configuration, you need to set the Cron job. See Cron Job Settings for more information. Monthly plan Enable to set monthly payment in membership plans. Permissions This tab provides options to control permissions for different groups. For more information about how to configure permissions, see the Joomla documentation.