Joomla Tutorials and Blog Posts

OSDownloads - Joomla Downloads Plus MailChimp

October 9, 2011 | Written by Ed Andrea

mailchimp-logoOSDownloads is the Joomla downloads extensions designed to allow you to collect emails in exchange for the download.

This is useful if you want to notify users about updates or changes. This also means that you don't have to force someone to register simply to get the download. OSDownloads is designed to work with MailChimp.com.

Here's how to install and configure OSDownloads:

Step 1. Download

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You can download the component by clicking here.

Step 2. Install

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Go to Extensions > Extension Manager. Browse for the file you downloaded then click Upload & Install.

Step 3. Access the component

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Go to Components > OSDownloads to access the controls for the component.

Step 4. Add categories for your downloads

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You can arrive at this page by going to Components > OSDownloads > Categories Or if you are already in the control panel for OSDownloads click the Categories tab.

Click New to start adding Categories.

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You will find the entry form to be exactly like the one used for content categories. Give your category a title and fill in the rest of the information required.

The categories you enter here will not be a part of the content categories, they only apply to your downloads.

Save each category you create.

Step 5. Add the files to your download archive

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Click the Files tab, then the New button to start adding files.

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  1. Name - the name of your download
  2. Alias - will be automatically created from the title unless you fill in a custom alias.
  3. Upload the File - Browse your local computer to find the file and add it here.
  4. Category - The categories you entered will be in this drop down box. Choose the correct one.
  5. Description 1 - Appears in the short description in a list of downloads and above the email field on the page (sample below)
  6. Description 2 - Appears below the email field on the page (sample below)
  7. Require email - Check to require an email address before you allow the download
  8. Require agreement - If you require a software agreement check this box and you will see required box on the page.
  9. Download text - The text that appears on the download button
  10. Download color - the color of the download button
  11. Documentation link - Link to help documentation. You can use an internal link or if it's an external page use http:// when you create it.
  12. Demo link - link to a working demo if applicable. Can be internal or external link.
  13. Support link - link to help desk or forum
  14. Published - Yes or No

Sample: The download list

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If you make link to the list type menu, Description 1 shows up as the introduction. Description 2 and all the rest of your information will be available from the Read more link.

Sample: the download page

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Here is what the page will look like on your site. If you leave Documentation, Demo and Support Links blank, you will not have the buttons at the top that you see here. This shows you what is included in a full display when you check all the boxes and fill in all the link fields.

Step 6. Create a link to the download page by creating a menu item.

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Go to Menus > Main Menu > Add New Menu Item

You don't need to put it on the main menu. You could create a menu just for downloads or place it on any other menu you've created. The process will be the same.

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Click Select to choose a Menu Item Type

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You now have a new menu item type under OS Downloads. You can create a link to a list of all downloads or to a single download file.

  • Download list will be menu link to a page to every download available in a single category.
  • Download file will be a menu link to a single downloadable item.

For this tutorial we're going to choose a single file. The process is the same for a list view of the downloads. You might want to create a menu item for All Downloads and then have the individual files as sub menu items. The process is identical to creating categories and articles, except in this case, the articles are a unique type for downloads.

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You'll be returned to the menu manager, at the right you will see the download options. Choose the correct file from the drop down menu. (Or correct category if you are creating a download list) Finish filling in any other fields you want and save your work.

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At this point you will have added a menu item to your menu, that is linked to the page for downloading the file.

Step 7. Check to see who downloaded

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Go to Components > OSDownload > Email from the main menu and you will see the list of emails from visitors that have downloaded your files under the Emails tab.

Step 8. Add these to your email list in MailChimp

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Return to the Files tab and click on the Options button.

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Choose the MailChimp tag and select Yes for Connect to mailchimp.

Enter the MailChimp information required

Click Save or Save and Close at the upper right hand corner of the screen.

Step 9. Adjust the labels and language

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You can change the labels on the the buttons, the link to the terms, and other language specific to this component by going to the Languages tab when you are in the dashboard for OS Downloads.

Step 10. Create a Thank You page

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Click the options button at the top of the File or Category tab.

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Select the Download tab in the popup window and create your thank you page.


 

Comments  

 
#1 martinb1 2011-10-24 21:21
Hi guys, this is a great idea and fills a whole in the list of useful Joomla components. I wonder if you might consider extending the component to support ACYMailing and Jnews - I imagine easier as both are locally installed.

Thanks
 
 
#2 iowawebco 2011-10-24 21:42
Hi Martin,

Thanks for the suggestion. So basically instead of the email going to mailchimp, it goes into ACYMailing or JNews, is that correct?

Kind regards,
Nick
 
 
#3 martinb1 2011-10-24 21:49
Hey Nick,

Yup - that's the idea.

Per your Step 8, add to the MailChimp & Download tabs with AcyMailing, jNews and possibly any other newsletter/mailing list product you choose to integrate.

You would store the email address the user has given you (per Step 7) so it's just a case of writing that email address into the correct table for the corresponding mailing list product.

In the tabs you add tab it would be good to be able to choose which mailing list the user is added to.

I guess in concept this could be extended to the likes of Constant Contact etc ...

Martin
 
 
#4 iowawebco 2011-10-24 22:22
Hi Martin,

That's too much work and not enough money to be honest :) There are 16 Joomla Newsletter extensions (not including bridges) so that's a considerable amount for us to manage, especially on-going maintenance.

However, what we can do is create a plugin manager in OSDownloads with API to allow any developer to integrate any newsletter extension (or even other extensions) with OSDownloads relatively easily. How does that sound?

After that maybe we could create the AcyMailing or jNews plugins to get the ball rolling.

Kind regards,
Nick
 
 
#5 martinb1 2011-10-24 22:33
Hey Nick,

Totally understand ! I guess my thought's were from a "perfect world" situation.

API sounds like a good starting point, and the addition of jNews and ACYMailing would be great. That said are they the most populat newsletter extensions ?

They are the ones I use (in fact I'm gonna drop jNews but that's another story) but from a business perspective it makes sense to target the top 2 newsletter products ...
 
 
#6 iowawebco 2011-10-24 22:57
Thanks for understanding, Martin! :)

Yes, those two seem to be the most popular right after Acajoom:
extensions.joomla.org/.../...

Acajoom is only 1.5 native though so it makes sense making one for ACYMailing since you asked for it and it is indeed popular :)

Kind regards,
Nick
 
 
#7 Bugger101 2011-11-23 23:33
Very cool, super useful and easy to use - thanks so much! :)))))
 
 
#8 iowawebco 2011-11-25 11:58
You're very welcome, Bugger101! :D

Kind regards,
Nick
 

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