RocketTheme templates features some amazing advanced features and layout possibilities that open up a wide world of options for your sites. Unfortunately, the default Joomla content in a new Joomla install is very limited and does little to take advantage of the abilities of a modern Joomla template. Each of our demo sites has been highly customized to show off the abilities of each template and give that "professional touch" to the look and feel of the content. This professional look could not be achieved without hands on manual customization, that is, until now.

Rocket Theme now feature the exciting new Rocket Launcher custom Joomla install option. With the Rocket Launcher Joomla installer, you can instantly create a Joomla site complete with custom content that is a perfect replica of our demo sites that has been professionally tuned to look its best, all with just a few clicks. The Rocket Launcher package consists of a full 1.0.12 Joomla install, complete with all of the demo images, content, modules, and extensions. By running the installer, your Joomla site will be set up with all everything needed to create an exact implementation of the demo site automatically. The Rocket Launcher packages are available for all template releases beginning in 2007.

Download Rocket Launcher

The initial step is to download the Rocket Launcher itself. The packages are contained within the download section on the Rocket Theme website where you find the templates and extensions. Each Rocket Launcher pack is located within the corresponding template section, for example, the Replicant Rocket Launcher pack is situated in the Replicant Download Section.

Once in the appropriate section, select the download button for Rocket Launcher. A pop-up will appear allowing you to save the package to your computer. It is best to download it to an applicable folder such as Rocket Launcher or Rocket Theme for organisational purposes

Extract the Rocket Launcher package

Now that the Rocket Launcher package is downloaded, we need to extract the archive locally. A range of tools can do this but my extractor of choice is, Alzip. The process is almost identical with all extractors but I will be using Alzip for demonstration purposes.

1. Right click on the Rocket Launcher package
2. Select one of the options for extraction - there are usually different options and in this case I choose to specify the folder
3. Select Extract
4. Wait for extraction to be completed

Uploading the extracted Rocket Launcher package

We can proceed to the upload step. The methodology behind this is to use a FTP client such as Filezilla. For our demonstration, FireFTP, an extension for the browser Firefox is going to be our FTP client.

1. Open the FTP client.
2. Select Manager Accounts
3. New
4. Insert your ftp host address, usually, ftp.yoursite.com
5. Enter your ftp username
6. Enter your password
7. Click Connect
8. Locate the extracted packaged on your computer in the left pane
9. Drag and drop into the right pane which is your web server

The speed of transfer varies with hosting server speed and your internet connection speed. It is best to upload the extracted folder to the public_html directory so the path to your Rocket Launcher pack is public_html/Joomla_RT_Rocket-Launcher-package-name/.

Installing the Rocket Launcher

Continuing, we can now run the Joomla! installer to install Rocket Launcher onto your web server.

• Start the installer
  Enter the following link into your web browser, changing the names to reflect your domain name and title of the uploaded Rocket Launcher pack

  http://www.yoursite.com/Joomla_RT_Rocket-Launcher-Pack-Name

  You will then be presented with the introductory page to Rocket Launcher. Read through the documentation and select Begin install at the bottom
• Pre-installation Check Page
  The first step of the installer is the Pre-installation Check page. This is a check list of all the variables to make Joomla! work on your website. You must make sure that all variables are green.
  
  For information on the error message, browse the Joomla forums
• License Page
  The next page is about the license for Joomla. It is best to read to understanding the GNU GPL license for Joomla.
• Site Name Page
  On this page, you have to enter text into a single field. This is what appears in the browser head. It is best to have your site name here such as Rocket Theme, to take an example.
• MySQL Page
  The following page is where you enter your database information for MySQl. You will need to have your
  1. Host address, usually localhost
  2. MySQL username, which you can get from your hosting provider
  3. MySQL password, which you can get from your hosting provider
  4. Database name, which you can get from your hosting provider
  5. MySQL table prefix, if this is your first Joomla site, keep it the same but if you have multiple installs of Joomla, changes this.
  6. Keep the Install Sample Data tick box ticked
  Once that is complete, select next.
• Admin Settings Page
  On this page, you enter your administrative details, this being your email and password. Remember, you can change this later. Do not change the other entries.
• End Page
  Your site has now been installed. You only need to follow one last task. In your FTP client, delete the /installation folder from your web server. Once this is complete, front-end access will open up.
  

Post Rocket Launcher Queries

Once you have installed the Rocket Launcher and have configured your site to your personal preferences, you will most likely want to enact one of the following:

1. Rename the directory to something more suiting
2. Move files to the root so when you access www.yoursite.com, you enter the Joomla site

Renaming the directory

The first process is rename the directory in your FTP client. This is normally done by right clicking on the folder and select the rename option. Then process to type your new name.

Now you need to edit the file configuration.php. You must edit all references to the old directory, these are

1. Absolute Path

   $mosConfig_absolute_path =

2. Live Site

   $mosConfig_live_site =

3. Cache Path

   $mosConfig_cachepath =

Moving the directory

A similar procedure to above, right click on the files/folders in the FTP client and select the Move options, choose the root directory which is usually called /public_html

An alternative approach is to download all your files via the FTP client then re-upload to the root directory.

In either case, you must edit the configuration.php file as described in the previous section.