Unlocking Joomla ad template potential: Crafting two unique portals for diverse topics
In the ever-evolving landscape of online presence, versatility is key. When it comes to crafting websites that captivate audiences across various niches, Joomla ad templates offer a remarkable solution. Imagine being able to utilize a single template to create not just one, but two entirely unique portals, each delving into diverse topics far beyond the template's initial theme. It's all about unlocking the untapped potential of Joomla ad templates, and DJ-Classifieds / Joomla classified ads extension, on which these templates are based. It is an extremely effective solution for this type of websites, as it has a complete and enormous range of features specifically for ad portals.
In this blog post, we'll delve into the art of leveraging Joomla ad templates to their fullest extent. We'll explore how a single template can serve as the foundation for crafting two distinct portals, each tailored to cater to different audiences and interests. From technology to fashion, from travel to food – the possibilities are limitless.
Our sample implementations were based on the DJ-RealEstate template. DJ-RealEstate is an advanced real estate Joomla template, offering purpose-oriented design with all the useful features and ready-to-use pages for any real estate, properties classified ads portal.
It's a complete and ready solution for any kind of real estate, developments, residentials, or rental properties. Can be used for vacation rental, real estate listing, and apartment rental pages as well, according to your need.
It uses the DJ-Classifieds extension and the DJ-Classifieds Integrator plugin. Works with YOOtheme Pro.
Explore our examples
Based on the aforementioned Joomla real estate template, we have prepared two example implementations. We hope you enjoy them!
Garden directory
With our templates for Joomla, you can easily build a site in any thematic category - we'll show you how, with just a few simple steps, we've turned a default ad portal template into a portal that can serve as the perfect garden inspiration directory.
We started by installing the entire package on our server - thanks to the quickstart installation, the process takes very little time and we end up with a ready-made, set-up copy that we simply modify.
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First steps
In the first stage, we changed the look of our logo and homepage:
We uploaded the logo using our own image file, the background image was also swapped with an image we found. For the colour scheme and style itself, we chose one of the YOOtheme offerings and matched it to our chosen colour scheme.
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Home page modifications
The next step was to modify the sections on the homepage - we had to edit elements that were typically sales-oriented rather than catalogue-oriented - for this we used our DJ-Classifieds Integrator plugin and the possibilities offered by YOOtheme Pro. Using the builder and drag and drop functionality, we changed all the headers on the homepage and rearranged the sections.
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Changes in categories
Another change were categories - those used in our DJ-Classifieds demo did not suit us - so we removed the old categories and added completely new ones - matching the main purpose of the portal.
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Added Custom fields
Then it was time to create additional/custom fields and unpublish/delete those we no longer needed.
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More changes
It was also required to remove unnecessary elements from the view of adding an ad, we removed such things as:
- Durations (duration of the advert) - completely unnecessary in this case, as we want the catalogue of inspirations to be as large as possible.
- Use Intro Description (unnecessary in our case)
- Use "regions" - regions in this case were not useful, users do not need to specify their location.
- Use "price" - in our catalogue we do not use the "price" parameter
- "Promotions" - at this point, we do not want to monetise our site, so we have disabled the possibility of promoting
The last thing we did was to modify menu items and unpublish unnecessary functionality (e.g. Bids, Payment history, etc.).
Photographers portal
The demo site shows off an example of how the DJ-Classifieds component can be used as a portal for photographers looking for clients, and for people wanting to use their services to find and make contact with photographers. That is, of course, an example that can be applied to many other types of service such as doctors, beauticians, handymen etc.
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First steps
Firstly, we changed the main header background photo and repositioned it to be larger and with a slight parallax effect.
We then set the font and colour scheme of the page elements to suit our design in the template styles, and changed the position of the main menu in the header settings.
In the next step, we changed the section widths. On the home page to "Expand" and on the subpages to "Large". We also changed the position of the headings.
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Photos customization
In creating this demo, as the portal is about photography, we focused on presenting the photos nicely. All grids have a small gap between columns and rows. In addition, the sections with the presentation of the photographers' photos have a black background, which adds elegance and depth to the photos:
On the homepage, in the element under the header, we have changed the Dynamic Content type so that the photographers' profile photos are automatically displayed instead of the photos from the ad gallery.
Below, in turn, we created a new section built entirely on 'overlay' elements to which we added the page's enlivening parallax effects set entirely in the YOOtheme configuration and linked them to the selected DJ-Classifieds categories:
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Rebuilded ad list and single ad views
We have completely rebuilt the ad list and single ad views. As these views are templates in YOOtheme and use Dynamic Content for dedicated DJ-Classifieds elements as default YOOtheme elements, the whole process is easy and friendly.
We simply build the desired layout in the builder by moving blocks around and adjusting their appearance in the element parameters, and then attach the corresponding Dynamic Content to each of them, which displays selected information from the DJ-Classifieds component. In this way, in addition to building the layout in any way you like, you can also decide what kind of data you want to display in this view and freely mix e.g. user, ad or category fields.
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More changes
For this demo, we removed all the categories from the DJ-Classifieds component and added new ones to match the main topic. We also removed the additional (custom) fields as we do not use them in this scenario. However, with the capabilities of the DJ-Classifieds component, the search could be extended to include additional parameters.
In addition, we have installed the DJ-Classifieds multicategories plugin so that photographers, when adding their profile, can select more areas in which they work.
Finally, in the Joomla language overrides component, we changed some of the DJ-Classifieds labels to better fit the demo theme. For example, 'Ad title' to 'Name' or 'Ad' to 'Profile'.
We have also changed the setting in the DJ-Classifieds component so that each advertiser can only add one ad, because, in this case, it is de facto his business card.
