FAQ
From Jomres v4 manual
This is a list of frequently asked questions that often appear in our ticket system.
Demos
Is there a demo of Jomres available that I can download and install?
Jomres is GPL licensed, which means that the code is open and easy to edit. A demo installation is, by definition, a time limited product but because the code of Jomres is Open Source it would be trivial to remove any time limiting code from the demo. This means that it is not practical to have a demo version of the software.
To mitigate this we have several demonstration servers running, plus you can download and install the Lite version of our application from the home page of jomres.net.
I've just installed Jomres, how do I....?
Probably the most common question we get about Jomres is "I've just installed Jomres, how do I make more rooms available/configure the properties/enable payments?"
This is trigged by the fact that many people seem to miss various notes in the manual and installer which advise that all property configuration is performed via the frontend of your Joomla/standalone installation, the administrator area functionality is reserved for site specific functionality only.
If you're new to Jomres and have a similar question, it's likely that you need to login into the frontend of Joomla using the "admin" user account (you may need to add/publish your Joomla login module to do this). By default a new installation of Jomres will add "admin" as a super property manager, you can add others later via the Show Profiles feature in the administrator area.
Support
What are you getting when you purchase a download of Jomres?
When you purchase Jomres you're actually purchasing the download and 12 weeks of support for the software. Jomres itself is GPL licensed, so you'll have the version(s) that you downloaded in that timeframe in perpetuity, but support and updates are only available for the next 12 weeks.
We will endevour to reply to all support tickets within a 24 hour timeframe, however this may not always be practical. If it's a holiday period then you may need to wait to the end of the holiday for a response. We also sometimes need to take time away from support to allow us to focus on future development however this usually only happens when we're working on large changes, smaller changes generally do not impact support.
You are free to join the Jomres.net forums, your access to those forums will always be available and whist we may well answer questions outside of the 12 week timeframe, we're not obligated to do so.
What kind of support questions will you answer?
We will support installation and configuration questions, however bear in mind that many questions have been asked over and over down the years and as often as not the answers will have been posted in the forums, or here on this wiki, so search there first as you'll find a quicker solution doing it that way.
Please be aware that we can not support issues regarding integration with templates you may have sourced elsewhere. If you install Jomres and discover it doesn't work as expected first try changing your template back to the default Joomla template. If it then works as expected, then you've probably got a javascript conflict somewhere and this is outside the scope of the support we provide for Jomres. The same applies to layout/css problems.
If you do have an issue which is not within the scope as described above, or you need a faster response, we recommend that you get in touch with Open Source Support Desk as they are experienced users of Jomres.
Will you support changes we want/will make to the system?
If there's a bug in Jomres we'll do our best to fix it, if we can duplicate it within an environment that will allow us to debug it. If we can't, we might need to ask you for access to the environment you have Jomres installed on so that we can debug it there instead.
If you send us a feature request, if it's a change that will suit the majority of users, we'll do our best to add it (but that can take time, depending on the request).
If you make a change to the code and things stop working, please don't ask us to tell you why.
If the system more or less works as you want but you'd like to make just a few small changes.....sorry, but that's custom coding and outside what constitutes "support".
We provide support for code changes to the system in the sense that we make it easy for you to edit and retain changes over versions of the system. We make it easy for you to modify templates and almost all the code is open so that you can see how Jomres works and change it to suit your own requirements.
We may provide advice and hints regarding where to look to make changes in the system to facilitate a given change, however we will not tell you exactly what and where to make changes as this constitutes custom coding and as we get numerous requests like this every day we'd never get any development/support done if we tried to answer every question in detail. Our duty is to support the system as supplied, and whilst we'd love to do all your custom changes for you there unfortunately aren't enough hours in the day to do this for everybody.
Do you offer custom coding services?
Unfortunately, no we don't. There are many different ways that Jomres can be adjusted to fit different sets of requirements but these changes can often take days, weeks or even months to develop, and whilst that's happening then support and development of the core system will inevitably suffer. As stated above, our first duty is to provide support and development to our clients so as much as we'd like to, we simply don't have time to do custom coding work.
Installation and Upgrading
I just installed Jomres and am getting a 404 error when trying to access the component in the administrator area
Most likely there was a permissions problem during the installation phase.
Open the folder administrator/components/com_jomres and see if admin.jomres.php exists. If it does not go to the jomres/libraries/jomres/cms_specific/joomla15/installfiles folder and copy admin.jomres.php, jomres.xml and uninstall.jomres.php to administrator/components/com_jomres and jomres.php to the components/com_jomres folder. If the folders don't exist you will need to create them.
I don't have Joomla, where do I get it and how much is it?
Nothing, as it's GPL. You can get it from Joomla's download page.
I want to upgrade my copy of Jomres to the most recent version, what is the safest way of going about this?
Please see this page [Upgrading] for information on upgrading.
Where can I get help for installing and configuring Jomres?
The best place for information on installing Jomres is the [System Administrator's Guide]. If that doesn't answer your question, you can search the forums or raise a support ticket.
The System Administrator's guide is the most complete source for information on installation. The forums are a good source for people who have used Jomres in a variety of different circumstances. Whilst we will provide some installation support via the ticket system, please note that we offer an installation service and if you're having difficulty installing Jomres it might be better to opt for that instead.
I want to upgrade Jomres but I've changed some of the files from the standard install, what can I do?
This is a lengthy subject, please see the article [How to edit the Jomres core code and still upgrade].
My server gives me 500 errors and stops half way through viewing Jomres (or) Jomres just gives me a blank screen
The 500 error is a catchall report that apache can't (or isn't allowed to) resolve to a more meaningful response. The most likely problem is that Joomla & Jomres combined have exceeded your php's allowed memory limit, you'll need to ask your host to up your limit to 16M (minimum, 32M or more may be required depending on how you use the system. If you use the Micromanage tariff mode in 2.7+ and the prices vary a lot from day to day or week to week then the system creates many tariffs in the background and consequentially the booking engine needs more memory to run).
This isn't the only cause though of 500 errors. The only way to analyse the cause of the problem is for you to view your php error log to see if memory is really the cause, or if it's something else. We can't advise you where to look for you php error log as most hosts differ as to where this information can be found.
I get the warning FATAL ERROR: Key File Not writeable when trying to save configuration
Your /jomres/temp/ folder isn't writeable by the web server. You might need to change the permissions of that folder to 777 to allow apache to write to it, however it's safer instead to use the web installer and let Jomres, through apache, create the folders for itself if possible.
Fatal error: Call to undefined function: gregoriantojd() (or) the installer will not let you finish installation because this function is not available
That function is part of the calendar extension. Check that this extension is compiled in or being loaded (to php), as Jomres needs the function to work.
http://www.php.net/manual/en/ref.calendar.php
I get a patTemplate error when I upgrade
This article does not apply to v4 onwards, it's provided for historic information only.
The problem :
You've upgraded Jomres and now you're getting "pat-Error Could not load templates from XXXXX", particularly when running a new feature.
The cause :
You've got the template overrides installed. Upgraded versions of Jomres will often have upgraded and/or new template files which will not exist in your template overrides folder.
The solution :
Find which template files are missing (by looking at the errors) and copy those files into your components/com_jomcompbasictemplates directory (and of course it's corresponding sub folder).
You can tell if new template files have been added to the standard Jomres template set as there will be a note of it in the changelog that you can see here.
Customising and Configuration
Can I edit the code?
Sure, but if you break it don't come running to me asking me to fix it.
Does Jomres use templates?
Yes, it uses the patTemplate library to generate output. These are kept in the jomres/templates/jomres/ folder and look just like ordinary html files, except that they contain tags within {} (Curly braces) which is the output generated from the php code of Jomres.
How do I upgrade, but not lose the changes I have made to template files
The safest way is to use the Template Editing feature in the administrator area of Jomres. This saves changes to your database, but be aware of any changes to templates in future releases of Jomres as those changes may cause your customised template to stop working.
Can I write my own software for Jomres?
Yes, and I encourage it. It's part of my long term goal to see a mini-industry of developers writing and selling products for Jomres.
For more information on how to actually write code that will integrate with Jomres, please see [How to edit the Jomres core code and still upgrade].
Showing and calculating prices by the week
Jomres v2+ has a flag in the SRP settings "Tariff charges stored as weekly figures?" If you set this to Yes then prices, although still calculated on a daily basis, will allow accurate weekly tariff generation.
What is Black Booking (or) How do I block out a room/rooms for a few days?
We don't do Politically Correct here so we're proud to call Black Bookings by their name.
For those of you not familiar with this term it's where you book a room or rooms up for a period of time so that clients/reception can't book the rooms out. This is particularly useful for hotel's, cottages, campsites etc that are closed over the winter season.
See the Property Manager's guide for information on this subject.
The price shown in the property listing page only shows a - (or) 0.00
The front page property listings will only show tariffs for 'today', if it can't find one for 'today' then it will show the '-' symbol.
As of 2.7 the system will attempt to find a valid tariff for the property in question that's valid for either today's date, or if the search is being performed is an availability search then for the dates in the search. Because of the always available nature of rooms it's possible for an availability search to return a property that has rooms free on a certain date, but if there isn't a tariff for that room's type and date, you may well get the same output (- or 0.00)
Uploading images
There are 3 ways Jomres uses images:
- The property header image. Go to Property Admin->Property. Click the edit icon. Scroll to the bottom, there's a browse button. Use this to find the file you want to upload to the server. Click upload. You may need to refresh your browser's cache to see the new image.
- Rooms. The principle is the same, go to Property Admin->rooms. Click on the room you want to edit and scroll to the bottom. Upload etc. Note that you can only edit rooms when your tariff editing mode is set to Advanced or Micromanage.
- Slideshow images. Use the Batch Upload functionality on the Manager's toolbar. When Jomres uploads images it uploads them to /jomres/uploadedimages/nn where nn is the property uid of that property. If you want to upload images, either use the Batch Upload functionality you get with Jomres, or use the media manager to upload the images to the /images/stories/jomres/nn directory.
How do I make Jomres the main page in Joomla?
Assuming that you've already added Jomres to your main menu. If you haven't, then you should read [Enabling front end access to Jomres]
Go to your Administrator -> Menu -> Mainmenu & either move the line that has Jomres up until it's the top option, or alternatively click the menu option in in the "Ordering:" dropdown select 0 (first) & save.
Can I change the output dates in english to a format more suitable for "myLanguage"?
There are two different functions, with different ways of doing things. If you choose Yes in "Property Configuration->Availability Cal.->Used date() format style?" then you need to set the "Calendar output format" to something that's understood by the function date(), if you set it to no, then set the "Calendar output format" to something understood by strftime. In the case of date you could use "jS M Y", if you're using strftime then you can use "%b %d %Y". Refer to the following links to see the options available to each of those choices.
How do I add property features?
Go into Administrator -> Components -> Jomres and click on Global property features. Create them there (note the text regarding location of the images so that you can upload more if you want). To add them to a property go to Frontend -> Jomres -> Property Admin -> Property edit. You'll see any available property features there, just add the ones you want.
How do I translate text to another language/modify the wording of the text?
This is a lengthy subject, but in short you can either edit the language files (eg en-GB.php, fr-FR.php etc) which is not recommended, or you can use the editing mode. For more information on the subject, please see [Translating Jomres lables].
Unable to add new property?
You might have this problem if you're running Jomres using a Solo license key. If you are, then you will not be offered a New Property button by Jomres.
I want to edit some of the files on my server, but I don't have the correct permissions
I love the unix permission system but it does cause some problems. You need to get joomlaXplorer.
Install it and go to your Joomla administrator -> Components -> joomlaXplorer. This will let you tootle around the filesystem with the rights of the webserver so that you can remove files you need to remove.
Setting up Joomfish
You can use Jomres alongside Joomfish, and indeed Jomres will detect if Joomfish has changed the current language, but you don't use Joomfish to translate Jomres. Please see the [Joomfish] article for more information.
How do I show only the calendar when I go to the Jomres page?
In Property Configuration -> SRPs there's an option: "Show only Availability calendar/Rooms list?" Set this to Yes.
Can I remove the Jomres logo?
You're most likely to see the Jomres logo (which is called jrlogo.jpg) if you haven't yet uploaded an image for a property and you've either produced a list of properties by doing a search, or you're viewing the properties information.
If a properties image doesn't exist, then Jomres will use the default image /jomres/images/jrlogo.jpg, so replace that image with your own default.
Licenses
What license does Jomres use?
Jomres is licensed under the GPL.
Miscellaneous
Why can't I see all of the forum boards?
Most of the forum boards are restricted to full license holders only, and this validation is performed based on the email address of the license holder. If you feel you should be able to see all the boards, please ensure that your forum's account uses the same email address as the address you used when you purchased Jomres.
Internet Explorer reports an error with a freed script or permission denied
Typically an issue with Joomla 1.0.x and the Solarflare template, Joomla 1.5 users shouldn't see this error, but I'll leave it on the FAQ as somebody sometime is sure to ask.
To resolve it do the following below.
In your template's index.php file there's a line
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; " />
move it so that it's underneath the line
<head>
Also, if there are any other meta tags in your index.php, move them up to the same place too.
After you've made these changes, the index.php should look a bit like this:
with the iso meta line ABOVE the mosShowHead line.
How many rooms can you book at a time with Jomres?
Depending on the number of rooms actually available on the date in question, and assuming that there are enough guests (see Guest Types) then you/a guest can book all of the rooms in the property, if they wish.
This can be limited by using the Advanced or Micromanage tariff editing mode and setting the Max Guests option, or in the Normal tariff editng mode by setting a figure in the Max Guests in booking field.
No registration email received
You have registered on the license server but the account is not yet activated.
Check your spambox. It is common for registration emails to be put into your spambox by over-zealous email filters.
Also please, if you're using challenge response services such as mailblocker make sure that you set support 'at' jomres.net as an exception. Registration emails are automatically sent and bounces from services such as these are not actioned (IE I don't get them, so I don't click on them).
What is a mini-component?
Please see the Minicomponents article for more information.
Does your software phone home?
Yes, but only in a very limited manner. When you go to the Jomres control panel contacts our servers asking for the latest version of Jomres and displays that in the control panel.
How are room prices calculated?
Room pricing in Jomres is a complex issue. The end price of a booking can vary wildly from what was entered as a room price so it will help you to have a basic understanding of how the pricing is arrived at.
In short first the base value of the selected room(s) is calculated over the number of days of the booking. If you're charging per person per room AND you have created some guest types then the value for each guest is calculated OFF the base value of the rooms. I'll give you an example:
Room cost 50, Guest types: Adults no variance, Children -50% In the booking form selected 1xadult & 1xchild
Charging per night: 50
Total cost 1 night 50
Charging per person per night 50 x 1 for the adult (50 X 1) / 2 for the child.
Total cost 75.
How do I embed Jomres within another, non Joomla site?
Assuming that you're using Joomla, then the easiest way is to create an iframe and call the jomres site without the wrapping pages. eg if your jomres site is http://www.mysite.com/hotels/index.php?option=com_jomres then in the iframe call http://www.mysite.com/hotels/index.php?option=com_jomres&tmpl=component.
The tmpl=component tells Joomla to not produce any modules/sidebars/headers etc and leaves it up to the component. If you are using another CMS then you'll need to research the equivalent command for your CMS.
Can we use 2CheckOut as a payment module
No, as 2CO specifically forbid use of it's services for things like Property Bookings.
Compatability: What versions of Joomla are supported?
Jomres is only compatible with Joomla 1.5. It used to work with Joomla 1.0.x but support for that has now been dropped.
Can you modify Jomres to meet our requirements?
I could, but I have moral objections to doing custom work for Jomres.
- I believe that if somebody pays me to do work then it's wrong for me to then feed that work, or something similar, back into the core Jomres code. This effectively precludes me from then adding that feature or something similar to the core of Jomres in the future.
- If I'm spending all my time doing custom work, then I don't have time to support existing users and develop new features for the core of Jomres.
- I hate working to timescales set by other people.
You can ask me if I'll do the work, but whenever somebody does I usually price myself so ludicrously high I don't get any takers.
You could however ask Hazel at [Highland Vision] if she can do anything for you. She has worked extensively on Jomres in the past and next to Vince there's nobody else understands the system so well. Just be aware that she's extremely busy and only serious jobs will be considered, so if all you want is some small changes to css and functionality you're probably better off hiring a coder to do the work for you.
unexpected $end, expecting X in /XXX/XXX/XXX/XXXX.php on line NNN
Ftp failed to fully upload all the files correctly, do the install routine again, this should fix the error.
This is not a fault with Jomres or the ftp installer, it's simply how ftp works. If you are uploading a file and the apache server's using that file (eg somebody's looking at your Jomres pages) right at that moment, then ftp will not upload that file.
If you're using the web installer and/or the updates feature then it's extremely unlikely that you'll ever see this message.
Paging, how does it work?
First you need to know that if you have only one property Jomres will always take you to the property description for that property if you go direct to the component via a url such as /index.php?option=com_jomres
Next, if you have more than one property and you follow a similar url Jomres will ask itself if it has been called via a search module. If the answer is No, then it will do a random search of published properties. The total number of returns in this random search is governed by the backend Site Config -> Search -> Random search limit.
The number of properties in the property list is governed by the Site Config -> Search Options -> Property List limit, so if the Random search limit is less than Random search limit you will not see the options to go to the next pages.
Extended menu incompatability
There is a minor issue with compatability with Extended Menu from http://de.siteof.de/extended-menu.html which results in (if you've got php errors off) a blank screen or the system complaining "Fatal error: Cannot redeclare class paterrormanager in \home\mydomain\wwwroot\includes\patTemplate\patErrorManager.php on line 82". To resolve it edit \modules\exmenu\view\pattemplate.menuview.class.php and insert a line above line 28 to tell it to check first to see if the class already exists. When you've done this, lines 28 & 29 should look like this:
Unable to save property description
Some of the javascript editors have been known to cause this bug. You have two options:
- Try to make a different editor your default. This can be done in the user's preferences of Joomla.
- Set the backend site configuration option "Allow users to edit using html editors?" to No. This is stop showing the Joomla editor, but the page will work.
Strange text at the bottom of my jomres pages
You see someting like
- Log :/var/www/public_html/components/com_jomres/core-minicomponents/j00001start.class.php
- Log :/var/www/public_html/components/com_jomres/core-minicomponents/j00002usermanagement.class.php
- Log :/var/www/public_html/components/com_jomres/core-minicomponents/j00050mumenu.class.php
This is not a bug. You've gone to site settings and switched "List minicomponent calls" to Yes. Switch it to No and the list will go away.
This list is useful if you're trying to track which minicomponent was called by Jomres. It also serves to disable the redirection function within Jomres so when you save settings, instead of being redirected after the save activity it'll output any data that was being echoed before the redirect normally kicks in.
