Opus installs like any Joomla extension: System → Install → Extensions, then drop the pkg_opus-1.5.xxx.zip file downloaded from your joomanji.eu account.
What you need
- Joomla 6.2 or later and PHP 8.3 at least. On an older Joomla, installing and updating are refused with the message "Opus requires Joomla 6.2 or later. Please update Joomla first.". Update Joomla, then install again.
- A template: Corpus, Cassiopeia or any Bootstrap template. Opus does not depend on any particular template (see the chapter Corpus, Cassiopeia and other templates).
What the package installs
From Opus 1.5.600, Opus is a package: one zip, three extensions.
| Extension | What it does |
|---|---|
| Opus module | The site module: everything you type lives in its settings. |
| Button - Opus plugin | The "Opus: place a block" editor button (see the chapter Placing an Opus block inside an article). |
| System - Opus plugin | The note and position of blocks placed in an article, the trash for a removed block, the light form, sending the settings in a single bundle, and the text of blocks for the site search. |
The module brings:
- its stylesheet and scripts, in
media/mod_opus; - its own icon sheet, used only on a site without Corpus;
- the sample images used by the layouts (three formats, a few kilobytes in all);
- four complete languages: English, French, German and Spanish.
No component, no database table. Everything you type lives in the module's settings, as with any Joomla module. The two plugins are enabled by the package; the module does not depend on them.
The light form
Each element of a module brings only the settings of its type: the Opus screen opens much faster, even for a large page. When you change the type of an element, Opus fetches the settings of the new type, in a brief moment.
This is the Light form setting of the System - Opus plugin (System → Plugins), set to Yes by default. Set to No, Opus goes back to the full form. What you save does not change. Without the plugin, the module keeps the full form.
Creating a first module
- Content → Site Modules → New, then choose Opus.
- Give the module a title and choose its position in the template.
- Open the Layout tab: that is where everything happens (chapter 2).
The Module tab only carries the presentation of Opus and the number of the installed version. It is the first thing to check when you wonder whether an update went through.
Updating
Opus updates through Joomla's update server, like the other Joomanji extensions: System → Update → Extensions. You can also drop the new zip the same way as for the installation. Your modules, their texts and their settings are kept.
A site that had the Opus module alone receives the full package through its usual update: existing modules and their settings stay in place.
Uninstalling
System → Manage → Extensions, search for "Opus", tick it, Uninstall. The Opus modules disappear along with it: write down their content first if you want to keep it.
Up to date for Opus 1.5.930.