This is a short instruction on how to install Contact Enhanced extension in your Joomla installation.

To install the Contact Enhanced extension use the Extensions Installer in the Joomla administration. Go to Extensions » Install/Uninstall.

When you are facing an error during installation, it is highly recommended to try to Install from directory:

1. Download the latest Contact Enhanced (CE) version and unpack all CE files to a directory on your computer;
2. Using FTP, upload this directory to the /tmp directory of your Joomla installation on your webserver/
3. Go to the extensions installer in the Joomla administration, use the "Install from Directory" option to set the directory of your uploaded CE files.
4. Click on the Install button and Joomla will install it from the given directory.

Requirements

• Joomla 2.5+
• PHP 5.2.7+
• PHPs GD extension (enabled by default in PHP 5.0+)
• PHPs SimpleXML extension (enabled by default in PHP 5.0+)
• PHPs DOM extension (enabled by default in PHP 5.0+)
• PHPs allow_url_fopen support (enabled by default in PHP 5.0+)
• Mod_rewrite for Apache for search engine friendly links (enabled by default in most web servers)

Installation Video for Joomla 1.5

{gdata id=|WJCebiuR-cM|}

Contact Enhanced is very easy to set up, but because it has so many options it might bit a bit confusing for beginners, so a Cheat Sheet* for the basic usage was created. Keep reading it!

1. Installation:
   1. Purchase/license and download the latest version of Contact Enhanced (CE);
   2. Select Extensions → Extension Manager from the drop-down menu of the Joomla! Administrator Panel. Then select the Install menu item in the Extension manager screen that appears. 
   3. Navigate to the Contact Enhanced zip file, select and install as you would any other Joomla! extension;
2. CE Component Configuration:
   1. Go to Components→ Contact Enhanced;
   2. Click on the Options button on the toolbar to change the Component's Configuration according to your needs. Each label has a tooltip to help you understand what each feature does. These settings can be overridden by the Contact's Options and the Menu Options;
   3. Category Configuration:
      1. Click on the Categories and Select New;
      2. Fill in minimal info to set up a default category and Save;
      • If you need to display forms with different fields you'll need to create a different category for each different form (then assign a contact and form fields to that new category);
   4. Form Fields:
   1. You can add as many Form Fields as you like;
      
   2. The Name, Email, Subject and Recipient Form Field types have special behaviors;
   3. Every Form MUST have the Name and Email Form Field types; If you don't want to display them, then set the value and hide them;
   4. Read more information regarding the Form Fields in the Documentation Page.
   5. Contact (form) Configuration:
      1. Click on the Contacts tab;
      2. Select Contacts and then "New";
      3. Under Publishing Info fill set:
         1. Name. The full name of the Contact. Name can actually be a function or department, not a specific human being;
         2. Alias. The internal name of the item, also used in the URL when SEF is activated. Normally, you can leave this blank and Joomla! will fill in a default value. The default value is the Title or Name in lower case and with dashes instead of spaces. You may enter the Alias manually. The Alias should consist of lowercase letters and hyphens (-). No blank spaces or underscores are allowed. Note: If the title consists of non-Latin characters, the Alias will default to the current date and time, for example "2009-02-11-17-54-38".
         3. Linked to User. Select the User, if any, that this Contact is linked to from the drop-down list box. This allows you to link this Contact's information to a registered Joomla! User. If this Contact is not linked to a User, select "-No User-".
         4. Category. The Category this item belongs to.
      4. Under Contact Details slider set:
         1. Image. Image to display for this Contact. Select an image file from the drop-down list box. This lists images in the 'images/stories' folder. Images can be uploaded using the Media Manager.
         2. Contact's Position: The Contact's current position.
         3. E-mail. Assuming you selected "No User" earlier, you must enter an email address or an alias to which filled forms will be sent.  Do it.
            • Keep in mind that if you link to an user it will use the user's email address, even if you enter an email here;
         4. Address. The Contact's street address.
         5. City or Suburb. The Contact's town or suburb.
         6. State or Province. The Contact's state or county.
         7. Postal / ZIP Code. The Contact's postal code.
         8. Country. The Contact's country.
      5. Fill in other info as you wish; for a simple form you don't need to complete any of the other fill in fields on the left.
      6. Google Maps configuration ^(optional) - GMaps slider:
         1. Google Maps (GMaps) works with the address info you fill in.  So fill in the next 4 fields: Street Address, Town/Suburb, State/County, and Postal Code/ZIP.
         2. To set Google Maps click on Maps slider and click on "Locate in map".  If it does not find the address correctly then you may need to mess with the Address fields and Apply and try again OR drag the marker (pin) until you point it to the correct location;
      7. Click on Display Options ^(optional):
         
         1. Show Contact details: Allows you to display the contact details in different places. Sidebar is good unless you have a really narrow page.
         2. Show Map: Choose whether and where you want to display Google Maps in order to suit your preferences;
         3. Change the options selections to meet your needs; none really must be changed.
      8. Click on "Contact Form" slider ^(optional):
         
         1. Record messages: Whether you want to record the emails sent to this contact in the database;
         2. Show sidebar: Change to Right or Left if you want the contact info to display in the sidebar;
      9. Nothing else must be change for the form to work, so click Save;
3. Menu Configuration:
   1. Go to Menus --> Menu Manager and select the Menu where you want the form to display.
   2. Select New button from the toolbar
   3. Menu Item Type: Contact Enhanced --> Single Contact Form (or other menu item type);
   4. Give it a Menu Title and set Parent Item.
   5. Contact Display Options: you can override most Contact Details configuration options;
   6. Page Display Options: Set a Page Title and a heading;
   7. Select Save;
4. Clean the Joomla and your browser's cache and go to your website and check it out.  It should be good to go, but you can also configure the plugins included in the package:
5. Captcha Configuration:
   
   1. In the Component Configuration (item #2) set the Captcha option to your favorite Joomla core plugin captcha;
   2. Contact Enhanced comes with a core captcha plugin called SecurImage. It is very customizable and if you want to use it, go to Extensions --> Plugin Manager --> Captcha - SecurImage and change the options as you wish;
6. CE Feedback Plugin Configuration:
   1. Contact Enhanced Plus and Pro packages includes a vertical Feedback tab/button that can be displayed on the left/right of your website. To configure this button, select "System - Cefeedback";
   2. Make changes as necessary and save the changes;
   3. Please go to Plugin: CE Feedback Site Tab to read more about it;

* A cheat sheet or crib sheet is a concise set of notes used for quick reference;

This is a tutorial on how to update the Contact Enhanced extension without uninstalling and reinstalling the component.

Update Contact Enhanced

Simply choose one of three different distributions of the Contact Enhanced. The Contact Enhanced Lite, Contact Enhanced Plus or Contact Enhanced Pro installation package, including all available plugins and modules. All packages include the back-end modules.

Now follow these steps to update your Contact Enhanced:

1. First of all make a backup of your site (files and database), so you can recover it any time;
2. Download the latest Contact Enhanced version (one of the distributions from above);
3. Extract (unzip) the downloaded zip file. In this file there's a Contact Enhanced version for your Joomla version;
4. Go to the extensions installer in the Joomla! administration, pick the downloaded Contact Enhanced package and click on Upload File & Install.

That's it! Now the Contact Enhanced extension, all language files and all bundled modules and plugins are updated to the latest version...

Keep in mind that any modifications to the files (PHP, CSS, Images, language, etc) may be lost. Therefore we recommend to create a full backup before the upgrade. If you want to change HTML we recommend to use Joomla's core HTML template override and use Language overrides to change the language.

When you've finished the update, clear your browser cache and the Joomla cache. To clear the Joomla cache go to the Joomla administration » Tools » Clean Cache.

If you are facing this error during installation: Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded in [file/path.php] on line [line number] you may try to install the component from a directory as described in the Installation article.

Upgrade from 2.5 to 3.x procedure

First upgrade your Joomla 2.5 to Joomla 3.x or newer, then follow the Update Contact Enhanced steps mentioned above.

Contact Enhanced has maps integration with Google Maps API (requires billing information) and with Leaflet to show a map based on the contact address. If you have a Contact Enhanced PRO subscription you can also use the Ideal Store Locator plugin, which has integration with Google Maps API only. 

Features:

• Easily display latitude and longitude of address;
• Balloon (Info Window) content: By default the Contact's address and image are displayed in the balloon, but you can add any text to the balloon using a contact Extra Contact Field, including HTML .
• Customize the Marker icon;

Google Maps API Features Only:

• Google Maps directions: The Directions Search field is displayed inside the balloon (info window) and you can choose whether to display the directions before or after the map;
• Choose a language: By default Google Maps API will use the Browser's language, but you can change it so it will display the current Joomla language OR you can manually set the Maps language;
• Show/Hide Navigation Control;
• Show/Hide Map Type Control;
• Choose the default Map Type. Options: Roadmap, Satellite; Hybrid, Terrain;
  
• Using GMaps API version 3, which was designed with Mobile devices in mind, therefore loads faster;
• Customizable Map Style: As of version 3.3.7 of Contact Enhanced and version 3 of the Google Maps API custom styles can now be applied to maps. This allows you to pick a style that matches the theme of their website.
  You can create your own style using the Google Styled Maps Wizard and copy the JSON code to this field OR use an existing map from snazzymaps.com

Google Maps API requires a Key and Billing information

An API Key to use Google Maps API is required. Follow these steps to get an API key:

1. Go to the Google Developers Console.
2. Create or select a project.
3. Click Continue to enable the API and any related services.
4. On the Credentials page, get a Browser key (and set the API Credentials).
   Note: If you have an existing Browser key, you may use that key.
5. To prevent quota theft, secure your API key following these best practices.
6. Make sure to enable Google Places API Web Service, Google Maps Roads API, Google Maps JavaScript API , Google Maps Geocoding API , Google Maps Directions API , Google Maps Distance Matrix API , Google Maps Geolocation API ;
7. Enable billing. See Usage Limits for more information.

Google Maps Platform

On May 2nd 2018 Google announced important changes, including a new name - Google Maps Platform, which they claim to be a simplified product structure, pay as you go pricing for all, and more. Please take a few minutes to review the announcement to familiarize yourself with the changes.

We would like to highlight a few Google Maps updates that may impact your implementation.  Beginning June 11th, Google is launching a new pricing plan and providing all users access to support. They’ll continue to offer a free tier — all developers will receive $200 of free monthly usage of core products. In addition,  this change will require you to enable billing and associate it with all of your Google Maps Platform projects.

How does this affect your current projects? Check on https://mapsplatformtransition.withgoogle.com. If you use Google Maps in our Extensions, you'll need to enable billing by June 11 for the Google Maps integrations to continue to work.

Screenshots

Read more: Setting up Google Maps API Integration

Contact Enhanced has maps integration with Google Maps API (requires billing information) and with Leaflet to show a map based on the contact address. If you have a Contact Enhanced PRO subscription you can also use the Ideal Store Locator plugin, which has integration with Google Maps API only. 

What's Leaflet?

Leaflet is the leading open-source JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps. Leaflet is provider-agnostic, meaning that it doesn’t enforce a particular choice of providers for tiles. Leaflet doesn’t even contain a single provider-specific line of code, so you’re free to use other providers if you need to. 

Tile Providers

Some Tile providers are free to use. This doesn't mean no limits apply, you should always check each of the provider's Terms and Conditions before using these layers for anything serious. There are some paid providers with a free quota. For example Mapbox.com provides 50,000 map views for free. Most free providers, if not all, get the map data from https://openstreetmap.org. OpenStreetMap is a free, editable map of the whole world that is being built by volunteers largely from scratch and released with an open-content license.

How to use

1. Go to Components → Contact Enhanced  → Options and under the Map tab set Map Script to Leaflet.
2. Choose a Map Tiles provider and configure it accordingly;

Contact Enhanced Contacts now have many more Contact Field options, which is using Joomla's com_fields component. 

How to access:

Go to Components → Contact Enhanced  →  Contacts, then you'll see two new menu items called:

• Contact Fields
• Contact Field Groups

Read more: Contact Fields

{gdata id=|qXB5zACc5Ms|}This Screencast shows how to edit the Component Parameters (Options in Joomla 2.5). Remember that all Component Parameters are overridden by the Menu Item parameters. This feature allows you to have different configurations for each form;

Read more: Extra Contact Detail Fields

{gdata title=|Missing screencast| app=|none|}

How to Access

Select Components → Contact Enhanced → Custom Values from the drop-down menu on the back-end of your Joomla! installation. This option is only available if you have a SQL Form Field type.

Description

The Form Fields Manager screen allows you to create advanced Form Fields using the SQL Form Field type, which displays a Select dropdown with values from the database. Some users might want to add the values to a new database table, that's why we've created the Custom Values;

Details

• Text: The text the user will see in the dropdown select list (required);

• Value: The text that you will get in the email (required);

• Type: You can enter any value to help you to keep things organized;

• Category: You can use this field as you wish; You can enter a value or select one from the list; IMPORTANT: This is not necessary related to the Contact Enhanced Categories;

Read more: Custom Values Overview

Read more: Edit Contact Overview

Navigate to the Form Fields Manager. To add a new Form Field, press the "New" icon in the toolbar. To edit an existing Form Field, click on the Form Field's Name or click the Form Field's checkbox and then click on the "Edit" icon in the toolbar.

Description

This is where you can add a Form Field or edit an existing one. Contact Enhanced allows you to list Form Fields on your web site's contact forms. Contact Enhaced has the ability to allow you (site administrator) to assign custom fields to a contact category. Therefore you have to create a category before you create a custom field. Your users will be able to fill that custom field when they submit the form.

Read more: Edit Form Field Overview

Description

In Contact Enhanced → Contacts → Edit Contact you have the Fields: First Sort Field, Second Sort Field and Third Sort Field, which allow you to order the contacts in a List view by them. This is very useful if you want to order your contacts in a category list by Last name.

Usage

If ordering is set to Name (in the Component options, under the List tab), it will use these fields to sort the Contacts in the Category list. If they are blank it will use the Name field.Useful when you What to sort the list by Last name, but want to display the first name in the Category list view. For example, your Contact Name is John Smith, but you want to sort by last name, then in the "First Sort Field" you ad Smith and in the "Second Sort Field" you add John.

How to access

Select Components → Contact Enhanced → Form Fields from the drop-down menu on the back-end of your Joomla! installation.

Description

Contact Enhaced has the ability to allow you (site administrator) to assign custom fields to a contact category. Therefore you have to create a category before you create a custom field. Your users will be able to fill that custom field when they submit the form.

Read more: Form Field Manager Overview

Select Components → Contact Enhanced → Contacts from the drop-down menu on the back-end of your Joomla! installation.

Description

The Contact Enhanced Manager screen allows you to add contact information to your Joomla! site. You can enter information such as name, address, phone and e-mail. You can also link contacts to registered users. Afterwards, you can use the Menu Manager to create front-end links to the the contacts.

Read more: Contact Enhanced Manager Overview

Description

A QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code) is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) that is readable by dedicated QR barcode readers, camera telephones, and to a less common extent, computers with webcams. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded may be text, URL, or other data. Wikipedia

Read more: QR Code

Description

Option to allow an usergroup to edit a contact details without back-end (administrator) access. Only the user linked to a contact can edit the contact;

Read more: Front-end edit

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679  is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union. It addresses the export of personal data outside the EU. The GDPR aims primarily to give control to citizens and residents over their personal data and to simplify the regulatory environment for international business by unifying the regulation within the EU. It was adopted on 27 April 2016. It becomes enforceable on 25 May 2018, after a two-year transition period.

This is an an extensive description or list on how to comply with GDPR. For more information please read the official website.

Read more: GDPR and Contact Enhanced Compliance

Are you tired or having to type the same answer over and over again? If so, use the Contact Enhanced Canned Answers feature.

Usage

1. Go to Components → Contact Enhanced → Recorded Messages
2. Click on a message, then click on the Reply button.
3. You'll see a Canned Answers link. When you click on it you will be able to add New Canned Answer;
4. After you've added your Canned Answers you can click on them in order to use them.

View video: Canned Answers

Your Customer Service staff most likely reply to the same or similar questions very frequently, that's why we've implemented the Canned Answers, however it solved only part of the problem. Sometimes a support reply includes a file and uploading the same file multiple times can be tiring and time consuming. Therefore we've implemented a different attachment method. With our File link attachments in reply message feature your customer service staff will only have to upload the file once and add the link to the email. They can also add a link to an entire folder, which the user will download as a zip file.

Read more: Add link to file (attachment) in reply message