Cannot Follow Tutorial in Joomla 3.9.25

[eengnerd]

I've been following a tutorial written for Joomla 3.5.xx and they ask me to enter englishmenu for the "Menu Type", but this is now an Automated "selector" that does not include that option. The tutorial is intended to help me setup and multi-lingual website using only the "built-in" tools. Part of the problem is that my website is already extremely complex and I'm trying to do this "after the fact". I've already created many article duplicates for the other two languages (Spanish and Norwegian), but have not succeeded in getting the language switcher to work as yet. My website is using a horizontal menu, which complicates things because when I change a menu "title" like "English Menu", then "English Menu" is displayed...but that is not what I want to be displayed on the screen!

Any help...link to a new tutorial, etc. would be really appreciated!
Arthur

[infograf768]

We have a tutorial here:
https://docs.joomla.org/J3.x:Setup_a_Multilingual_Site

[eengnerd]

Yes, this is exactly the tutorial I was following, but could not use! Why? Because you cannot enter "frenchmenu" as the "Menu Type" because it is not in the list of existing options! Neither is "englishmenu"! This tutorial is obviously too far out of date! It cannot be followed exactly. It needs to be rewritten a bit.

[SharkyKZ]

Where is this exactly? Can you post a screenshot of the page?

[brian]

you are trying to create a "menu item"
you should be creating a "menu"

[eengnerd]

Exactly right! Now I'm not sure what to do when I noticed that the system wants me to "Add a module" to each of the menus I have created? I created 3 menus: English Menu, Spanish Menu, and Norwegian Menu. Each with the appropriate "Menu Type": englishmenu, spanishmenu, and norwegianmenu. I left mainmenu untouched. My website is MobilePCClinic.Net. Not sure how to proceed.

Many thanks...by the way!
Arthur

[brian]

Just follow the tutorial. All the information is there. (I just double checked)

[eengnerd]

Thanks for your help. I have followed the tutorial as best I can, but the menu system is no longer visible. I think that what is needed is to delete the "protostar - default style" and make the protostar - English style the "default", but not sure. Just tried that, but it says "cannot delete the default style". So I have no other ideas at this point.

Arthur

[infograf768]

I suggest you create a default style for each language and leave alone the original default.

[eengnerd]

I suggest you create a default style for each language and leave alone the original default.

That's exactly what I've done, but the menu system, all of it, has completely disappeared...not sure why.

Arthur

[infograf768]

I'm sorry but it is impossible to help you more without credentials as superuser to your site administration.

[eengnerd]

I'm setting up an account for you, but need your eMail address!

Arthur

[eengnerd]

I'm sorry but it is impossible to help you more without credentials as superuser to your site administration.

Here's my login:

[ redacted ]

Arthur

[eengnerd]

I just tried the tutorial over again by starting with a brand new and different website and domain. Followed the tutorial very precisely and saw the expected results on each step, but the end result did not work. I saw the "Choose Your Language" text in position 7, but no flag images, and nothing to click on below that. I did see a menu for Spanish, and another menu for Norwegian in position 7, but in both cases, when I clicked on the link for the "home" page in either one...I got error 404 "no such page". By hovering the mouse over the link, I discovered that for each link, the address was "jcartes.org/en/hogar.html" when it should have been, jcartes.org/es/hogar.html Sorry, but this is just not working out very well. Wish the tutorial focused more on the underlying "principles" and "concepts".

[eengnerd]

I do not like this website! I cannot send a private message to anyone...whether friend or not...because I'm an "apprentice"...so I can't get my admin credentials sent to infograf768! Now a website that I've spent 5 years perfecting is completely "offline"...and I have failed to use the tutorial successfully on a brand new website...so I'm thinking there's still a few bugs to be worked out. I'm still waiting for some useful help!
Arthur

[imanickam]

I cannot send a private message to anyone...whether friend or not...because I'm an "apprentice"...so I can't get my admin credentials sent to infograf768!

We do understand your concern. Following is an alternate way to share your site.

Are you using the extension Akeeba Backup? If the answer is Yes, you could take a backup of your site and send the backed up file/archive or post the file somewhere so that others could download it. This way, you need not share the password. When the Akeeba Backup is being restored on their environment using the script kickstart.php one could have their own password instead of the real one in the backup. As you notice, your environment will not be touched in any way.

If you do not have Akeeba Backup, make sure to take the backup of your site files and the database content (by exporting the content using utilities such as phpMyAdmin). After taking these backups, install Akeeba Backup and then create a backup which could be shared.

[eengnerd]

I cannot send a private message to anyone...whether friend or not...because I'm an "apprentice"...so I can't get my admin credentials sent to infograf768!

We do understand your concern. Following is an alternate way to share your site.

Are you using the extension Akeeba Backup? If the answer is Yes, you could take a backup of your site and send the backed up file/archive or post the file somewhere so that others could download it. This way, you need not share the password. When the Akeeba Backup is being restored on their environment using the script kickstart.php one could have their own password instead of the real one in the backup. As you notice, your environment will not be touched in any way.

If you do not have Akeeba Backup, make sure to take the backup of your site files and the database content (by exporting the content using utilities such as phpMyAdmin). After taking these backups, install Akeeba Backup and then create a backup which could be shared.

One question, can I produce a backup that will allow someone like yourself to troubleshoot my website, change the login credentials, etc. using the "free" version of Akeeba? Or does that require the Pro version?

Cordially,
Arthur

[imanickam]

can I produce a backup that will allow someone like yourself to troubleshoot my website, change the login credentials, etc. using the "free" version of Akeeba? Or does that require the Pro version?

It can be done with the "free" version of Akeeba Backup for Joomla! - NO need for Pro version.

[eengnerd]

Well, the damage to my website was not as bad as I first suspected. I've made a few repairs and the site is now visible, but has a few minor problems. I'm sure that some of you will immediately recognize what needs to be done to finish repairing the site. Just visit https://MobilePCClinic.Net/index.php/en/home and you'll see what I mean. There are 3 separate menus for each language and they each have ALL of the menu items associated with the appropriate English menu items...yet all three languages are displayed in position 1, when only one should be displayed at a time! But two languages only show the equivalent of "Home" in English. So I suspect that it has something to do with the "Language Switcher" not being set up correctly. The language switcher is in position 7...don't know if it has to be in the same position as all of the menus? Doesn't seem logical to require that...but...I'm just a beginner. And also the language switcher is not displaying any flags or anything else except the "title" and cannot be used for clicking anything!
Arthur

[eengnerd]

Update: I have fixed most of the problems on my website so that only one menu is displayed for each language homepage. The menus are now all displaying as horizontal menus. And they all have the right order and structure. And they all refer to the correct articles. The one remaining problem is that the Language Switcher is still not being displayed correctly and has no apparent function. Don't have a clue as to why! I tried changing its position, but it only appears in position 7. Would appreciate any ideas!
Arthur

[eengnerd]

I'm beginning to think that the real problem is that the Language Switcher never has worked very well. I'm open to using another module/component/plugin that will allow me to switch languages correctly without spending more money. Still waiting for some help.
Arthur

[eengnerd]

Update: I have now installed Akeeba Backup free version and have used it with all of the default settings to create a backup of the whole site. But now I don't know how to find the right file to upload to anyone who wants it. Any help would be appreciated. Who ever wants this backup...please let me know!
Arthur

[imanickam]

What I would suggest is to copy the backup file to the directory where Joomla is installed and provide the filename to the user who is willing to download and check the site.

You could send a PM to me with the filename. When time permits, I will look into the problem.

[eengnerd]

What I would suggest is to copy the backup file to the directory where Joomla is installed and provide the filename to the user who is willing to download and check the site.

You could send a PM to me with the filename. When time permits, I will look into the problem.

Well, now I am almost completely finished repairing my website on my own. The menus are all working perfectly. The Language Switcher is the only thing not finished. I got the Norwegian flag to appear on the Language switcher and it changes to Norwegian language system when clicked, but the other two flags are not visible yet. Need to figure out why. Maybe we can figure this out via messages?
Appreciate your help!
Arthur

[imanickam]

the other two flags are not visible yet. Need to figure out why.

Check whether the Default menu item (identified by the respective flag icon) has been defined for each of the languages for which the flag is not showing.

In the back-end, Publish the Administrator module Multilingual Status. Once this is done a link titled Multilingual Status will appear in the status bar. Click on the link. A pop-up window will show up with all the relevant settings for the multilingual site. You could post a copy of the pop-up window in your reply.

[eengnerd]

OK, I have solved part of the problem! I finally got the English menu flag to appear by deleting the whole English Menu from the top item on the Menus menu (Manage) and recreating the English Menu from scratch! Evidently there were too many modules associated with the English Menu! The remaining problem is that the Spanish Menu cannot be deleted because it has the "default" and the "Home" item in it. So the message tells me "the delete failed". Do you know any way to accomplish deleting the Spanish Menu?

Arthur

[eengnerd]

the other two flags are not visible yet. Need to figure out why.

Check whether the Default menu item (identified by the respective flag icon) has been defined for each of the languages for which the flag is not showing.

In the back-end, Publish the Administrator module Multilingual Status. Once this is done a link titled Multilingual Status will appear in the status bar. Click on the link. A pop-up window will show up with all the relevant settings for the multilingual site. You could post a copy of the pop-up window in your reply.

I already checked those items as you describe above. I'm not sure what the "backend" is, or how to access it. What I do know is that if it is possible to delete and recreate the Spanish Menu, then the last remaining problem will for sure be eliminated! But I don't know how to reassign the "Home" attribute to the English Menu so that the Spanish Menu can be deleted!
Cordially,
Arthur

[eengnerd]

When I go the Menu Manager, the module dropdowns for each Menu are as follows:
English Menu: protostar - Espanol (Public in Position-1), protostar - English (Public in Position-1), protostar - Norwegian (Public in Position-1)
Spanish Menu: protostar - Espanol (Public in Position7), Spanish Menu (Public in Position-1)
Norwegian Menu: protostar - Norwegian (Public in Postion-7), Norwegian Menu (Public in Position-1)
I have no idea what is correct or not, but it is interesting to note that English and Norwegian appear to be working fine...but Spanish has no flag and won't work, unless you type in the correct URL manually, which is https://MobilePCClinic.Net/index.php/es/ Another thing I just noticed is that the Spanish Menu is not displayed at all. Correction, just fixed that by adding a module called "protostar - Espanol (Public in Position-1) to that menu. I think that two modules need to be deleted from their current menus...and they are both in Positon-7.

Cordially,
Arthur

[eengnerd]

OK, I've tried everything I can think of to delete the Spanish Menu and I'm totally out of ideas. But I KNOW that this is the correct action to take...and then recreate the menu from scratch. Wish someone could help me!
Arthur

[eengnerd]

Just "triple confirmed" that I really need to delete the Spanish Menu from the Manage menu item and recreate it from scratch, but cannot do it because the Spanish Menu "Home Page" (aka Hogar) is both the "default" menu item and the "Home" item for all three of the menus: English Menu, Norwegian Menu, and Spanish Menu!
The problem is that there's no way (at least that I know of) to reassign the "Home" attribute to the English Menu's Home Page, which makes it impossible to delete the Spanish Menu! I can understand the need to have the "home attribute" on at least one item in the database...makes sense! But that attribute needs to be "reassigned" on occasion...and should be changed in order to allow that to happen...if it is not already possible! Just my "two cents"! The only logical alternative to this, would be to allow the deletion of individual modules from the "list of modules" that is displayed in the Manage Menu screen on a dropdown and then "rebuild" the menu. This would actually save the time required to recreate the offending menu from scratch! And it would provide an easy to remember solution for newbies like me to undo their mistakes!

Arthur