This particular user guide is for VP One Page Checkout plugin package for VirtueMart 3. If you are using VirtueMart 2.0 or VirtueMart 2.6 then please refer to this documentation.
Installation
To start with the installation process you first need to download the correct package compatible to VirtueMart 3. This is a Joomla! system plugin compatible to both Joomla! 2.5 and Joomla! 3.x. Install the plugin using Joomla! Extension Installer. Now go to Plugin Manager and enable the plugin you just installed. It will be listed as "System - VP One Page Checkout". That is it. The installation is done and now the plugin will take care of your VirtueMart checkout system.
Configuration
Once the plugin is installed in your site you can configure VirtueMart and the plugin as per your need.
VirtueMart Configuration
It is very important that you enable "Using the Script ajax Countries / Regions" in VirtueMart Configuration under Template tab. If this option is disabled in your site then state/region field will not get populated correctly as per the selected country in Billing Address and Shipping Address forms. Other css and script settings can be configured as per your site requirement.
How to enable/disable guest checkout
If you enable "Only registered users can checkout" in VirtueMart Configuration then guest checkout will be disabled and only registration option will be displayed. You need to disable this option if you want to have guest checkout enabled in your site.
How to show registration form in checkout page
Enable "On checkout, ask for registration" in VirtueMart Configuration.
How to show product images in checkout page
Enable "Show product images" in VirtueMart Configuration.
How to show Terms of Service in checkout page?
Enable "Show Terms of Service on the cart/checkout" in VirtueMart Configuration.
Basic Options
The plugin has various configuration options to meet your exact need. Each basic options of the plugin settings are exlained below.
Layout Style
Set your desired layout style for the checkout page.
Color Style
Set your desired color style for the checkout page.
Hide Registration and Login Area
If you enable this option then the plugin will always display the order finalization screen and will not display registration and login area. Please remember you must disable "Only registered users can checkout" option in VirtueMart Configuration to allow users to checkout as guest.
Show Full Cart on First Screen
When this option is disabled the login and registration screen only displays the cart table till product total and does not display applied bill tax, bill discount, coupon discount, selected payment, selected shipment and cart total. If you enable this option then full cart table will be displayed.
Registration Form Displayed by Default
When "Only registered users can checkout" option is disabled and "On checkout, ask for registration" is enabled in VirtueMart Configuration then you see both Guest Checkout and Registration option in the first screen. Guest Checkout option is selected by default. If you enable this option then Registration option will be selected by default.
Instant Username and Email Verification
When this option is enabled username availability and email address availability is checked instantly through Ajax as the user type in the information in the registration form fields.
Live Username, Email and Password Field Validation
When this option is enabled username field, email field and password fields are dynamically verified as the user type in the information in the registration form. It also displays a password strength meter.
Auto Generate Username during Registration
When this option is enabled Username field will not be displayed in User Registration form and the same will be generated automatically from the email address.
Hide Name Field in Registration Form
When this option is enabled Name field will not be displayed in User Registration form and the same will be generated automatically from the email address or username.
Custom Registration Advantage Message
Registration Advantage message is displayed when both guest checkout and registration are enabled in checkout pages and a user select Guest Checkout option. You can enter your custom Registration Advantage message here. If you keep this blank then the plugin will display its standard message.
Email as Username - Login
When this option is set as "Yes", only E-Mail address can be used login instead of Username. When it is set as "Both", Username or E-Mail address can be used for login. Set this as "No" for normal login with Username.
Show Checkout Steps
When this option is enabled Checkout steps are displayed with numbers in the order finalization screen.
Hide Discount
When this option is enabled discount column will not be displayed in the cart details table.
Hide SKU
When this option is enabled SKU column will not be displayed in the cart details table.
Address Field Grouping
Group title + first name fields, middle name + last name fields and city + zip fields side by side in one row. If your main content area is narrow then they may not get accommodated and can get broken into multiple lines. In that case you can disable this option.
BT as ST by Default
If this option is enabled "use billing address as shipping address" checkbox will be checked by default in shipping address form.
Cart Module Position
In Joomla! 3 you can select your desired module position from the drop down list when you want to display at the top of the cart page. In Joomla! 2.5 the module position is always "cart-promo".
Show VirtueMart Checkout Advertisements
Enable this if you want to display core VirtueMart advertisement contents generated by payment plugins, shipment plugins or coupon plugins below the order confirmation button. They will be displayed only if exists.
Advanced Options
Each advanced options of the plugin settings are exlained below.
Load jQuery Library
This option is displayed only in Joomla! 2.5. jQuery library is required for the plugin. If your Joomla! Template is loading jQuery on top of all other scripts then you can set this as "No". If you are not sure then we recommend you to keep this in "Auto" mode and let the plugin do the hard work to decide this. In Joomla! 3 the plugin uses core Joomla! jQuery library.
Load jQuery Plugins
jQuery Hover Intent plugin and jQuery easing plugin are required for VP One Page Checkout plugin. If your Joomla template is already loading this then you can set this to "No". If you are not sure then we recommend you to keep this in "Auto" mode and let the plugin do the hard work to decide this.
Use Fancybox for TOS
If this is enabled then the plugin will use core VirtueMart Fancybox script to display Terms of Service popup. When disabled it will use the plugin's own Boostrap modal box feature.
Hide System Messages
When this is enabled the plugin will automatically remove all unnecessary system messages displayed in the cart page by core VirtueMart system. Eg. Please accept Terms of User, Missing fields First Name etc.
Custom Messages to Hide
Here you can enter the other custom system messages that you do not want to display on cart page. You can enter multiple strings separated by comma. You can even enter language tags to hide the message on multilingual site. To hide messages starting with a specific string add a suffix * after the string. Similarly to hide messages ending with a specific string add a prefix * before the string. Please remember "Hide System Messages" option must be enabled to use this feature.
Force Disable SSL on Non-Cart Pages
When SSL option is enabled in VirtueMart Configuration and when you are not using any other SSL redirection extension then you can enable this option. It redirects the users to a non-SSL/normal mode page when they move out of SSL enabled VirtueMart cart page.
Default Country
This option allows you to set your desired default country which you want to get selected automatically by the plugin when a new/guest user tries checkout. By default it is selected a "Same as Vendor Country". You can change this "None" or select any specific country from the drop down list as per your choice. Setting a default country always makes the checkout faster. So set it wisely.
Custom Registration Fields
The plugin needs only the core Joomla! registration field data to register an user. It displays username, name, email and password fields in the registration form by default. If you want to add more billing address fields in the registration form then you want select them from the available list. Please the entered data in the custom fields only gets saved to cart session after registration. The data finally gets saved to the database when the user confirm the order.
Show Captcha (If enabled)
Even though VP One Page Checkout plugin registration form is fully bot protected you can display reCaptcha below the form. To use this option you need to enable the reCaptcha plugin and also need to enable captcha option in Joomla! Users Configuration.
Format Radio & Checkbox
If your Billing Address or Shipping Address fields contains some custom radio or checkbox fields then you are normally not displayed properly aligned with VP One Page Checkout plugin layout. This option helps you to get them aligned properly using JavaScript. If you need you may disabled this feature.
Remove Extra Links
Sometimes few third party payment plugins displays core VirtueMart edit payment page link in their display. VP One Page Checkout does not have any separate edit payment page so you may remove those links by enabling this option.
Reload Full Page After Login & Registration
The plugin by default loads the order finalization screen through Ajax after an user logs in or gets registered. If you are using any other login module in the page then you may enable this option to reload the full page to allow that module gets updated with the actual user login state.
Reload Payment Methods after Shipment Selection
If you want to reload the payment method selections area after selection of shipping method then you will need to enable this option.
Reload Payment Methods and Shipment Methods after Coupon Code Submission
This option allows you to reload payment method and shipping method selection areas along with cart details area after submission of a discount coupon code.