ISSUE SUMMARY:
I upgraded to the latest JomSocial, the installer process said everything went ok, but now the JomSocial toobar menu doesn't work (the drop-down sub menu items do not appear) and all JomSocial toobar menu items are marked as '-notifications' and when I go to change the menu item types (eg. modify profile picture) they do not update, with '-notifications' remaining for all menu item types.


STEPS TO REPLICATE:
1. Login to site from front end, will take you to profile page. Rollover the 'My Profile' menu item and you will see it does not show the drop down menu items (eg Edit my profile, etc)
2. Login to the Admin backend
3. Go to menus and select JomSocial toolbar to bring up the menu items
4. Click on the 'Edit Profile' menu item to open it
5. Click on the SELECT button to choose the menu item type
6. Select Community > Edit Profile
7. You will see the menu link does not change and remains as '-notifications'

RESULT - JomSocial not working properly
EXPECTED RESULT - It should work
BROWSER - Firefox

HI, John.

Thank you for contacting us.
This issue is related with your current template. It loads it own customized bootstrap file www.tricoach.com.au/templates/shaper_cui.../js/bootstrap.min.js which doesn't work with JomSocial. JS needs Joomla! default bootstrap library.

Thanks Michal for the info.

You're right. I tested it by changing all of the JomSocial menu items to the Joomla default template Protostar and everything is working fine, which at least means I can use a workaround for the members area, though it is not ideal.

Given your experience in this area, could you please answer the following questions so I can be better informed of the context of this issue:

1. Is the correct Joomla Extension developer protocol to use the default Joomla Bootstrap library? I'm assuming if its good for iJoomla/JomSocial to use the default Joomla bootstrap library, it should be good enough for others to do so too, correct?

2. Why would someone not use the default Joomla bootstrap library? Would it be to save time writing the correct code that is actually fit for purpose? Is it simply to 'cut corners' in coding and development time and resources?

3. Given you have identified the offending non-default Joomla bootstrap library, at a guess (I wont hold you to it, just interested in your thoughts) how much of a hassle is it for the offending developer to fix? Is fixing it/superceding the bad code with correct code on top of the default library even possible? Is this a minor or a major update for the template?

4. Is there ever a good reason to create a non-default Joomla bootstrap library as a developer?

5. I imagine iJoomla/JomSocial encounter this sort of code conflict regularly - what does your company and its reps say to 3rd party template developers when this occurs. Does/will iJoomla liaise with 3rd part developers from time to time to ensure their template are Joomla compliant, or is this something that Joomla/Open Source matters does to try to maintain Joomla protocols and standards?

6. Lastly, if I was going to use a workaround template/template framework for my member pages for this website, would the T3 Framework by JoomlArt be a good remedy (ie. do you know off hand whether the T3 Framework is compliant with the default Joomla bootstrap library? What do you think of T3? What template framework would you recommend to avoid these issues?

Apologies for the length and detail of the questions, and thank you in advance for answering them even if it is briefly, as I dont want to get caught in the future having invested 100's of hour in a project to them confront these fundamental incompatibilities, so it would be great to find the best template framework no to work with.

PS: I marked the ticket not fixed, just so I could get your answers, afterwhich I will mark it fixed as JomSocial is not the problem here.

Many Kind Regards,

John Gibson

HI, John.

1. Yes, you're correct. Joomla! introduced bootstrap some time ago. So there is no use to load own library. This also apply to jQuery. The main goal was to avoid loading the same scripts few times (each extension would load own library)... what caused issues.

2. Some developers prefer to load own library as they customize bootstrap for their specific needs.

3. That's rather complicated question as I didn't dig deep into their code, so I don't know what exactly is customized and why. As a developer I would say that we should follow the standards and use what framework actually give.

4. I don't see any :)

5. Oh, that's a long story :) Usually 3rd party developers are eager to cooperate. But sometimes they don't see their own faults. In most cases customers force them to ad fixes. Especially if it apply to templates as template is responsible to display all the content. Extension can't override what template loads. So template needs to work smooth with any extension. We are always open to cooperate so if template developers have suggestions we consider them.

6. Personally I'm not a big fan of frameworked templates. I always build custom made templates. Lightweight and reliable that uses Joomla! library scripts, sometimes additional scripts but always compatible with J! jQuery. Framework templates are good... for template developers :) as they may fast build newly looking template with backend settings. but if you want to customize such an template... it become a horror as many elements are not in template files but.. in plugins. So if you upgrade template (and framework - you lost all your customizations). But if you want a customable (at some extent) template and won't fiddle with the code.. then sure, why not :)

But my advice is - if you have money to invest, a good developer and some time - think about custom build template ;)

We also provide T3 frameworked Joomla! template that was built to fit great with JomSocial. It's Socialize template: socialize.jomsocial.com/