The most important thing when getting started with Bible Study is to open and save the Parameters. This will bring the component to life on the front end so you can begin to use it. Once you add a menu item link to Bible Study, then you should change Component Parameters from the menu item, as it will override any changes made in the component parameters link.
In the Joomla Admin side, go to Components | Bible Study Manager and open one of the sub menus - it doesn't matter which one. Look for the Parameters button on the right, click on it and you will see a whole host of options that will help set up the component on the front end. For now, simply save the page by the Save link at the top. You will come back later to make changes.
Essentially, Bible Study can be as simple or as complex as you'd like. To do it the most simple way, just enter a name of a teacher in the Teacher's list. Now go to the studies and click "New." Put in whatever information you want - as much or as little. Choose a book of the Bible, or a topic from the drop down list, and then choose the teacher you entered. Save it.
Now click on media files. Choose a server/folder or just enter the full url of the filename, choose a type from the drop down list and click "Save." That's it. Now go back to the Preferences and check out your possibilities. There are 12 possible positions for information in four columns, plus a media column. You choose which column to show and what information is presented there. You can even put in some styling information including size and coloring using SPAN tags. Try different layouts until you find the look you want.
To get some ideas check out our test site.
To really harness the power of Bible Study, go back to the admin side and go to Servers. Here's where you can save typing mistakes by entering the url of your server which you can then choose in the Study entry by a drop down list. You can also add a folder underneath to make entering a study that much easier. Instead of having to type in a long url you simply choose the server and folder then type in the filename after choosing a media type. Why would you use a folder? We put our studies in folders according to years so we have a 2007 folder, a 2006 folder, etc. Putting in a folder saves the possibility of a typing error (I've done it many times).
We've made all the lists accessible to you so you can add and edit. You can even delete rows but we don't recommend it. To delete some of the component rows for things like images, etc, you need to set that permission in the Parameters.
We recommend that you use the server/folder functionality as it is essential in the upcoming upload feature. Your server should be just
www.myserver.com. In the folders section put in /myfolder/ with the slashes at either side. It could also be /myfolder/mysubfolder/. Then just put in a file name in the filename section like myfile.mp3.
Right now you can't upload anything, but we're working on that capability.
