Installing Plugins
Installing Plugins
As you begin to use your Omeka install on Reclaim Hosting you may wish to add additional functionality by way of the various open source plugins available at http://omeka.org/add-ons/plugins/. Although Omeka doesn’t currently include an automated installer for plugins, the process of uploading them to your space is outlined here.
Before you can install a plugin to your site, you have to download the files from the Omeka Plugins site. Let’s say I want to download the “Admin Images” plugin. I will download it as a zip file from the Omeka plugin library.
Now that we have our plugin zip file downloaded, we can return to our cPanel Dashboard and access the File Manager located under the Files section.
In the File Manager, you’ll use the lefthand sidebar to navigate to the plugins folder within your Omeka install. In the image below, you see that the Omeka plugins folder is within my “digitalcollection…lsusites.org” folder, because I installed Omeka at a subdomain I titled “digitalcollection.” The folder your Omeka is in will be named something different, depending on where you installed the application.
Here you will see all plugins currently in your Omeka install, such as “Exhibit Builder” and “Coins.” To add a new one you want to have downloaded the zip file locally to your computer from Omeka’s website first (we addressed this above). Then click the Upload button to upload the file.
The interface will allow you to drag and drop or select from your computer one or more zip files for the plugins you wish to upload. Once the upload has completed you can return to the previous screen using the link at the bottom of the page.
You should now see a zip file for your plugin in the plugins folder. The last step is to extract the contents of the zip file to the same folder. To do this select your file and click the Extract button.
Once the plugin is extracted you can delete the zip file and the plugin will now be available for activation within your Omeka administration interface. Within your Omeka app, navigate to “plugins” and click “install” next to your newly available plugin.
Installing Themes
Just as you would install plugins, installing themes to Omeka is very similar. Omeka has a few themes installed automatically that you have access to. But there are more themes available at http://omeka.org/add-ons/themes. There is no automatic installer so you would need to upload the theme to your File Manager in cPanel.
Start by finding the the theme you’d like to install. Download the theme by clicking on the red button.
After, you’ll go to your specific Omeka install. Click on themes. In the image below, you see that my Omeka installed is within a folder named “digitalcollection….” That’s because I installed Omeka in a subdomain that I titled “digitalcollection.” Your directory will be called something different, but it will still contain a “themes” folder, likely with “berlin” and “default” within it.
Click Upload.
You can drag and drop the .zip file into the window or you can click select a file.
Once your file is uploaded to the themes folder you need to go in and extract the files from the .zip folder. Click on the theme file you just uploaded then click on extract.
You’ll need to confirm that you want to extract the files. Click extract files.
Once the theme is extracted you can delete the .zip file and the theme will now be available for activation within your Omeka administration interface.
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