Getting Started
There are a number of steps required after installing GrandCMS to get started using your online site. This page is a helpful guide to gettingstarted. An GrandCMS site is comprised of a Frontend and Admin interface. This guide will primarily focus on Admin interface functions and settings. These settings should be tested on the frontend before your site is launched. Following the steps in this guide will get your site to a ready to use state from installation. This guide assumes that you have admin login credentials and are able to login to your site's Admin interface via /admin, for example: http://demo.grandcms.com/admin/.
System Settings
You can find your default site settings at: System -> Settings. After install you have only one site, the default site. Press the "Edit" button (under "Action").
General Settings
Most General Settings are required. Under General Settings you will need to set your site's name, owner, address, email and phone number. These will be used for your site's contact page.
Site Settings
Site Settings need to be changed from the default settings of "Your Site", etc., to your actual Site Name and a description, keywords of your site for search engines.
Local Settings
Local Settings allow you to choose the Country that your site is operating from.
Image Settings
Next, you will need to select a logo for your site and upload it via the Image Settings tab. The logo must be a suitable size and shape for your theme, and should ideally be a jpg or png file. You can also choose a favicon at this point. This is the small image that displays in a browser when you visit a site. Typically, favicons are 16px by 16px, and GrandCMS requires a png file for favicons.
Server Settings
There are two important settings under the Server tab of your GrandCMS site's System Settings.
- SEO URLs. If you wish to have search engine optimized URLs in your site then you will need to set this to yes. You will also need to follow the instructions on setting up SEO URLs to make sure these work correctly, but it is an important step for getting the best possible result for your sitee from search engines.
- The Display Errors option should always be set to No for a live sitee. This will prevent your visitors seeing any errors in your site's code while using your site. Your developer will still be able to diagnose and repair these issues using the error logs.
Extensions, Modules and Themes
GrandCMS functionality, look and feel are all controlled by modules and themes. The final step to get started with GrandCMS is to check your Extensions > Modules page to ensure the functionality you want is enabled.
If you do not find the functionality you need in your site, you can often add it as a 3rd Party Extension.