PROBLEM: errors when trying to install in joomla Extensions->Install

It may be that your host has php set to only allow 2 Megs upload file size (the default when php is installed):
upload_max_filesize = 2M

I prefer to have:
upload_max_filesize = 64M

The install file is around 2.3 megabytes.

SOLUTIONS:

1) ask your host to increase the upload_max_filesize.

2) Unzip the package and upload by FTP to your tmp directory and tell  Extensions->Install/Uninstall->Install from Directory
to  use the tmp directory

3) upload your file by FTP to any directory, for example your main home directory, and tell Extensions->Install/Uninstall->Install from URL
to use http://www.mysite.com/com_mymuse-x.x.x.zip

1) Go to Components->MyMuse->Store
and edit the settings there.

If you enter a description it can be pointed to with a menu of type MyMuse->MyMuse Store Layout
That view can also show any products labeled as featured, in a blog type layout.

You will want to edit the Contact Info.
You will want to upload your own logo and point to it in the Small Logo field.

Check and edit any Store Parameters you want to change.

Make sure the Downloads Directory points to the full path to your directory. MyMuse will try to determine this on install. The default will be /path/to/your/site/images/A_MyMuseDownloads. There are many ways to find your full path if you don't know it. One is to go to Help->PHP Info and search for SCRIPT_FILENAME. It should show you the full path to the script, for example: /var/www/html/mymusetest/administrator/index.php.
Your Download Directory could be /var/www/html/mymusetest/images/A_MyMuseDownloads.

If you set this to something else, make sure the directory exists and that the web server has permission to write to it. Here is another way to find the absolute path: http://docs.joomla.org/How_to_find_your_absolute_path

Depending on your server set up, you may be able to put this outside your web directory for maximum security.

Decide what kind of registration you want: Joomla, Full, No Registration, Full and Guest or perhaps yours is handled by another Component.

Optional: Add sample data. If you did not do this at install time, just go to the main MyMuse menu, also called 'Quick Start'. There will be a link to 'Install Sample data'.

Related Help Screen.

2) Go to Extensions->Plugins. Select Type->Mymuse.

• - Choose the payment processors you want to be be live and enable them. You must also open them up and enter your personal data, for example your PayPal email for the PayPal plugin.
• - Choose the Preview Player you want for MP3's and Videos. 
  Or write your own plugins :)

Related Help Screen.

3) Go to Extensions->Plugins. Select Type->User.

• - Choose the user plugins you want to be be live and enable them..
• - For Full Registration you want to enable User - MyMuse Profile.
• - For No Registration you wnat to eneable User - MyMuse No Registration Profile.
• - For Full and Guest you want to enable both of the above.

Open the plugins to see what fields you want shown and required. You can also use the standard Joomla profile or write your own. Make sure you go back to the store parameters and enter the name of the profile plugin file under "Store Options". You should also select Registration Type: Full.

If you do not want to create users, you can choose Registration Type: No Registration. Go to the Plugins->User and eneable User - MyMuse No Registration" plugin. Open this plugin and choose what fields you want to capture. They will be saved in the "Notes" field of the order.

Related Help Screen.

4) Set the Options for the component.

On the main MyMuse screen there is an icon for "Options" on the top right. It is similar to the Joomla Article Options with the addition of product options. There are too many options :) but we hope the defaults are a good starting place.

Related Help Screen.

5) Make Categories to place your products under.

These can be the names of Artists or Genres or just MyMusic. I like to make a top level called MyMuse and two sub-categories called Artists and Genres. I assign artists' main category to be under Artists and additional categories under Genres.

Related Help Screen.

6) Make products!

Products can be physical (example: CD's) or just a parent (non-physical) to hold the description and the tracks or other items.
Add your tracks (downloadable) and/or other items (physical).

Related Help Screen.

7) Make menus.

1. One or more menus that point to your Store and products. This could be a Store, Category or Product type menu
2. A menu that points to the Shopping Cart
3. Optional: A User Menu item that points to User Profile Edit Layout
4. Optional: A MyMuse Item menu that points to  List My Orders
5. Optional: A MyMuse menu that points to artists' sales report

Create the category (artist) and product (album) and MyMuse will create the directories.

Then you can upload through the Edit Tracks page one at a time, or by FTP.  If you are using Amazon S3, go and upload all your files. Files uploaded by FTP/Amazon will show up in dropdowns in the Add/Edit Tracks screens.

Previews: Previews can be uploaded through the admin pages or by FTP.
By default the preview_dir directory is images/A_MyMusePreviews. You can change that in Components->MyMuse->Store: Download Options. Files are placed in subdirectories depending on the Artist alias and Product alias.

The Preview directory will be:
Preview_dir/Artist_alias/Product_alias/  ex: /var/www/html/mysite/images/A_MyMusePreviews/neil-young/tonights-the-night

If you set the option "Previews all in one directory" in the Store, put them all in that directory.

Downloads: The Main file for sale, also called the payload, can be uploaded through the admin pages or by FTP.

The default download directory is  /path/to/your/site/images/A_MyMuseDownloads/. You can change this in Components->MyMuse->Store: Download Options. Depending on your server configuration, you may be able to place this outside your web directory. This would be the safest for guarding against direct downloads.

The default is to place files in subdirectories depending on the Artist alias and Product alias.

Download_dir/Artist_alias/Product_alias/

You can also choose the option "Download Directory Type" to be "By Format". For example, if you are selling mp3's and wav's the diretories could be

Download_dir/mp3
Download_dir/wav

If you upload all your files the file names will appear in a drop down in the tracks add/edit page.

For security, if using apache web server, and your download files are within the web directory, confirm there is a file .htaccess at the top of the download directory

download_dir/.htaccess

The default is:
images/A_MyMuseDownloads/.htaccess

This should stop direct downloads of files.
If it is not there, you can copy it from administrator/components/com_mymuse/assets/htaccess.txt -> images/A_MyMuseDownloads/.htaccess

Graphics: MyMuse creates a directory called images/A_MyMuseImages but you can put category/product images wherever you like.

UPDATE TO THE LATEST VERSION

MyMuse uses Live Update from Akeebabackup. To get the new version, you must go to Components->MyMuse and click on Options at the top right. Enter your username and password from this site into the tab "Live Updates".
Go to Components->MyMuse and you will see a notice when there is a new version. Click on UPDATE FOUND! CLICK TO UPDATE and click to install the update.

If you see the error "Unable to open archive
Extracting the update package failed. Please try updating the extension manually". Please click on "Refresh Update Information" and try again.

The software will be updated.

You can also go to this site and download the latest version. Install the latest version. It will detect that MyMuse is already installed and not touch the database, simply overwriting old files with the new ones.

IMPORTANT: open Components->MyMuse->Store and save once to establish new options.

MyMuse does not update your store css file in case you have made changes.
If you have upgraded to MyMuse 3.4.2 or later, and use the templates that came with MyMuse, you will want to include this in your CSS:

/* Add to cart Modal */ #my_overlay { position: fixed; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; background: #000; opacity: 0.5; filter: alpha(opacity = 50); z-index: 1000; } #my_modal { position: fixed; background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); border-radius: 14px; padding: 8px; z-index: 1001; } #my_content { border-radius: 8px; background: #fff; padding: 20px; z-index: 1001; } #my_close { position: absolute; background: url('../images/close.png') 0 0 no-repeat; width: 24px; height: 27px; display: block; text-indent: -9999px; top: -7px; right: -7px; }

 The full CSS file can be found here.

UPGRADE FROM 2.5 to 3.x

Make a copy of your 2.5 site. Install the latest version of MyMuse 2.5.
Just BEFORE you use Joomla's updater, administrator/index.php?option=com_joomlaupdate, install MyMuse version 3. It will not work with your 2.5 site but now the files are in place. Do your Joomla Update to 3.x.

If your site is too complex for the Joomla Updater, use some third party upgrader. I recommend SP Upgrade.
Then install MyMuse 3.x.
Copy the database tables from the 2.5 site to the 3.x site (you may need to change the table prefix).
Copy all your files, for example from /images/MyMuse_Downloads to the new site.
Copy all other images you need to the same folders on the new site.
Re-install the latest MyMuse component which may have database updates.

IMPORTANT: open Components->MyMuse->Store and save once to establish new options.