Moving Jomres from the WordPress wp-content directory

This tutorial will walk you through moving Jomres from one directory to another.

Introduction

To use REST API based features of Jomres (for example the New Booking Engine and Jomres Messaging System) Jomres files need to exist in the /jomres directory in the root of your CMS’s directory (typically ‘public_html’).

 

Jomres has always been in this directory however in recent years more and more web host services have configured their WP root directories so that plugins cannot copy files to public_html/xxxx using the installation process, for example to public_html/jomres. To work around this issue Jomres on WordPress installs itself into the /wp-content/plugins/jomres/jomres directory (the /wp-content/plugins/jomres directory is just the home of the bridging plugin for Jomres, the real Jomres is in the directory beneath).

This is fine, and if you don't want to use features that require the REST API you don't need to do anything else, however this location means that the api endpoint functionality will not work. So, in this tutorial I’m going to show you in simple steps what you need to do to move Jomres from there to the top /jomres directory.

In these screenshots I’m using my operating system’s file explorer to move files. You will probably use either your hosting service control panel’s file explorer feature, or FTP to do it, if WordPress isn’t installed on your desktop machine.

Example of why you would want to move these files

One example of a reason why you would want to move these files is because you want to use the Jomres Instant Messaging feature for guests. It’s one of the free plugins available in the Plugin Manager.

 

If your Jomres installation is in the wrong place, when you install it you’ll see a message like this in the Property Manager’s page.

This is because this plugin relies on the messaging system endpoints to work. So, without further ado, let’s walk you through the steps required to make the move.

The original location

Before you make these changes I strongly advise you to make a full site backup of your WordPress installation. Akeeba backup is excellent for this

In this screenshot you can see the contents of the /public_html directory. Currently that jomres directory is empty. It’s where you’re going to move the files to.

 

The Jomres bridging plugin exists in the /wp-contents/plugins/jomres directory. All of the files you see here will need to remain here, except for the files in the /jomres subdirectory.

Here we’ve drilled down in to that directory. This is the “real” Jomres, and they’re the files we are going to move.

Here I’ve selected all of the files and I’ll cut them to the clipboard. You may need to use your file manager’s “move” feature. However you do it, all of the files must be moved, you can’t leave the old ones in place.

The new and correct home.

Here I’ve moved the files into their correct location under public_html/jomres

Self-discovery

Once the files have been moved Jomres will need to discover its new location. It will do that automatically but to trigger that we need to delete the contents of the public_html/jomres/temp directory. Jomres will recreate all of these files automatically as it needs them.


Fixing image paths

Finally we need to tell Jomres to change the database paths to the image’s locations. If you’ve uploaded any new images since installing Jomres their path will be wrong so go back to the WordPress administrator area (Admin > Jomres) and first reload the Dashboard page. Next go to Admin > Jomres > Tools > “Force reimport image details to database” and follow the instructions there.

 

Note : This will only work for new properties. The sample property (originally called Hotel Valle) will have to have its main image re-uploaded. That’s because its location was never inserted in the database. All of the other image paths will be updated when you use this feature.

Here’s the manager’s dashboard with Jomres moved to the new directory. As you can see, the warning has gone.

Testing the result

In this screenshot I’ve gone to the Preview page which displays the Property Details, and clicked on the Contact Us hovering button and as you can see, the Messaging System now works.

Wrapping Up

That’s it, that’s all you need to do to move Jomres.

Moving Jomres isn’t particularly difficult, and now you’ve done it once you should see that if you ever need to move it again (for example from a development to live server), you can see that if Jomres is unable to find it’s correct location then emptying the temporary directory is all you need to do to kickstart the self-discovery process.

Now that you have made this move, you’ll be able to use the REST API endpoints as described in other articles on this site.

 

ABOUT US

vince picDeveloped and maintained by Vince Wooll, Jomres was initially conceived in early 2005 as a Mambo based solution to a client’s hotel management needs. While it wasn't originally expected to be an online booking system it quickly morphed into one as users requested more and more features.

As the number of feature requests grew Vince knew that he would need to dedicate more time to the project and in July 2005 Jomres was released as a commercial project. Since then Jomres has become the world's oldest online booking plugin for any PHP CMS. It has been used in Joomla 1.0, 1.5, 2.5, 3 & 4 and WordPress 4, 5 & 6.

Aladar joined the project in 2010 after using Jomres for his own projects. He was active on the forum, helping other members of the community and eventually Vince invited him to join the team. Between 2010 and 2018 he was an integral part of the project and made many significant contributions.

Whilst not formally part of the Jomres project, Rodrigo Rocco and Vince have become firm friends. Rod is a freelancer who specialises in doing custom work for Jomres users and developing custom plugins for the system that take advantage of it's modular design. He has built many useful extensions including his fabulous Valentina Template Override Package.

Jomres and the Jomres Logo is trademarked and can't be used without written consent from the owner.

www.jomres.net is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Joomla! Project, Open Source Matters or the WordPress project. The Joomla! & WordPress names and logos are used under a limited license granted by Open Source Matters and the WordPress Projects.

© Copyright 2005 - 2022 Vince Wooll