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Next Restaurant — Documentation

Installation

Next Restaurant is delivered as a Joomla package — one ZIP that installs the component and its system plugin together. Installing it is the same as installing any other Joomla extension.

Before you start

Check the site meets the requirements:

Requirement Detail
Joomla 4.x, 5.x or 6.x
PHP 8.1 or higher
Database MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.4+
PHP memory limit 128 MB or more (the installer creates a large schema in one pass)
PHP max_execution_time 60 seconds or more, so the schema install isn't cut short
HTTPS Required in production

You will also want a Joomla user account with Super User rights for the first setup, since roles and permissions are configured from inside the component afterwards.

Download

Log in at nextsoftware.dev and download the latest package from your account's downloads area. The file is named:

pkg_nextrestaurant_vX.X.X.zip

Keep the ZIP as-is — do not unzip it before installing. Joomla reads the package manifest from inside the archive.

Install

  1. Log in to the Joomla administrator.
  2. Go to System → Install → Extensions.
  3. Drag pkg_nextrestaurant_vX.X.X.zip onto the Upload Package File area, or use Or browse for file to pick it.
  4. Wait for the install to finish. It creates the component's database schema in one pass, so give it a few seconds longer than a typical extension.

You should see a success message confirming the package installed. Two extensions are added:

Extension Type Role
com_nextrestaurant Component The whole application — admin SPA, storefront, terminals and API
plg_system_nextrestaurantsession System plugin Session handling for guest QR sessions and staff terminals

Enter your download key

So the site can receive updates through Joomla's own update channel, add your download key:

  1. Go to System → Update → Update Sites.
  2. Open Next Restaurant Updates.
  3. Paste your download key into the Download Key field and save.

Updates then arrive under System → Update → Extensions like any other Joomla extension.

Enable

The component is ready as soon as it is installed — there is nothing to publish.

  1. Confirm the system plugin is enabled: System → Manage → Plugins, search for nextrestaurantsession, and check its status is Enabled. The package enables it on install; verify it if guest QR ordering or staff terminals misbehave later.
  2. Open Components → Next Restaurant to load the admin.

The first screen is the dashboard. It will be empty until you create a location — see Quick Start.

Add the storefront pages

The public pages are Joomla menu items, so they live in your site's normal navigation and inherit your template. Create them under Menus → (your menu) → Add New Menu Item, then choose Next Restaurant as the menu item type:

Menu item type What it publishes
Menu The public menu showcase
Order Online ordering and checkout
Booking The reservation page with the slot picker
Gallery The venue gallery
Gift Card Gift-card purchase and redemption
Reviews Customer reviews
App The customer account area

Create at least the Menu and Order items — the QR ordering page and several storefront links resolve against them. See Storefront for the details.

Upgrading

Upgrades are in-place and preserve all data.

  1. Back up first. Take a database backup before any upgrade — the schema migrates forward and there is no automatic downgrade.
  2. Go to System → Update → Extensions, or install the newer pkg_nextrestaurant_vX.X.X.zip over the top through System → Install → Extensions.
  3. Joomla runs the schema migrations for the versions between your installed one and the new one.

After a large upgrade, hard-reload the admin once (Ctrl+Shift+R) so the browser picks up the new application bundle rather than a cached one.

Uninstalling

Uninstalling deletes your data. The component drops its database tables on uninstall — menu, orders, reservations, payments, staff, everything. Export anything you want to keep first.

  1. Go to System → Manage → Extensions.
  2. Find NextRestaurant Package (type: Package) and uninstall it.

Uninstall the package, not the individual component. The package blocks child uninstalls so the component and plugin cannot be removed separately and leave the install half-gone.

Delete the storefront menu items separately — Joomla does not remove menu items that pointed at an uninstalled component, and they will produce 404s until you do.

See also

All Extensions