The Joomla! Extensions Directory ™

Working with Joomla for years now but this is the first time I feel like I have to write a review!
This component is fantastic! Works like a charm, integrates perfect and is imho very easy to use.
Can't believe this is non-commercial.
I'll donate a few bucks for sure!

Thank you for this mighty component!
sangus

I can't thanks the developers enough for this extension...I used it to migrate data from another database into JOOMLA using the CSV import feature...about 1500 records. Super fast. Once all the date was imported I created a "view" to display the data in a customized way...Then used the advanced search module to add drop down search box. I cannot believe this is free (Although the reason I tried it, is because it is free). I do not need any support, but the product is so good that I will register and pay for support just to contribute and for them to continue improving it. Content Builder is worth it! GET IT! USE IT LOVE IT!

This is a good extension, but overall the support and documentation is lacking. I've had two issues with the extension--i.e., getting page errors and the auto publish feature isn't working in Joomla 2.5.1. The documentation doesn't have any useful guidance on this, and the community forum is hit or miss in terms of responses. Overall a good product, but for a paid solution, documentation should be better.

I started using this extension on one customer's site when I needed a customized content structure with great search capabilities provided by an easily configured module. I've now added it to several other sites where I need a simple and flexible extension to the basic Joomla content model.

Any other praise I could add has been well covered in the other great reviews here; I'll just say that so far anything that has fallen short of my expectations in the software or documentation has been quickly and kindly handled by the great support I've gotten.

Danke Markus, gut gemacht!

Not very easy to understand first, but I got support on the forum very quickly and it works very well.

I have tried other CCK and most of them are separate from Joomla's core articles. I like how this component can create a copy of Joomla article.

It might be intimidating to use at first glance, but once I followed the video tutorial everything makes sense. There are some little annoyances that if fixed will make the user's life easier, and I'm pretty sure they will get fixed in the future.

Thanks for the great work and I look forward to seeing how this will grow.

3 hours since I wrote my first email to the developer, Markus and 21 mails between us since then, my problem has been solved by him sending me a new file to overcome the bug found! Now, how better can customer support get?
As for the extension, it is AWESOME! All I can wonder is how come this is not paid and that too heavily! Serves every purpose it is meant for and then some!
Markus, you are awesome man!
Let me enumerate:
a. Excellent features in the extension
b. Even more awesome support.
c. Great looking user interface.

ContentBuilder is a very powerful component. The possibilities seems to be endless!
And the support is GREAT! You can find a lot of information in the forum and if you don't find what you need, you submit a new topic and Markus is answering faster as you can imagine!
Thanks a lot for this component!

This is the best CCK I've ever used. I have been building Joomla! sites full time (+)for three years and have been a big fan of Breezing Forms for quite some time already but I cannot begin to give this product enough stars!!! This is perhaps the most thought through component I've ever had the pleasure of using. Markus is an amazing developer.

I am satisfied with Contentbuilder, a simple yet quite feature-rich application builder.

CB differs from the typical cck. It is more similar to Fabrik than to FlexiContent or Seblod, but much simpler to learn and use than Fabrik or Seblod. The functionality is not at the same level as in these, but I have not yet missed anything important.

Typically, you create a Data storage (and CB makes an underlying table).You may also use breezingforms to make the Data storage. Fields in the table can be text, date, time, integer, decimal or a group of values. Supports record importing using CSV files. When a Data storage (table) is made, you can create different views on that Data storage.

In views you can select between contenttypes as text, textarea, checkbox, radio, select, upload, calendar, hidden input, captcha and categories fram joomla. As an option you can install modules for seach, file upload, article categories, use of picture, video and paid verifications with PayPal. You can also choose between different templates (for different visual appearances).

Views make a chlickable list of the records in the table. When you click you get the details of a record.
You can easely change the template for both the list-view and detail-view for every view.
It is simple to do CRUD operations (create, read, update, delete) both in backend and frontend. You can in detail control permissions for both backend and frontend. There are some posibilities for filtering content in views.

To use CB in a more advanced way involves programming in PHP. In Content Prepare og Editable Prepare you may alter labels and values for each item before it gets rendered through programming.

CB is very promising extention. It is now in versjon 0.9 and lack some features as linked records/tables. It would be fine if CB could access (read/write to) multiple tables from one view. It is on the todo list for 1.0 version to “implement bidirectional n-m linking that would in the first place result in the ability to place html-links in list and detail views”. More video-types (as wmv) would also be nice. More documentation is also needed. The support seems to be very good.

It needs a bit more improvements, like relations with tables, a more advanced search module...
So why 5 stars ?
Because it's just a matter of time before all this arrives, and the philosophy of the component is so K.I.S.S. , that you can do such powerfull things in no time...
Combined with Breezing form, and you get one of the most powerfull solution of CCK.
Support is GREAT, fast, helpfull...Crosstec ROX ! :)

I stumbled upon Breezing Forms first as I was trying to get my company to move from endless Excel files to something online.

After I saw the demos of breezing + content builder, in one place you enter the forms and in another you view your records and also edit them I was hooked.

What i did with it:

I created a small ordering/reporting system. My sales people input orders using the forms. The production guys edit the forms and input the status of the orders. My billing people input the status of payments, delivery, etc.
Each group has different views of the same forum, enabling them to view only certain information and to edit only certain fields.

Here is my experience:

- First of all, I can't say anything about documentation because I never read it, I just dive in.
- Everytime I thought there was a bug, it was actually a bad setting somewhere. I couldn't find any bug so far.
- The component is very powerfull, you have a million options and you can configure anything you can think of, all you need is imagination.
- You can create multi-page forms or just simple one page forms.
- You can add scripts, validations, own php code, to each and every field or to the whole form.
- You can use "no template", just a long list of form fields, you can create a sample design, you can choose templates, or you can create your own template.
- You can also create your own template for the editable version of the records, in frontend. You simply move the fields around in your own tables, put colors, set fonts, whatever.

Support i've received:

I moved the website from production server to public server and there was a listing problem. I contacted a programmer I always use for this cases, he couldn't figure it out. Finally i wrote on the forum - belive me when i say, in 5 minutes i received a response from Markus - the creator. And after that i started talking to Markus on Skype where he gave me modified files to upload to my server.
Live support - the best i've seen.
Very polite, very fast, profesionall.

I asked Markus a non-suport question, about a way to make autocomplete fields based on other records in db and he asked me if I needed it urgently or if I can wait for the upcoming massive update on Community Builder :).

5/5 for this component!

Thanks Markus

With this component, simply put any and all things are possible... It is great and the support is by far the best out there. Markus and his team will address any issue related to the software asap... Love it... Can't wait for more... Great Job!

We first used xforms to display Breezing Form posts when we found Content Builder by accident. big luck for us, because we were also looking for a component completing our sportevent system with registration, scoresheets and ranking…there's always hell a lot of work to do at our events, which CB lets us do it faster and easier…thanks a lot for such a good component and the cool support

Forget directory extensions, forget news extensions, forget job boards .... everything you need is a good form and THIS!

Other CCK extensions are not bad but this is the component which makes everything possible and it is easy at the same time.

Kudos!
Curtain up and applause to them.

Hi

Content Builder is a very nice component.
it is easy to understand, flexible and good technical suport team to help you.

Still require some more training document or videos to get better knowledge on it.

Praveen

I had a very challenging issue with a client that wanted gift certificates, with paypal, with thank you pages and admin function and, and, and…. As you can see, it was what I believed an impossible solution to build.
Content Builder with its easy connections to breezing forms was the solution. Like some of the reviews, I was the biggest problem with the solution. Crosstec tools exploit the best of what is Joomla. Having said this internals the of Joomla are not for the faint hearted and Markus and his team have been able to abstract those layers to give you an elegant end product without having to know all the black arts of joomla.
I created the form in breezing forms for that gave me structure and the ability to easily get paypal to work. Then I linked the form to the content builder view. The power of the content builder views is the real “show stopper”. Within the content builder “content template” I was able to give a very professional end product with all the consistent site template parameters.
Getting your head wrapped around that you can create data stores dynamically and then have the stored data drive the content is the final link in the chain of connecting the user to content and applications. Datastore are only limited by your imagination. Don’t be afraid to experiment. It will take some experimentation to get it to what you want but once you understand how much control Content Builder has it will allow you to take your site into new dynamic directions.
Like all powerful tools, one should take the time to walk before trying to run or you may get yourself turned around in the wrong direction. That was the mistake I made and I was saved and guided professionally by markus and the crosstec team.
Take your time, learn the structure and then play in the sandbox. Only then will you understand the real power of Content Builder. This is doubly true if you decide to link content builder to their breezing forms tool.
A great product and a Joomla site game changer. My lessons were hard learned but once learned easy to exploit.

I have changed many times using this kind of component.
Another free component has its limitations. But in ContentBuilder, the limitations are on me.
Glad the forum suport helped me promptly.
Thank you Markus & totallnet.

This component is great, there are a few limitations as far as it backwards Breezyforms compatibly but aside from that, I say give this is shot since you can create forms and post that data "automagically" into Articles via wysiwyg template, that you defined in back end.

Wish list would have to be more documentation.

I'm using this component for a site that aggregates different kinds of publications (mostly PDFs).

I still cannot wrap my head around how awesome this is. It is simple to use yet very, very powerful, without being pretentious.

The support from the team is what makes this shine though. The developer is quick to respond to the forum, and he even helped me directly by email when I wrote.

Overall this gem provides functionality that I don't think I'm ever going to be able to live without in the future, for any site. Functionality could definitely improve with time but as it is, it is still near perfect. Thumbs up!