After reading all the other reviews, I decided to have a look at the home-site first and have a good read.

Firstly I read the un-installation to try and see what problems may exist or arise if I try to download and install.

Secondly I then read the installation guide, upon which I concluded that if I make all the nessecary file permission changes first it should upload and install with no problems and it did. Great prog and very easy to use.

I then of course checked all the permissions and found that after installing they had all reverted back to their correct state automatically.

I've been using this component now for over a year on a mission critical site... not one problem!

I was able to create separate groups of users and create mutually exclusive content for each group...

Sales Team
Customers
Public
Registered User
Staff

Content could be common for all groups or specific for only one or two groups... this allowed a level of control not previously in Joomla (although I understand this will be there in version 1.5).

When users logged in they would only see content applicable to them... super.

The only drawback... almost every other component that deals with security needs tweaking to work with jaclplus. Their site and forum contained a good database of workarounds and patches.. and that helped.

Hey... a free component that created exactly what I wanted... whose complaining !

Well done guys!

There are files (duh?) that need to be chmod'ed before the installer will work for JALCPlus.

You can one-by-one do them manually.. as I did.
But, I've also noticed that the permissions arent changed back.. from RWX.
Possible security flaw???!

nb: [joomla-directory] is the root directory on your server.. (duh again) i'd susgest you 'replace all' in a txt editor, and then parse in a terminal.



######JALC CHMOD Script for Install

#DIR
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/includes/
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/components/com_content/

#FILES

chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/administrator/index.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/administrator/components/com_categories/admin.categories.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/administrator/components/com_sections/admin.sections.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/administrator/components/com_trash/admin.trash.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/administrator/components/com_users/admin.users.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/administrator/components/com_users/admin.users.html.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/administrator/includes/auth.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/administrator/modules/mod_fullmenu.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/administrator/modules/mod_logged.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/administrator/modules/mod_quickicon.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/includes/frontend.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/includes/gacl.class.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/includes/gacl_api.class.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/includes/joomla.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/includes/pathway.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/includes/pdf.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/modules/mod_latestnews.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/modules/mod_mainmenu.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/modules/mod_mostread.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/modules/mod_newsflash.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/modules/mod_related_items.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/modules/mod_sections.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/components/com_contact/contact.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/components/com_content/content.html.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/components/com_content/content.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/components/com_newsfeeds/newsfeeds.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/components/com_weblinks/weblinks.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/mambots/search/categories.searchbot.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/mambots/search/contacts.searchbot.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/mambots/search/content.searchbot.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/mambots/search/newsfeeds.searchbot.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/mambots/search/sections.searchbot.php
chmod 707 [joomla-directory]/mambots/search/weblinks.searchbot.php



######JALC CHMOD for Post-Install

#DIR
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/includes/
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/components/com_content/

#FILES

chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/administrator/index.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/administrator/components/com_categories/admin.categories.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/administrator/components/com_sections/admin.sections.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/administrator/components/com_trash/admin.trash.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/administrator/components/com_users/admin.users.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/administrator/components/com_users/admin.users.html.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/administrator/includes/auth.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/administrator/modules/mod_fullmenu.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/administrator/modules/mod_logged.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/administrator/modules/mod_quickicon.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/includes/frontend.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/includes/gacl.class.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/includes/gacl_api.class.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/includes/joomla.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/includes/pathway.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/includes/pdf.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/modules/mod_latestnews.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/modules/mod_mainmenu.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/modules/mod_mostread.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/modules/mod_newsflash.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/modules/mod_related_items.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/modules/mod_sections.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/components/com_contact/contact.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/components/com_content/content.html.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/components/com_content/content.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/components/com_newsfeeds/newsfeeds.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/components/com_weblinks/weblinks.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/mambots/search/categories.searchbot.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/mambots/search/contacts.searchbot.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/mambots/search/content.searchbot.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/mambots/search/newsfeeds.searchbot.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/mambots/search/sections.searchbot.php
chmod 705 [joomla-directory]/mambots/search/weblinks.searchbot.php


######JALC CHMOD Script for Install

This might help...

if your a wiz a programs at all , this is for you!
I had no problems uploading, of course i did not back up my files. there was not a lot of junk on the site. once you get to know this program, it`s fairly easy to use. If you have two computers or someone to help you con-fig it, you can test all you settings. This was just my 1st day with it!!!!

Just like other positive mentions here, this component is a must if you want to class your users into different groups.

A little tricky to install, had to configure permissions but with an informative installation process it wasn't too hard to tackle. Definetley worth the effort.

I have it running very well with Community Builder and rate this component very highly.

Overall this is what should have been included in core Joomla in the first place.
1. Once installed, it works very well. Congratulations! Although this component is not for the newbie.
2. Initial install errors with file and directory permissions. Easily fixed as another review states. This should be explained by the developer.
3. Documentation is poorly worded / translated from the original language (Chinese?)
4. The distinction between access levels and user groups is not well explained and therefore not easy to manage until you play with it for a while.
5. Zend installation (a pre-req for the Pro edition) does not work "out of the box" for my server running Plesk 8.1 because the zend install php.ini file modifications don't take previous php.ini changes into account. (For a fix, see the reference to /etc/php.d/zend.ini in http://forum.swsoft.com/printthread.php?s=c48c4fdc246497d01bc68f410c4255c8&threadid=32598 )

Other reviewers have made some strange comments. One objects to having to log in to download. So what?
And review "Destroyed my site" might want to look at having a development server!

JaclPlus sounds like a good idea in that it gives the ability to really control user permissions. Installation was easy on my test server.

However, if you install this component, you are basically stuck with it. I have to agree that this component is to much of a pain to try to keep up with various updates.

If you do try to uninstall this component, it will break your site both front end and back end. You will not be able to log in the back end and the front end just will not work at all. (php errors etc). To uninstall you have to replace 5 php core files that JACLPlus saw fit to modify with the original core files from joomla. You also have to alter/delete tables of your site to get things working again.
So, if you want to uninstall this component, go to the JaCLPlus site first and find out how to properly uninstall this component using the manual method.

More/better documentation would also help get the user up and running faster with this component.


Now, why can't ByOS make a backup of these 5 files during install? It can't be that hard to do, as it is obvious that it replaced/modified core files to install itself. During uninstall, those origional files can be restored, and the uninstall can run a script to remove/restore the mysql tables that were created/modified during install.

Overall, I have to rate this component very poor, because it is to hard to maintain, makes major changes to files/tables, and then has no way to restore the files/tables except by manual process.

After the paiful download (why do I need to register for a simple download, my god?!?) I installed it with no problem. However, setting up what I wanted to achieve (restricting backend users to specific sections and allowing public to view the sections freely) DID NOT WORK! When I try to assign the user to the group defined in JACLPlus, I always get the "you cannot create a user with this group level, only Super Administrators have this ability" error message (obviously I am logged in with a superuser). No documentation, no manual, no hints in the forum that could help me out (and other users have the same issue based on forum posts). Sorry, I gave up, no time to investigate this further.

I was hoping so bad that this would do what I wanted it to. It sounds awesome. Apparently when it works, it IS awesome.

Unfortunately, I tried installing it and it completely destroyed my local testing site. I had to manually delete the folders and completely reinstall Joomla!.

I then tried to install it on a 'clean' Joomla! without any other components or mambots, as I thought maybe that was my error.

Sadly, again it destroyed my local testing site. Luckily I had backed it up before hand in case of just such a mishap.

I would love to use this component, but I just can't get it to install without taking down my entire site. Shouldn't that be one of the first things that the creator makes sure works? I am so glad I didn't try to install this on a live site. Can anyone say "nightmare"?

I may try to find some more help for the install of this component, but my time is precious.

Anyone interested in this component is fairly warned, it might destroy your site. Back up accordingly.

Installation is messy and tedious - but it will work if you follow the instructions provided in one of the early reviews (at least it did for me). The documentation is dreadful. The author clearly has a dismal grasp of English grammar. Witness this gem:

"Some of you might don’t want to allow your content providers to publish their content items into the access levels that their group don’t have or you might want to allow them to publish their content items into certain access levels only therefore only viewable by certain of user groups."

Err... right. So now it's all clear! I guess at least it has a manual.

As for whether or not it does what it's supposed to, well, the jury is out. I have a few extensions in my Joomla! site, so I'm not sure if they are creating interference, but so far, I can't configure my access rights so that they work. All I want is to give registered users the right to add articles in one particular category, but no others. Should be simple, right? Apparently not, even though the steps for creating the relevant permissions appear at first blush to be pretty straightforward.

I'm praying it will come together and I won't have to endure the tedium of the uninstall process!

This is slightly scary at first, and I managed to create a user permissions group that seems to have more permissions that Super Admin, because it's in the DB but disappeared off the list!

Anyway, this component is a hack to give Joomla the ability to do things it should be able to do anyway IMHO, such as create communities of users that have content only they can see.

I found this incredibly useful.

The worst ACL tool I have EVER used! I installed this...and that is all that went right. After determining that nothing worked the way I wanted it to...I tried to uninstall it. It jacked up my entire site. I will now have to start from scratch.

THIS TOOL IS NOT WORTH THE EFFORT OR THE TIME WASTED RE-DOING YOUR SITE. THERE ARE OTHERS THAT WILL WORK THE SAME WAY AND DO NOT CAUSE THE SAME PROBLEMS.

Not for the faint of heat. If you are at all inexperianced stay away.

I installed this great component with no problems!

Many people make the mistake of installing the wrong version of JACL to Joomla. For example version 1.0.11 of JACL must be installed on version 1.0.11 of Joomla. It wont install on any other version.

Thanks for this component, Its made my life easier on many projects to come.

So far I have just installed this on a local server and installation was a breeze.

After spending half an hour playing with it I was able to create a new group to allow backend access only to the component which I want to demo. The rest of the Joomla backend functions are disabled.

So JACLPlus is not only for frontend control, but you can also control access individually to all backend functions.