After working hard on the user themes, I must say this is one excellent package.

There is so much power here!

Thanks for the great extension.

Very very good all in all actually. However there's some limitations and bugs.

There is a LOT of customization with templates so you can make things look almost any way you want - but you're limited by fields.

The one bug I noticed (and this is just after a day here) is that the RSS pages skip the first item in the feed.

I'm going to see if I can correct that problem, but a lot of their files are encoded! They don't outright say that...meaning if you buy a license in hopes to change functionality...don't hold your breath.

The problem with things (joomla in general included) is that there is no 100% universal solution. We all know that things need to change for each job. By not having the option to do so...well, that's problematic and bad. So try try try the demo version and make sure it's EXACTLY what you want if you're thinking about removing the copyright and getting some more features. Also a site license won't work for you if you have a subdomain. Not a huge deal for what I had a subdomain for (a test/staging server) but it's quite common and feasible that one would have a subdomain on a web site for different sections...that's the SAME damn site...so what? buy a license for each subdomain? that's stupid. It is a great add on and I'm sure it took time...but being greedy on an open source project is just barking up the wrong tree. The cost is a good bit, but fair. It was well done.

Owner's reply:
The free version is not a demo, it is free to use on as many sites as required and has exactly the same functionality as the licenced version, there are some minor restrictions on numbers of users and pages. Our website provides full details of the licencing terms. We also make it clear that some of the code is encoded, although most is Open Source. Finally we have a support site and a forum where any bugs can be reported.

I have to say that this is best Joomla component I've paid for. It's allowed me to create a MySpace styled site with the help of community builder. I don't know if the developer knows the potential power of this component. It needs a some more decent themes designed for it, but that's a minor gripe. Installation is also painless, and support is instant, well within 24 hours.

I look forward to new releases and new features with this component.

Very pleased with this one. Installation was a breeze, functionality is good.

Above all this, the customer support was totally awesome - response rates first class and response quality first class (the only issues I had were particular to the fairly unique messing about I was doing with my Joomla installation and UHP2 but were quickly dealt with). Totally impressed!

It also seems this extension is very well looked after being updated and improved on a fairly regular basis - I do hope it makes the jump to Joomla 1.5 when all is stable with that - If it doesn't I'd recommend it anyway in legacy mode if that's possible (haven't tried!).

I'm excited about this extension, and think it will can only get better. As a newbie, it was an effortless install and configuring was just as easy. Usability is 10 out of 10.

I've been testing the free version for a few hours and plan to purchase the commercial. I have two main issues with the commercial license...

1. Value - In my opinion, 59.00GBP/118.00USD is a little high. I think a template pack and payment integration would more than justify the cost, and I'd pay it with a big 'ol smile on my face.

2. The extra money to remove the copyright info in the footer is a little ridiculous. If someone is going to sell a commercial version of their extension, and I think this one is worthy of that status, charge one price. I'd feel much better paying the FULL amount without knowing that I paid an extra 20 bucks just to have some text removed.

Overall though, I really like the component and highly recommend it to anyone looking for this type of feature for their site. I hope John considers the template pack and payment integration...his extension is more than worthy of my first review.

This product does exactly what it says. It is very easy to install and configure. This is a must for any community site. Just give your users their own site and watch the content on your website grow! John has put a great effort into making this component work and look good. The icons alone let you know how much time has gone into this project, not like so many other components where you have to spend hours redoing the graphics because they are all made for lite backgrounds and look like crap on a dark template. I was having a problem (it was my own stupidity) and John helped me out right away! Thanks for a great component.

I have been using the this component for about a month now, and have nothing but praise for the efforts of the Ravenswood IT team. The component does what it says it does, without a lot of over complication.

It's easy and intuitive to use, and support in their forums is some of the best I've seen from Joomla! developers. Thanks for all your work and efforts John!

I bought a license I liked it so much...

UHP2 is one of the highest quality components I have used to date. The author is an exceptional programmer, and tests his systems very well. He also takes advice to heart, and has demonstrated so by implementing many of my own suggestions into the software. He even un-encoded one of his classes so that the public can see how to write their own.

Buy the full license, this software is very much worth it. You can see my example running on smart-love.ca

I looked at the demo a while ago while searching for a method of creating user managed mini sites for my wife's balloon decorator association. After reviewing the demo I continued my search as UHP2 clearly wasn't anything more than an ugly toy, or so I thought. Grey page after grey page of "This is my test site" really does not do this extension justice.

We came back again to try it simply because we were trying to stay within the Joomla framework. It turns out this extension is far more powerful/useful than the demo site would lead one to believe.

It can be used in an attractive and meaningful manner. While we certainly are not quite there yet, I am very please with our initial results. Samples of what we are doing with the extension:

The fact UHP2 is so much better than the demo is the reason I am posting my first Joomla review.

I seem to be one of those people that enjoy giving credit to those that deserve it. UHP2 is definitely one of those extensions. **After two days of trying out the free version, I purchase the commercial version. The extension was easy to install and just as easy to configure through the admin control panel. I had some minor questions and through a quick email, John was able to set me on my path to success. His replies were quick and precise. I also use Jacl Plus on my site and wanted more control options on which user group would be aloud to create websites. With in 2 days I was supplied with a hack that John had been working on and made this possible for me. I have over 1500 members to my site and over 400 have already, either began building a site or have completed building their site and not one of them have sent me any question on how to build a site. Once all the settings are in place most of the work is done from the front end including approving members pages.
Some of these settings include how many pages you want to allow users to have and the type of pages. Whether they can upload images, files or videos or all or none of the above.

**I have no problem buying an extension that someone has worked hard on to create. This is one of them that I would definitely say is well worth the every penny. Not only do you get a great product but you have service that that compliments the product. Good Job John, UHP2 and the whole Ravenwoodit team. Thank you for a great and comfortable experience.

We know how cumbersome is to create a site (domain registration, finding the right server, learning html, etc) yes, I know, "joomla" is the perfect choice, but I'm talking about those ones that consider "joomla" to be too complicated, but since I've been using UHP2 on my site, all they have to do is taking a few simple steps and in a few minutes they have a site up and running in no time, all within the mother site. Later on if they feel like enhancing their site, there's the html editor.
Kudos to the developer!

I don't remember downloading this extension but I found it on my computer ( I always download extensions and forget about it before installing it ) So I tried it on my joomla stand alone sever and it was great. My site is not big and the free version works perfectly. I do not understand why no one uses it?! Better than Community builder for a small site

Thanks for the cool extensions. Ýt can be to use like CB..

I thought I should write a little note to congratulate John at Ravenswood IT Services....had a problem with PHP5...and I think a lot of people who use virtual servers will also encounter this issue.

John was quick to respond, provided all information I needed to identify the problem which then allowed me to correct the problem and I haven't spent any money yet.

If you have open_basedir problems with UHP2 then make sure that it is set to allow /usr/share/pear access on virtual servers otherwise it won't work.

I am now happy that a strong product like this works on PHP5.

I wasn't able to find on the site where it says that it is encrypted and not completely open source. So if any of you have issues with a component having encrypted pages, then you might want to think twice about this component. Maybe we can all persuade John to be more amenable to the open source ideal that is Joomla! and not encrypt pages. I think the price is fair, even could charge more for what it does.