The Joomla! Extensions Directory ™

OSE Access Control is 100% worth using if you have a client base or just need to set user accesses for articles, modules, and components. The support staff is great! The set up of the program is pretty simple but some of the things I did not understand, the support staff was right there by my side walking me though the steps. Outstanding job OSE!

I was looking for an all-purpose component to give selected access to publishing in a multi-blog website. This component does it all and does it very well. Others have said there is learning curve but it is really quite simple once you understand the logic of the access flow. I can give users selective access to only what I want them control and there is no confusion on my side or the end users side.

The documentation is fine but even if you get confused about something, as I did, the support is well beyond my expectations.

I always try to find a free component that can meet my needs but everything I looked at came up short. This component is well worth the $$$.

This review is being written after using OSE Access and Membership control on three sites. The feedback is as follows:

1. Components per se: 4 STARS. Works very well. Need to be installed exactly as explained in manual. Can give unexpected results if not installed the text book way. In its current form, there is a fairly steep learning curve to make the component work as desired in first go. Does not handle mistakes in installation very well.

2. Support: 5 STARS: No doubt about it. Helix and his team have the best support for any commercial joomla component on the net. Official line is "We work from 9 - 6 Monday to Friday" - Truth is that these guys respond ASAP and at all hours and days.

3. Documentation: 1 STAR: OSE team really need to focus on this in terms of content as well as writing style. Major portions of the content have not kept up with the developments. Logic flow needs to be clearer. Instructions lack fluidity.

Recommendations:
1. Include a profile builder at registration stage e.g in real world registation details of a teacher would be different from that of a student. Accepting the same for both is somewhat restrictive. Once done, a Profile Builder - Membership Registration - Access Control combination will make this component one of the finest in the market. There is a CB patch available but it is just not the same as having a profiler built by OSE for OSE components.

2. As Einstine said : "Everything should be made simple, not simpler." There is lots of scope to make things simple in the component.

3. Sort out the documentation.

Bottom line : A component definately worth investing in but be prepared for a steep learning curve before you will get the best out of it.

Royko

This extensions was just what I was looking for. I´ve used this extension in combination with Appointment Booking Pro for controlled access.

Support by Open Source Excellence is really superb.

Thanks Helix

I am so happy with this extension. That's what i was looking for and now i found it. It is working perfect. You can choose if the user can only read articles, edit articles or write own articles, and you can select for witch section/category the user is allowed to make changes or read articles. The service is excellent, it's very quick and the answers are very very very good. Thank you for all you support.

Using this component for a college department. ACL is easy to setup for articles, menus and modules. For these reason I choose it over the other ACL products. Support has been fast and team is very courteous with all my inquiries. I highly recommend this product.

It's really a great tool if you need a better control for your web site. Easy to use (when you have understood how it works), easy to install and a excellent support (Thank you HELIX).

But one thing: It's a hack! It changes Joomla core files. Deinstallation is not possible on the fly (I tried it and get a damaged site only - reinstallation of the component fixed it). So I believe an Joomla update can causes problems (or a migration to Joomla 1.6).

But away from this, you will get an excellent control tool for your site.

This program is really worth every penny you paid for it.
It was the one who actually did what I wanted. He had tried other free and only caused me problems. Excellent program five stars.

Bought this component and the phoca download addon after trying many others. I had some troubles, but all due to me not reading the manuals accurately! The help desk was extremely friendly and always responded within a few hours, and solved my problems right away.

I would like some extra control over Phoca download,hiding categories, but that will probably be implemented in a future release. Great! For now you can easily make a workaround with the rest of the functionality of this component.

Great!

Joomla is a very simple to manage open source program and has the capabilities to add components to add features to your website. Since many components are free and open source, they lack dedicated developers and support. Open Source Excellence are the opposite and represent quality products, excellent service and support, and reasonable pricing.
As a customer for over 6 months, I have purchased well over 5 products, and am completely satisfied, actually in awe, of their services. Any bump or hurdle I run into, because I lack some understanding with their programming, they respond quickly to my questions with solutions.
If you browse through their customer support forums, you will see that no post goes unanswered by the developers, mainly Helix. With patience and knowledge, he provides direction and solutions to even the most impatient customer.
Not too many joomla component developers are like Helix and his team. I always check their website weekly to see if any products fit my needs, because I would rather purchase from Open Source Excellence over any other developer. Why? Because I know the excellent customer support and products they have to offer.
Thank you Helix and the Open Source Excellence Team!
Best,
Tammy

Tried another free extension first, but that didn't support PhocaDownload.
I'm using this really great extension in combination with the plugin for the extension PhocaDownload.
It's working very well and works intuitive and is build on access for handmade groups in a horizontal layer, on which you can set access-control.

Separate controlling is possible for articles, menus and modules.
You get much flexibility and userfriendly, efficient management in the Joomla back-end.

You're getting a splendid extension for a respectively little amount of money.
Seen the excellent and very quick support that you get from this company it's the money more than worth!
They even did a nightshift to help me!

Thank you Helix, you did a great job!

I have a site with 3 different departments, and for each departement there should be an administrator which are allowed only to update his own departments articles (each department has its own section) and create new articles only within the given section.

This extension not only handles this functionality, but is VERY easy to use. I was afraid i had to do a lot within my finished site to make this work, - but it was done within 20 minutes or so.

I do recommend this extension very highly, not only for the excellent functionality but also for all you get besides that - great support and help! Which is also an important part of an extension.

I needed some extra functionality besides whats in the stable version 3.0, and Helix sent me the beta version of 4, and it worked excellent for my needs!
I also needed an addon for jevents, and what do you know - he made it!! It's up for testing now, and i will be able to buy it soon.

I have never experienced such a great support/help before - i am truly am amazed!

It cannot get better than this. THANK YOU HELIX!!

I tried at a lot of front end ACL extensions (free and commercial) and this was the only one that did exactly what I needed, and did NOT have issues to install.
Installation is very easy (and I'm a noob to Joomla), the level of control is very good, support is first rate (responding the same day), and the price can't be beat! Don't waste time messing around with free extensions; get this and finish the job quickly.

I was dreading having to add ACL to a site to allow update access to groups of users that have access to different categories and some users update access to only one article in a particular category, and I didn't want anything that hacked the core. Luckily I tried Open Source Excellence first & stopped looking any further. I had a technical issue and posted in the forum. Helix was quick to respond and provide personal technical help in record time. Tech support is rated 11 out of 10! Thanks for this awesome extension, it's well worth the money.

Solid, stable, integrates well. Does not take a Rocket Scientist to understand. Thank you. Helix is very polite and efficient. His support is prompt, even on the weekends. This is top extension for access and membership control. Have tried others and they fall short. Well worth what was paid for it.

Downloaded and installed this plugin after trying (and getting frustrated) a number of the free extensions. It installs easily, does exactly what it says, and the pre-sales and post sales support from Helix is first class.
This is an essential tool for any site requiring access control.

This is an easy extension to implement & well worth the £28 paid for it.

The only problem I encountered is that I had tried NOIXacl earlier and didn't get on with it. After uninstall, it left behind a new user level table that needed to be dropped manually as it was being picked up by this product.

My use of this product is simple. I have a number of SEO clients that I report on progress. This used to be via email; from here on, they login to my site and are taken straight to their own unique reports page. Setting this up was a breeze.

This does exactly what it say it will do, installed without any issue however after playing around with it for a bit I could not get it work just the way I wanted, an email to Helix was answered in 30mins, I granted him access to the back end and came back to me 10mins later, politely pointing out that I was doing something stupid on the setup, working ilke a dream now.

It's one thing to have such a useful component but to have such support is second to none, well worth the investment.

This is THE best and easiest ACL extension that I have used for front end user control.

I had a technical issue and Helix was able to solve it and show me how he fixed it within a day. A++ on quality and speed support.

This extension is well worth the money.

Good work, I installed it with little difficulty but with the rapid support of Helix, does is work as we expected. I assigned right to read one page to one user and the access control is perfect.
I hope they will improve the installation. Best wishes to Helix and his Team.
Peyrol.