obPHPlist
Version
1.8 (last update on Sep 18, 2011)
Rating
Compatibility
Votes
Favoured
26
License
GPLv2 or later
Commercial
Type
Views
42319
Date Added
7 November 2008
Editor's Note
- This extension requires registration to download.
FEATURES
* We keep all advantages from PHPlist for you, you can handle all of PHPlist power from PHPlist admin, of course. NOW you can access PHPlist admin inside Joomla backend.
* Newsletter embedded in the Joomla Registration page or the Community Builder Registration page or VirtueMart Registration page.
* AJAX subscribe module to help visitor easy to subscribe (coming soon).
* Unlimited Community Builder fields (~PHPlist attributes) support.
* JomSocial support: synchronize from JomSocial to PHPlist.
* ALL-IN-ONE installable package. What you have to do to implement this solution is ONE-CLICK Install.
* Multiple languages support, JoomFish support in other words.
* Easy to use, friendly GUI.
* ONE-CLICK PHPlist installer.
* ONE-CLICK upgrade to newer version.
* Language Text Manager built-in.
* Optimize subscribe module.
...
Video - User Guide Tutorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsThLArwO-U
Images
This is about the only product that did what I needed: synchronize my CB userdatabase with phpList. In the beginning I had several problems, because I was trying to not only synchronize just e-mail addresses, but multiple database fields, including address, phone numbers etc. Also, initially the selected mail lists did not synchronize in both ways. Every support ticket I submitted was treated professionally, and a solution was provided very quickly.
Now everything works very well, and reliable.
Now everything works very well, and reliable.
This extension does the job...it connects PHPList to Joomla/Community Builder. It's a bit pricey, but there aren't a lot of competitive options that can truly compete. It would be great if it were a bit more feature-rich, such as front-end editing/newsletter submission or defaulted selection of newletters at CB registration (instead of showing it, but not showing it selected already), but is still a worthy product without those features.
some while ago i needed software for joomla in combine it with phplist. After a short while of searching i found it on the foobla site. I downloaded the software after purchasing, all the promises made came thrue. Support works very good with the ticket system. You can keep track about the issue at all time. Support over IM is a very good add on to explain some issues written in the ticket system.
I had an issue installing it on a site. Support reacted very quickly and i was running the software in no time.
A good add on for joomla
Keep up the good work guys !
I had an issue installing it on a site. Support reacted very quickly and i was running the software in no time.
A good add on for joomla
Keep up the good work guys !
What an EXCELLENT Extension, only to be surpassed by the support offered. Pre-sales questions are welcomed and answered immediately. I want to do more business with them!
Cost:
It is very low cost, in particular considering that the fee is for support rather than the bridge itself. Installation is not restricted to a limited number of domains, it is unlimited.
The component:
We have been using phplist for a number of years, and it is THE most advanced open source newsletter system. The integration at the back-end is excellent and the language management is an additional bonus feature which we did not expect. The subscription module for the front end is solid and integrates well into any site. Furthermore it is integrated with community builder, hence it is ideal for sites with large user communities.
Installation and Support
Because the site we are working on is extremely complex, we ran into difficulties during the installation process of the foobla phplist bridge. When this happens with open source software costs can run up easily, as most open source software offers only limited support and you either have to spend hours going through the code or pay a developer to do that. HOWEVER, foobla really stands out, as their support is absolutely outstanding.
Bottom line: If you need a newsletter system that can support large numbers of subscribers is template driven and you need it to work with your joomla/community builder site, this component is ideal, and don't grumble over the cost, as the integration and support is well worth it!
It is very low cost, in particular considering that the fee is for support rather than the bridge itself. Installation is not restricted to a limited number of domains, it is unlimited.
The component:
We have been using phplist for a number of years, and it is THE most advanced open source newsletter system. The integration at the back-end is excellent and the language management is an additional bonus feature which we did not expect. The subscription module for the front end is solid and integrates well into any site. Furthermore it is integrated with community builder, hence it is ideal for sites with large user communities.
Installation and Support
Because the site we are working on is extremely complex, we ran into difficulties during the installation process of the foobla phplist bridge. When this happens with open source software costs can run up easily, as most open source software offers only limited support and you either have to spend hours going through the code or pay a developer to do that. HOWEVER, foobla really stands out, as their support is absolutely outstanding.
Bottom line: If you need a newsletter system that can support large numbers of subscribers is template driven and you need it to work with your joomla/community builder site, this component is ideal, and don't grumble over the cost, as the integration and support is well worth it!
I bought this component because I wanted to integrate phplist it with Virtuemart. Beside the general point of the review, this review does not apply to other the integration possibilities.
After a few days working with it this is my experience.
Negative:
Quite expensive.
No documentation at all;
No forum;
The component integrates with VM only with one phplist attribute (lets say: name). So if you use first-name and last-name this is combined and put in the phplist attribute name. If you want to address people in the newsletter only by first-name or only last-name it is not possible with phplist.
Poorly translated and fields are missing in the subscribers module translation file.
The subscriber module has a show / hide option. It works but the text is shown far out of the module. As far as I can see it has no css possibility and when you don't use show / hide the module takes a lot of space. No possibility to use a line of text before and after the input fields.
The text of the send button in the subscriber module is hard coded.
Integration on the VM checkout pages works but has a bad look.
Integration with Virtuemart uses three hacked files. With one click some files in Virtuemart are being stored safely and are replaced by the component hacked files in the Virtuemart component. The hack and un-hack works fine, however when you made changes to those files yourself (like I did in the ps_userfields) you loose your changes.
Positive:
The nice possibility to change translations in ALL the language file in the website.
Import subscribers from many other newsletter components (not tested by me due to no documentation on how to do this / set up the attributes in phplist).
Access phplist trough back-end. Just like with Extplorer.
Ajax module so subscribers stay on the page.
Installs fine and the possibility to install phplist from the back-end. Although the automatic download and install didn't work. The second option to download it first and upload install it through the component worked fine.
Pre-sales support is oke.
I have no experience with technical support yet. I raised a few tickets today and yesterday.
All together I think the component lacks of functionality and build-quality you get. Not good usable for the reason why I have bought it. To many hick-ups, no documentation. It took me many hours to find things out and improve things.
Kind regards,
Marcel
After a few days working with it this is my experience.
Negative:
Quite expensive.
No documentation at all;
No forum;
The component integrates with VM only with one phplist attribute (lets say: name). So if you use first-name and last-name this is combined and put in the phplist attribute name. If you want to address people in the newsletter only by first-name or only last-name it is not possible with phplist.
Poorly translated and fields are missing in the subscribers module translation file.
The subscriber module has a show / hide option. It works but the text is shown far out of the module. As far as I can see it has no css possibility and when you don't use show / hide the module takes a lot of space. No possibility to use a line of text before and after the input fields.
The text of the send button in the subscriber module is hard coded.
Integration on the VM checkout pages works but has a bad look.
Integration with Virtuemart uses three hacked files. With one click some files in Virtuemart are being stored safely and are replaced by the component hacked files in the Virtuemart component. The hack and un-hack works fine, however when you made changes to those files yourself (like I did in the ps_userfields) you loose your changes.
Positive:
The nice possibility to change translations in ALL the language file in the website.
Import subscribers from many other newsletter components (not tested by me due to no documentation on how to do this / set up the attributes in phplist).
Access phplist trough back-end. Just like with Extplorer.
Ajax module so subscribers stay on the page.
Installs fine and the possibility to install phplist from the back-end. Although the automatic download and install didn't work. The second option to download it first and upload install it through the component worked fine.
Pre-sales support is oke.
I have no experience with technical support yet. I raised a few tickets today and yesterday.
All together I think the component lacks of functionality and build-quality you get. Not good usable for the reason why I have bought it. To many hick-ups, no documentation. It took me many hours to find things out and improve things.
Kind regards,
Marcel
After buying and using it for a couple of weeks this is what I found:
- Integration with CB works except persons deleted in Joomla are not deleted in phpList
- Lists integrates into Virtuemart registration page but not with Account Mainenance page. So there is no way for a VM customer to edit list assignments through VM account maintenance. Must switch to CB account to do that.
- posting lists on the frontpage for easy signup does not work.
This product does not have bad support. It has no support. I sent a request about two of the above issues through Foobla online support ticketing system. No reply. After posting another ticket about the missing response an answer was posted: "Because our Ticket system has some problems so we are verry sorry. We are repairing this error. We reply to you as possible as early."
To me it looks as if the ticketing system works as it should, and that the problem is elsewhere. And if it doesn't work it would be easy to just send me an email with the solution while fixing their system.
- Integration with CB works except persons deleted in Joomla are not deleted in phpList
- Lists integrates into Virtuemart registration page but not with Account Mainenance page. So there is no way for a VM customer to edit list assignments through VM account maintenance. Must switch to CB account to do that.
- posting lists on the frontpage for easy signup does not work.
This product does not have bad support. It has no support. I sent a request about two of the above issues through Foobla online support ticketing system. No reply. After posting another ticket about the missing response an answer was posted: "Because our Ticket system has some problems so we are verry sorry. We are repairing this error. We reply to you as possible as early."
To me it looks as if the ticketing system works as it should, and that the problem is elsewhere. And if it doesn't work it would be easy to just send me an email with the solution while fixing their system.
Awasome extension with great support (answer immediatly) ! Does what is supposed to do ! The integration with CB is perfect, the importation with Acajoom is also perfect and finally the module for subscribing is really great.
I recommend everybody who is looking for a bridge between Joomla and PHPList to buy this !
I recommend everybody who is looking for a bridge between Joomla and PHPList to buy this !
I just downloaded and installed this extension today. I was able to connect Community Builder with PHPList without any issues. I did have one question on changing the displayed fields during registration, and support responded within one hour. Overall, great extension, great support.
So far I'm not impressed by this software. I already had phplist up-and-running but I was looking for an easy to use subscribe module. Jlord was the only one offering such a module so I decided to purchase a license.
The biggest issue is that for mysterious reasons the developers decided to hard-code a major part of the user messages in the php files instead of putting them in a customizable language ini file. And that wouldn't be so bad if these messages weren't written in poor English. So I spent many hours digging into the code to find the right php files and edit the text into something sensible.
I also ran into several compatibility issues: the module works fine in FF3 but when using IE7 I encountered major bugs.
Finally I think the support can be improved. However they promise feedback by email within 8 hours for paying customers, it took me days to get in touch and no solution at all was offered for my issues. A bit disappointing.
I think the intention of the developers to deliver a useful piece of software is good, but the quality can be improved a lot. At this stage the software is not worth it's money.
The biggest issue is that for mysterious reasons the developers decided to hard-code a major part of the user messages in the php files instead of putting them in a customizable language ini file. And that wouldn't be so bad if these messages weren't written in poor English. So I spent many hours digging into the code to find the right php files and edit the text into something sensible.
I also ran into several compatibility issues: the module works fine in FF3 but when using IE7 I encountered major bugs.
Finally I think the support can be improved. However they promise feedback by email within 8 hours for paying customers, it took me days to get in touch and no solution at all was offered for my issues. A bit disappointing.
I think the intention of the developers to deliver a useful piece of software is good, but the quality can be improved a lot. At this stage the software is not worth it's money.
Owner's reply
Thanks for the report.Translation bug: fixed, you can change to whatever you want. The module works perfectly on FF3, IE6+, Safari, Chrome. The 1.5.1.1 version is now terrific, a lot of new killer features. Check it out.
I have been looking for a component like this for years! It installed perfectly first time, works exactly as stated, and the support is outstanding. Well worth the money spent.
This component is a very good one, serious and very well done, but still too poor for serious newletters projects. One major feature is lacking : the ability to match Community Builder fields with Phplist attributs and to copy one to the other.
If you achieve that, no other component shall compete. Because all others Joomla Newsletters components are too weak for the needs of large sites, then Phplist is mandatory. A commercial component able to match CB and Phplit attributs would be a great hit.
The developper, Thong Tran told us "your request is worth to try, and we will try with it on the next version." We really hope for it !
If you achieve that, no other component shall compete. Because all others Joomla Newsletters components are too weak for the needs of large sites, then Phplist is mandatory. A commercial component able to match CB and Phplit attributs would be a great hit.
The developper, Thong Tran told us "your request is worth to try, and we will try with it on the next version." We really hope for it !
Owner's reply
NOW, able to match CB and PHPlist attributes. No other component shall compete ;) Thanks for your suggestion.
The component is good, but PHPlist gave me nothing but problems. After 3 re-installs and over a week of troubleshooting I gave up and went to Acajoom.
PHPlist forums were NO help at all, and Unfortunately JoomLord has no 30 day money back guarantee. Now I am out the money and have a component I will never use.
PHPlist forums were NO help at all, and Unfortunately JoomLord has no 30 day money back guarantee. Now I am out the money and have a component I will never use.
This simple extension is exactly what I've been waiting for. It installs easily, works flawlessly, and the support is excellent. The integration with PHPList and Community Builder is great. Thanks for an great extension!
