JCal Pro 
Version
3.2.4 (last update on Apr 30, 2013)
Rating
Compatibility
Reviews
130
License
GPLv2 or later
Commercial
Type
Date Added
23 November 2006
Editor's Note
- Access to this GNU GPL-licensed archive requires a subscription fee
Images
I was a casualty of Thyme calendar closing down so I subscribed for my non profit school. Installation was very easy and features looked fine but I soon discovered that their is no feature to print a calendar. Many of my users like to print the current month for a physical hard copy. The only solution within jcal (despite many users asking for this feature in the forum) was a hack which did not work well with the latest version. In the end I am using Gcalendar (google calendar bridge).
This is easily the most user-friendly extension I have ever installed/configured for Joomla. The back-end is laid out simply and obviously, the settings and parameters were clearly described and easy to use. Had to upgrade to 1.5.10 for the modules/plugin to work correctly.
If only all extensions worked this well!
If only all extensions worked this well!
After fighting with jevent, since my upgrade to 1.5, I switched to jcal pro. I was up and runnning within 15 minutes. Simple easy and it works.
I would like to see more than 1 theme included but for $20 I am glad I have calendar that works right.
I would like to see more than 1 theme included but for $20 I am glad I have calendar that works right.
Owner's reply
keep it simple ... that's our mantra but it's tough sometimes with such a complicated, powerful application. Glad you had a smooth transition.
I've been a user of this component for almost a year. It's implemented seamlessly. I've had nothing but great support from developer. Very pleased with how much it can do, especially with ability to post multi colour events, so that just by looking at the monthly calendar you can see the types of events planned. I am looking forward to the new release (2.0).
From practical stand point, I find it very easy to use and install. It took me maybe 30 mins to set it up originally when I was still adjusting it to my site with all the features it has. And it took me less than 5 minutes to upgrade from version 1.6 beta version to current 1.5 stable version and will be upgrading to 2.0 when it's stable.
Great part of this upgrade was that I didn't lose any events. I simply uninstalled 1.6 beta, installed 1.5, enabled modules and was up and running.
How is that for a smooth backward upgrade compatibility!
Regards,
Dmitri Ivanenko
From practical stand point, I find it very easy to use and install. It took me maybe 30 mins to set it up originally when I was still adjusting it to my site with all the features it has. And it took me less than 5 minutes to upgrade from version 1.6 beta version to current 1.5 stable version and will be upgrading to 2.0 when it's stable.
Great part of this upgrade was that I didn't lose any events. I simply uninstalled 1.6 beta, installed 1.5, enabled modules and was up and running.
How is that for a smooth backward upgrade compatibility!
Regards,
Dmitri Ivanenko
Owner's reply
Glad it's going smooth. Satisfied subscribers don't always return to write a review...Cheers!
I REALLY love the JCal extension. It's everything I've been looking for. The only trouble I'm having is finding out how to use the Remote Calendar feature. The documentation hasn't helped me to understand what I'm doing wrong. I have 10 sites that I'm building and would love to test out this much needed feature.
Owner's reply
Thanks for the kind words. We are finalizing the new JCal Pro 2.x and then we will hopefully find time to get our event server sorted.
The product itself is decent, especially the full calendar view, and at face value it's worth the $20 for the sub.
However, if you run into trouble you are required to pay for support - or hope that someone on the forums can and is willing to help out. This might be a relatively small issue, but there is almost no documentation (the link provided by the developer in these comments returns a 404 error [http://dev.anything-digital.com/JCal-Client/Documentation.html]) and if you're not using it "out of the box" you can spend a *lot* of extra time trying to work it out.
Make sure you read all of the reviews and pay a visit to the forums at AnythingDigital before you commit to this product. When you're billing a client hourly for custom layout, the cost in time can quickly outweigh the benefits of a low initial subscription fee.
However, if you run into trouble you are required to pay for support - or hope that someone on the forums can and is willing to help out. This might be a relatively small issue, but there is almost no documentation (the link provided by the developer in these comments returns a 404 error [http://dev.anything-digital.com/JCal-Client/Documentation.html]) and if you're not using it "out of the box" you can spend a *lot* of extra time trying to work it out.
Make sure you read all of the reviews and pay a visit to the forums at AnythingDigital before you commit to this product. When you're billing a client hourly for custom layout, the cost in time can quickly outweigh the benefits of a low initial subscription fee.
Owner's reply
I have updated the links for documentation, I appreciate the heads up.
As for support, you get what you pay for, and $20 doesn't go very far given the average fee for programmers is USD $75/hour.
I tried a couple other calendars and finally settled with this one. Definitely worth the investment for the website. I look forward to seeing what version 2 has to offer. Events by Venue would be nice to see added to the Category features. I highly recommend this one. Save yourself the trouble of trying all the free ones and just pay the little bit of cash for this.
Owner's reply
Thnaks for the note. We are looking into a solution for venue management but have not settled on the best solution as yet.
Overall I thought this was a pretty good product. Coding wise and ease of use seem near perfect. It's solid, easy to setup and easy to manage.
I don't like that it's damn near impossible to customize the look/layout - and almost no real themes for it. But for $20 - you can't beat it.
If you need a calendar, this is the one. I had nothing but problems with JEvents, but JCal Pro was a breeze and continues to work near perfect.
I don't like that it's damn near impossible to customize the look/layout - and almost no real themes for it. But for $20 - you can't beat it.
If you need a calendar, this is the one. I had nothing but problems with JEvents, but JCal Pro was a breeze and continues to work near perfect.
The features of this calendar are some minimal compared to JEvents, which is free. I would expect a feature rich application if I have to pay for it.
Owner's reply
I think most users would agree that the features are comparable, and with the upcoming 2.0 version will far surpass JEvents.
Used calendar on kid's basketball team site
So easy to create different set of calendar view's for specific basketball teams.
Just need more themes, which I subscribe to as well.
Thank you for your other plugins as well, which are all great use of joomla code.
So easy to create different set of calendar view's for specific basketball teams.
Just need more themes, which I subscribe to as well.
Thank you for your other plugins as well, which are all great use of joomla code.
Unfortunately, I've subscribed to Jcal pro 1.5.8 (build 373), wish was confirmed as a non-working version (problems with dates, etc); I didn't had access to the forum before subscribing to the service (or at least I wasn't aware of this bug). So, I subscribed to a non-working version (that developers were confirming on the forum);
One sugestion, since there's posts that confirm these bugs (developers were aware of it); Please, don't let people subscribe to a service that they cant use.
One sugestion, since there's posts that confirm these bugs (developers were aware of it); Please, don't let people subscribe to a service that they cant use.
Owner's reply
The forum is public, so no reason you could not have browsed in advance.
As for bugs, these are normal parts of development. That's why we cycle through alpha, beta, RC, etc...
The current release is "Release Candidate 2".
We used JEvents on Joomla 1.0, and made a site decision when we upgraded to Joomla 1.5 to not enable legacy support, so we started looking for a new calendar for Joomla 1.5.
We started with event list, which seems to have decent community support, and was free, but we didn't like the way it did reoccuring events, or archiving, so we kept looking.
JCal Pro was a great value. The 48 hour subscription is chump change, (I pulled it out of pocket rather than fill out the paperwork for and the software works perfectly. We'll sign up for a more extensive subscription in a heartbeat if we have any trouble with it.
Minor bug: End dates for reoccuring events in the front end must be set before 2022 or else a bug occurs in the back end.
Feature missing: no support for reoccuring event exceptions (not that EventList or JEvents supported that either, just something we could really use.)
We started with event list, which seems to have decent community support, and was free, but we didn't like the way it did reoccuring events, or archiving, so we kept looking.
JCal Pro was a great value. The 48 hour subscription is chump change, (I pulled it out of pocket rather than fill out the paperwork for and the software works perfectly. We'll sign up for a more extensive subscription in a heartbeat if we have any trouble with it.
Minor bug: End dates for reoccuring events in the front end must be set before 2022 or else a bug occurs in the back end.
Feature missing: no support for reoccuring event exceptions (not that EventList or JEvents supported that either, just something we could really use.)
Owner's reply
Thanks for the kind words. We'll be adding recurring event exceptions after the Joomla 1.5 version goes stable.
At the time I write this, JCal Pro's version for the Joomla! 1.5 compatible release is 1.5.9 RC. Note the RC, it means "Release Candidate." This means that the extension, while it works in version 1.5 is not a final, stable release but rather still in development. Despite this, however, I'm impressed at how well it works overall and how consistently the developer responds to problems, even if it's only to let you know that he's aware of them.
I mention this both because I've been very satisfied at how usable JCal Pro has continued to be despite its pre-release status, and in light of the possibility that others might notice reviews complaining of bugs in this or prior pre-release versions.
There have been a couple of problems, and they have been frustrating at the time. But hey, that's the risk of beta and other pre-release software and--quite honestly--they are to be expected, which is why the developer warns people to think twice before deploying a pre-release version of the extension to a production site.
The simple truth is, in my opinion this is currently the best calendar available for Joomla and I'm excited about the fact that it's now out of the beta stages and into the release candidate cycle, because the only thing keeping me from using it everywhere I can (everywhere it fits) is its production-ready status.
Kudos to the dev for an awesome product.
I mention this both because I've been very satisfied at how usable JCal Pro has continued to be despite its pre-release status, and in light of the possibility that others might notice reviews complaining of bugs in this or prior pre-release versions.
There have been a couple of problems, and they have been frustrating at the time. But hey, that's the risk of beta and other pre-release software and--quite honestly--they are to be expected, which is why the developer warns people to think twice before deploying a pre-release version of the extension to a production site.
The simple truth is, in my opinion this is currently the best calendar available for Joomla and I'm excited about the fact that it's now out of the beta stages and into the release candidate cycle, because the only thing keeping me from using it everywhere I can (everywhere it fits) is its production-ready status.
Kudos to the dev for an awesome product.
Owner's reply
Cheers mate. It's starting to look like the all the show stoppers have been sorted, and now it's down to the nitty gritty bugs (usually hard to find but easier to solve).
What could be worse than a calendar that doesn't work? One that does work, but gets the dates wrong, that's what. This product SHOULD be great - everything is there and well thought-out.
I bought the 48hour subscription, downloaded the product, found that it posted ALL events ONE DAY LATER THAN THE ACTUAL RECORDED DATE, even though the date on the record says the 14th, it will display on the 15th. I went to the forum with my problem and found that everyone, including the developers were aware of it, and yet continued to sell the subscriptions.
I bought the 48hour subscription, downloaded the product, found that it posted ALL events ONE DAY LATER THAN THE ACTUAL RECORDED DATE, even though the date on the record says the 14th, it will display on the 15th. I went to the forum with my problem and found that everyone, including the developers were aware of it, and yet continued to sell the subscriptions.
Owner's reply
This bug only affected the Joomla 1.5 version and has been fixed as of build 383.
In version 1.5.7 RC (J1.5), there are too many unresolved bugs. (permissions and so). It is not possible to use JCal with Joomla 1.5 at this time.
The developers give no assistance, only forum. Of course, it is impossible to resolve the critical failures.
The developers give no assistance, only forum. Of course, it is impossible to resolve the critical failures.
Owner's reply
The permissions bug experienced by non-english sites has been resolved in the last few releases.
I have this extension installed, and it looks very nice. However, the number og mysql queries it evaluates is massive. A default Joomla installation evaluates about 15 queries on each page. With Jcal installed, this number jumps to about 115.
Summing up, the developers should prioritize code efficiency, and they have for a long time promised a 'efficiency extension', but this have never materialized. UI is very nice, and when the developers improve their code, this will be the only calendar you need.
Summing up, the developers should prioritize code efficiency, and they have for a long time promised a 'efficiency extension', but this have never materialized. UI is very nice, and when the developers improve their code, this will be the only calendar you need.
Owner's reply
Please try JCal Pro 2. It has been massively updated for efficiency, including a drastically reduced # of DB calls.
Page 3 of 7
