CiviCRM
Version
3.2 (last update on Aug 6, 2010)
Rating
Compatibility
Votes
Favoured
85
License
AGPL
Non-Commercial
Type
Views
270911
Date Added
5 March 2006
CiviContribute: A donation module to accept online payments via PayPal, Authorize.net and Google Checkout. Recurring donations are also supported via PayPal and Authorize.net. CiviContribute has support for Pledges and Soft Contributions.
CiviEvent: An event management module for integrated event registration and management
CiviReport: A reporting module to make sense of all the data you collect
CiviMember: A membership module to manage your members
CiviMail: A high performace broadcast email engine
CiviPledge: A module to manage pledges
CiviCase: Case management for human service providers (with thanks to Physician Health Program - British Columbia)
Personal Campaign Pages: add donors and constituents to your fundraising team
Note that CiviCRM now requires PHP v5.2.1+ and MySQL v5.0 and higher. If you need help installing this component please consult the service provider list at http://civicrm.org/professional/
Note that the CiviCRM license is AGPL v3 which is compatible with GPL v3. CiviCRM v2.1 is for Joomla 1.5 (it is NOT compatible with Joomla 1.0.x)
Wanna know the problem with CiviCRM? Go try to use their demo. You'll see guest login info and a place to log in. Do it. Then count the minutes it takes for you to figure out what to do next. Keep looking. Found it yet?
Your customers will have the exact same experience. We've used CiviCRM for years, and it doesn't allow you to set up the same type of transactional experience customers look for now - yes, even customers of poor little nonprofits. They have to create a log-in account before registering for an event. Then they have to back out to start registering for the event itself. We've had people give up on trying to register for our events - a key source of revenue - because they can't click on an event, register, and pay like they can with almost any other online transaction. Sure CiviCRM has some great administrative and database management functions. But, what's the point if the system runs off your customers?
Your customers will have the exact same experience. We've used CiviCRM for years, and it doesn't allow you to set up the same type of transactional experience customers look for now - yes, even customers of poor little nonprofits. They have to create a log-in account before registering for an event. Then they have to back out to start registering for the event itself. We've had people give up on trying to register for our events - a key source of revenue - because they can't click on an event, register, and pay like they can with almost any other online transaction. Sure CiviCRM has some great administrative and database management functions. But, what's the point if the system runs off your customers?
Owner's reply
A few comments:
1. You can set CiviCRM up so that anonymous users can register / contribute. A login is NOT required
2. Most users will add the links to the event / contributon page from various pieces of content (blog post, links on top etc). CiviCRM does not do this for you, and we feel that this is better dealt with at the CMS level. For e.g. see all the links to contributions / events on http://civicrm.org/
I've been running a non-profit using civiCRM for two years now and could never have accomplished what we have without it. I am so grateful.
Indeed, as noted below, version 3.0 and later is much, much improved. You should take reviews from before fall 2009 with a grain of salt.
civiCRM is an endless struggle or impossible on cheap shared hosting. But you really should not be running mission critical functions like your organizations web site on $5 a month hosting. Learned the hard way. (Moving up to $15 a month or so is sufficient at least for my organizations demands.)
Many of the features in civiCRM are really nicely implemented. It also makes some very complex things (sending a finely customized mailing or setting up registration for a paid event, for example) really easy and quick. It is not a simple program, but the complexity it has is complexity you really need to be employing if you are running a non-profit.
CiviCRM is not quite RaisersEdge, but it's definitely more in that direction than a simple database.
Lastly, while civiCRM has improved, this is indeed a big program (yes bigger than Joomla itself) and requires that much more technical attention. It's probably still true that it isn't for the faint of heart. But then, neither is making your non-profit successful! And yes, the support community is strong and pretty committed to helping you figure things out that you need.
Indeed, as noted below, version 3.0 and later is much, much improved. You should take reviews from before fall 2009 with a grain of salt.
civiCRM is an endless struggle or impossible on cheap shared hosting. But you really should not be running mission critical functions like your organizations web site on $5 a month hosting. Learned the hard way. (Moving up to $15 a month or so is sufficient at least for my organizations demands.)
Many of the features in civiCRM are really nicely implemented. It also makes some very complex things (sending a finely customized mailing or setting up registration for a paid event, for example) really easy and quick. It is not a simple program, but the complexity it has is complexity you really need to be employing if you are running a non-profit.
CiviCRM is not quite RaisersEdge, but it's definitely more in that direction than a simple database.
Lastly, while civiCRM has improved, this is indeed a big program (yes bigger than Joomla itself) and requires that much more technical attention. It's probably still true that it isn't for the faint of heart. But then, neither is making your non-profit successful! And yes, the support community is strong and pretty committed to helping you figure things out that you need.
I wrote a negative review two years ago saying this was essentially a buggy Drupal app and to stay away.
With CiviCRM 3.X, it's become a stable, awesome application for Joomla. If there were a rating above "5", I would give it; it's that good.
Clearing up some myths:
The database is NOT messy - it's actually brilliant to anyone who knows databases. Clean design and essential to the incredible flexibility of CCRM. As a single example, the clear distinction and association between Contact and Member records is correct, and contrasts with the messy relationship between these with other Joomla extensions.
The conversion of the DB from MyISAM to InnoDB (required) is a small pain, but well worth the effort and straightforward. About half an hour with phpMyAdmin.
Lobo is tireless and passionate. His leadership is incredible, the guy must not sleep.
The forums are helpful and pleasant. Questions mostly get answered.
The user interface is wonderfully intuitive, so much so that it's almost training free. I needed to read up on only a couple functions to get my clients up and running in a useful fashion.
It only seems complex because the functions are numerous. But there's no fat in it. I give it an unqualified recommendation as of version 3.x.
With CiviCRM 3.X, it's become a stable, awesome application for Joomla. If there were a rating above "5", I would give it; it's that good.
Clearing up some myths:
The database is NOT messy - it's actually brilliant to anyone who knows databases. Clean design and essential to the incredible flexibility of CCRM. As a single example, the clear distinction and association between Contact and Member records is correct, and contrasts with the messy relationship between these with other Joomla extensions.
The conversion of the DB from MyISAM to InnoDB (required) is a small pain, but well worth the effort and straightforward. About half an hour with phpMyAdmin.
Lobo is tireless and passionate. His leadership is incredible, the guy must not sleep.
The forums are helpful and pleasant. Questions mostly get answered.
The user interface is wonderfully intuitive, so much so that it's almost training free. I needed to read up on only a couple functions to get my clients up and running in a useful fashion.
It only seems complex because the functions are numerous. But there's no fat in it. I give it an unqualified recommendation as of version 3.x.
I have used this tool and a developer for CiviCRM on several projects, including a major site for Yale University. All I can say is: the best.
There is no finer tool for events, membership and relationship/constituent management. They are committed to improvement, Civi has literally thousands of features, and the team is in this for the long haul.
If you create sites for member-driven enterprises and orgs, Civi is the tool of choice.
There is no finer tool for events, membership and relationship/constituent management. They are committed to improvement, Civi has literally thousands of features, and the team is in this for the long haul.
If you create sites for member-driven enterprises and orgs, Civi is the tool of choice.
While it has the potential to be a powerful application for managing a NFP organization it has many inherent problems. The database structure is a total mess. It is NOT restorable with JoomlaPack or other applications. Even direct SQL dumps are questionable due to the complexity of the database structure
It will not install on some commercial web servers - If you are planning to use it on a commercial host check with them 1st and save your self some trouble (godaddy shared hosting - forget about it)
The application is quite complicated and not for the faint of heart. If you have a problem digging into php and mysql this is likely not the application for you.
One other thing the developer community is very unabashedly bias toward "another cms" so keep that in mind while looking for support
While this is the right application for many organizations and has a great feature set be forewarned is is a bear to administer.
It will not install on some commercial web servers - If you are planning to use it on a commercial host check with them 1st and save your self some trouble (godaddy shared hosting - forget about it)
The application is quite complicated and not for the faint of heart. If you have a problem digging into php and mysql this is likely not the application for you.
One other thing the developer community is very unabashedly bias toward "another cms" so keep that in mind while looking for support
While this is the right application for many organizations and has a great feature set be forewarned is is a bear to administer.
Owner's reply
Would be good to get more details on:
1. "The database structure is a total mess." A complex db structure does not necessarily mean its a mess.
2. Depending on your application, mysql has got quite a few backup utilities which can safely backup a running mysql instance
3. "the developer community is very unabashedly bias towards 'another CMS'". So does this affect the support that is offered? if so, any examples where this is biased
4. We pretty much are upfront and do warn folks that cheap shared hosting services (goDaddy, site5 etc) are not a appropriate match for CiviCRM
The initial install went pretty smoothly and despite some other reviews, I found it fairly easy to set up. Kind of rigid in ability to configure/customize though.
When I moved the site to production, the application broke horribly (using absolute path rather than relative from joomla root?)
Then, when I went to remove it, it left a boatload of crap in the database, making it impossible to re-install.
Promising, but sloppy design in its current state. They have forums but no direct support to be found and the developers do not seem to participate in the forums... so no real support unless you're ready to fork over some cash.
So I rated it "average"... typical joomla app that is flaky with no support.
When I moved the site to production, the application broke horribly (using absolute path rather than relative from joomla root?)
Then, when I went to remove it, it left a boatload of crap in the database, making it impossible to re-install.
Promising, but sloppy design in its current state. They have forums but no direct support to be found and the developers do not seem to participate in the forums... so no real support unless you're ready to fork over some cash.
So I rated it "average"... typical joomla app that is flaky with no support.
Owner's reply
Note that there is a wiki page documenting how to move a site:
http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC/Moving+an+Existing+Installation+to+a+New+Server+or+Location
Someone from the joomla civicrm community was nice enough to respond to your support questions:
http://forum.civicrm.org/index.php/topic,9234.html
Not sure what your expectations are for free support?
lobo
This is a fully featured CRM, and therefore its big, and requires a lot of configuration. Bear with it: use their forums (which are busy, and have good answers provided quickly in my experience) and you will get a component which is excellent. A lot of the installation woes people - myself included - have are as much to do with their hosting not coping with a demanding package as with CiviCRM itself.
As others have said, this is really a Drupal module that works on Joomla, and there are times when it shows - but again, Drupal has an ACL system that works, and Joomla 1.5 doesn't - doubtless when J1.6 finally surfaces CiviCRM will start getting more positive comments here.
Definately worth using this module, but don't expect to have it all working perfectly in only a couple of hours.
As others have said, this is really a Drupal module that works on Joomla, and there are times when it shows - but again, Drupal has an ACL system that works, and Joomla 1.5 doesn't - doubtless when J1.6 finally surfaces CiviCRM will start getting more positive comments here.
Definately worth using this module, but don't expect to have it all working perfectly in only a couple of hours.
I read the many bad review of this product, but decided to give it a try anyway. Boy was I surprised! Sure the product takes a bot of configuration, but anyone who can read a simple tutorial can be up and running in no time. I run a small non-profit, and this component lets me keep my donors and contacts integrated and simple. From a simple donation form to a complete survey with simple option to donate & mailing lists, CiviCRM is great!
Once installed this is a feature rich program. However I have had difficulty installing, mostly due to the fact that I needed MySQL 5.x for the latest version. Uninstalling the tables on the database is also difficult.
Owner's reply
Note that 2.2.x ships with a sql script: sql/civicrm_drop.mysql that drops all civicrm tables in the right order.
We had issues to install CiviCRM on our GoDaddy hosting (had to install it on DreamHost hosting we had, and copy over the files and tables to our GoDaddy hosting).
Other than that, we are very happy with what CiviCRM provides. The other so-called "CRMs" in this category on this extensions.joomla.org don't even come close to what CiviCRM provides.
We use:
> CiviEvent to create online event registrations - customize the registration form to our needs
> Donation payment system with builtin PayPal (it has others too) payment processors - we just had to configure it with our paypal info
> Member/Volunteer registration with customized fields - our Joomla account creation link redirects to the CiviCRM member account registration page (btw, CiviCRM also creates a Joomla user account for each registration if we want to)
> Volunteer management to assign tasks to volunteers, etc.
> Maintain contacts
We researched many other systems, but none had what CiviCRM provides.
Oh, did I tell you that the support is great, yes it is. :)
Other than that, we are very happy with what CiviCRM provides. The other so-called "CRMs" in this category on this extensions.joomla.org don't even come close to what CiviCRM provides.
We use:
> CiviEvent to create online event registrations - customize the registration form to our needs
> Donation payment system with builtin PayPal (it has others too) payment processors - we just had to configure it with our paypal info
> Member/Volunteer registration with customized fields - our Joomla account creation link redirects to the CiviCRM member account registration page (btw, CiviCRM also creates a Joomla user account for each registration if we want to)
> Volunteer management to assign tasks to volunteers, etc.
> Maintain contacts
We researched many other systems, but none had what CiviCRM provides.
Oh, did I tell you that the support is great, yes it is. :)
Yes, it can be a challenge to install. But this is a very feature-rich extension package that does a lot more than the above description. Once you get beyond the installation challenges, I have found it to work very well with Joomla. I am not an experienced developer - in fact I incorporated CiviCRM into the first website I designed with Joomla (which was only my second site).
While the extension is tilted towards Drupal, I have detected a strong desire and willingness among the CiviCRM development community to make it more Joomla friendly. In my opinion, the best way to do that would be to make it compatible with JoomlaPack, which would go a long way to solving the installation headaches (use of Foreign Keys in the CiviCRM database seems to prevent this - I don't pretend to understand the details behind this).
If you have the time to configure the installation, it is well worth the effort.
While the extension is tilted towards Drupal, I have detected a strong desire and willingness among the CiviCRM development community to make it more Joomla friendly. In my opinion, the best way to do that would be to make it compatible with JoomlaPack, which would go a long way to solving the installation headaches (use of Foreign Keys in the CiviCRM database seems to prevent this - I don't pretend to understand the details behind this).
If you have the time to configure the installation, it is well worth the effort.
CiviCRM ver. 2.1stable on Joomla 1.5.7
I researched this component quite extensively! While it did take some time in the forums to even get it installed on Joomla, I did finally get it done. I then took on the task of using it. While there are many features that are quite appealing in this component it isn’t integrated very well into the Joomla interface.
Most of the “how to” documentation is directed towards the Drupal users and the component itself is better suited to Drupal.
I did try it in Drupal and I wish it was as well written for Joomla. Since I prefer the Joomla interface for my websites I’m going to have to ditch using CiviCRM until they make it more Joomla friendly, which I really hope is soon! Until they write it to be more Joomla friendly, they should reconsider listing it as a Joomla module.
So, unless you have extensive programming knowledge to get this to work on Joomla (which if I did I would just write my own component), I recommend looking elsewhere until CiviCRM is rewritten to integrate better for Joomla. While I do consider myself more than just a point and click user, I can’t seem to get this component to work like it should (like it does in Drupal anyway), much less teach a client to use it.
I researched this component quite extensively! While it did take some time in the forums to even get it installed on Joomla, I did finally get it done. I then took on the task of using it. While there are many features that are quite appealing in this component it isn’t integrated very well into the Joomla interface.
Most of the “how to” documentation is directed towards the Drupal users and the component itself is better suited to Drupal.
I did try it in Drupal and I wish it was as well written for Joomla. Since I prefer the Joomla interface for my websites I’m going to have to ditch using CiviCRM until they make it more Joomla friendly, which I really hope is soon! Until they write it to be more Joomla friendly, they should reconsider listing it as a Joomla module.
So, unless you have extensive programming knowledge to get this to work on Joomla (which if I did I would just write my own component), I recommend looking elsewhere until CiviCRM is rewritten to integrate better for Joomla. While I do consider myself more than just a point and click user, I can’t seem to get this component to work like it should (like it does in Drupal anyway), much less teach a client to use it.
The new version runs well on Joomla 1.5 (native)
This is a perfect fit for non-profit organizations that would like to extend the capabilities of Joomla CMS to a CRM. CiviCRM is not a simple component, is a whole CRM system so you need to be patient with the installation process.
I was able to import over 9,400 contacts from over 3,000 organizations. The learning curve is not so bad (it may take you a couple of weeks) and the support is superb.
Event Registration will allow you to customize registration fields and the user can keep a record of all the events that he/she attended. There is also an option to synchronize your events with an iCalendar, so you get the flexibility of displaying the events in different formats.
From the administrator point of view you can collect information for many different internal lists. The records can be exported or imported from CSV. This CRM is just great but be aware that is not for beginners.
This is a perfect fit for non-profit organizations that would like to extend the capabilities of Joomla CMS to a CRM. CiviCRM is not a simple component, is a whole CRM system so you need to be patient with the installation process.
I was able to import over 9,400 contacts from over 3,000 organizations. The learning curve is not so bad (it may take you a couple of weeks) and the support is superb.
Event Registration will allow you to customize registration fields and the user can keep a record of all the events that he/she attended. There is also an option to synchronize your events with an iCalendar, so you get the flexibility of displaying the events in different formats.
From the administrator point of view you can collect information for many different internal lists. The records can be exported or imported from CSV. This CRM is just great but be aware that is not for beginners.
Sometimes the best things in life (and on the web) take a little effort. As is very clear, CiviCRM is not a "upload & install" 1 click. I have many successful installations of CiviCRM on Windoze & Linux being used daily by NGO's & commercial users. Don't bother trying to install if you dont know what a custom php.ini or htaccess file is, get a pro to do it...or learn. I don't normally review extensions but CiviCRM is excellent and I need to balance the 1 stars...The CiviCRM forums & documentation are excellent and obviously a whole lot of work has gone into it over the years. Can't even imagine what a commercial system of this power would cost! c'mon people, Joomla is not just for the point and click beginners!
For it's functions Civicrm is a very useful extension for non-profit organizations. Like many wrote before: it's not well enough developed as a Joomla component. You can't make it work without the help of your hosting provider. You'll probably need their help while installing but also for example if you want to use the mailing system.
Civicrm is bigger than Joomla and is far more difficult to configure. Unlike Joomla you need IT professionals to get it working.
Civicrm is bigger than Joomla and is far more difficult to configure. Unlike Joomla you need IT professionals to get it working.
Hi,
I finally figured out how to install CiviCRM. I used version 2.0.4 on Joomla! 1.5 Legacy mode....so far so good.
Install steps:
1. Download zip file to computer and then Upload it to
yourjoomladirectory/administrators/components/com_installer
2. Use Joomla! Xplorer to unpack it. After unpacking,it should be here:
yourjoomladirectory/administrators/components/com_installer/com_civicrm
3. Go to Install from Directory and enter your ENTIRE path. If you don't know what that should be (which is what my problem was) go to the Help>System Info>Configuration Path and scroll down to $log_path. This is the ENTIRE path you should be adding when using Install from Directory.
Your path will probably look something like this:
home/yourserver/yoursite.com/administrator/components/com_installer/com_civicrm
4. The actual install process may take five or so minutes.
Good Luck!!!
The software as we all know is great! This is just what my non-profit needs to complete the site and manage its operations comprehensively. CivicEvent is the answer to lots of our prayers/requests, and I prefer the Joomla! administration panel to that of Drupal.
Hope this helps.....CiviCRM Rocks!!
I finally figured out how to install CiviCRM. I used version 2.0.4 on Joomla! 1.5 Legacy mode....so far so good.
Install steps:
1. Download zip file to computer and then Upload it to
yourjoomladirectory/administrators/components/com_installer
2. Use Joomla! Xplorer to unpack it. After unpacking,it should be here:
yourjoomladirectory/administrators/components/com_installer/com_civicrm
3. Go to Install from Directory and enter your ENTIRE path. If you don't know what that should be (which is what my problem was) go to the Help>System Info>Configuration Path and scroll down to $log_path. This is the ENTIRE path you should be adding when using Install from Directory.
Your path will probably look something like this:
home/yourserver/yoursite.com/administrator/components/com_installer/com_civicrm
4. The actual install process may take five or so minutes.
Good Luck!!!
The software as we all know is great! This is just what my non-profit needs to complete the site and manage its operations comprehensively. CivicEvent is the answer to lots of our prayers/requests, and I prefer the Joomla! administration panel to that of Drupal.
Hope this helps.....CiviCRM Rocks!!
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