Multi Sites 
Version
1.2.87 (last update on May 7, 2012)
Rating
Compatibility
Votes
Favoured
138
License
GPLv2 or later
Commercial
Type
Views
242492
Date Added
27 July 2008
Editor's Note
- This extension requires registration to download.
With this new feature you can share the joomla files and folders to create totally independent web sites.
This simply the maintenance of Joomla as you have only one instance to update for all the websites.
With JMS you can both create website from the back-end and from the front-end. You can use website as template to create new slave site. When you decide to propose the creation of websites from the front-end, you can add a plugin to create a bridge with your own system to process the payment or whatever else.
As each website has its own joomla configuration.
You can decide to use:
- One database for all the websites. In this case, you must specify different database table prefix for each websites.
- Two databases (One master database and One slave database). This architecture is advised when you want to install JMS on an existing website and you are limited in the number of databases you can create (or disk space).
- As many databases than there are websites. This is the most flexible architecture where each websites works with its own database. This is generally the architecture adopted by joomla when you create multiple websites.
The content of each website is totally independent. This means that the content (articles, news, forum, users, ...) are NOT shared.
The setup of each configuration site consists in using the standard joomla installation mechanism.
In the administration of a 'Slave' site, you can re-install/uninstall extension previously installed on the 'Master' site.
The 'Master' site is the one where you have installed the Joomla MultiSite component and where you manage the 'Slave' sites.
Additional controls are performed during the installation/uninstallation of an extension in a 'slave' site.
Before executing the standard joomla installation, it is verified that the extension you request to install has exactly the same name and same version number to avoid inconsistency between all sites.
This additional control is performed to ensure that you will overwrite the current installation with identical files that you originally installed.
On 'slave' site, uninstalling an extension consists in a joomla standard cleanup of the database. The files present on disk for this extension is not deleted to avoid disturb the other sites.
You can also replicate a website into the same database or in different DB to avoid re-installing the extension in each slave site.
On Unix platform, it is also possible to deploy a slave site into a specific folder.
You can also share user and a limited number of extension.
It is also compatible with Joomla! 1.6, 1.7 AND Joomla 2.5
This extension is so powerful once you get it up and running on your site, it makes creating similar sites easy as hitting a button from the front end or back end! Sharing data like users or SobiPro data from a master site is a simple way to create new sites that have different purposes and share the same base information.
I recently purchased the JMS2WIN multisites component to build a Church websites of over 40 sub sites. It is still an ongoing task but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel thanks to Multisites however what struck me the most was when the download time limit had expired and I sent a support request at 06:00hrs on a weekday morning and Edwin answered me within 10 minutes.
Very professional sir not only do you have a great product but also the personality and commitment to excellence as well...keep it up!!!
Very professional sir not only do you have a great product but also the personality and commitment to excellence as well...keep it up!!!
I had my doubts about how to set up this extension, but I tried and tried and finally I got it working, no questions asked in the forum, anyone that needs to clone a site and/or replicate a DB, this is the right extension.
I have used this component to create websites for different countries in different languages and different content. However, the main content and the users database had to be shared between the different sites. For this I tried JMS Multisites.
My advise for everyone who starts with this component is: don't try to figure it out for yourself. Don't even bother to read the manual. Go directly to the Video Tutorials on the JMS website. Edwin does an outstanding job in showing multiple JMS cases.
The component does exactly what it should do and after a few tries I began to see the logic of it all.
If there is one thing to improve, it could be the addition of some kind of wizzard.
I also would like to thank Edwin for his fast replies to my questions and compliment him for creating a component that actually works very great.
My advise for everyone who starts with this component is: don't try to figure it out for yourself. Don't even bother to read the manual. Go directly to the Video Tutorials on the JMS website. Edwin does an outstanding job in showing multiple JMS cases.
The component does exactly what it should do and after a few tries I began to see the logic of it all.
If there is one thing to improve, it could be the addition of some kind of wizzard.
I also would like to thank Edwin for his fast replies to my questions and compliment him for creating a component that actually works very great.
Multisites has been an outstanding tool for us. It manages 24 different subdomain sites on 3 sql databases all for the price of one domain and does it without complaint. The component is outstanding and Edwin is incredibly supportive. Add to that Edwin's paid support services and one has a complete package. We switched servers recently and Edwin juggled multiple time zones to work with our host's tech department to make the move as painless as possible. Great product and great service.
I must, however, apologize to Edwin for being so slow in submitting this review.
I must, however, apologize to Edwin for being so slow in submitting this review.
I was looking for a component that would allow me to replicate a single site into multiple sites without having to rebuild and link my joomla installations manually. This extension was exactly what I was looking for.
I saw a post that said it took more than 18 hours to configure with no luck. For me it took about 30 minutes to an hour to stumble around the component which is very nicely written to figure out what I was try to do. It might have went faster if I would have taken the time to review the video that gives step by step instruction. The component offers some very useful tool tips that makes the configuration very easy.
I tried to push this component to do multi sites via SSL which was a bit of a challenge because of limitations in Apache and Cpanel. I submitted a request to the developer for an hour of help which was well worth its cost he quickly responded and setup a remote session with me where we were able to find a solution which was not really directly related to Joomla Multisite. Edwin took the time to help me find a solution to a complex problem and also took the time to make sure my Joomla Multisite site configuration was correct.
I would highly recommend this component to anyone looking for a solution to deploy multi sites with a master site this program is top notch.
The time that it takes to deploy a new slave site is worth more than 50 times the cost of the license.
Sincerely
Joe Bourque
I saw a post that said it took more than 18 hours to configure with no luck. For me it took about 30 minutes to an hour to stumble around the component which is very nicely written to figure out what I was try to do. It might have went faster if I would have taken the time to review the video that gives step by step instruction. The component offers some very useful tool tips that makes the configuration very easy.
I tried to push this component to do multi sites via SSL which was a bit of a challenge because of limitations in Apache and Cpanel. I submitted a request to the developer for an hour of help which was well worth its cost he quickly responded and setup a remote session with me where we were able to find a solution which was not really directly related to Joomla Multisite. Edwin took the time to help me find a solution to a complex problem and also took the time to make sure my Joomla Multisite site configuration was correct.
I would highly recommend this component to anyone looking for a solution to deploy multi sites with a master site this program is top notch.
The time that it takes to deploy a new slave site is worth more than 50 times the cost of the license.
Sincerely
Joe Bourque
I agree with my former poster, that this extensions demands some time to learn how to use it, but this is only natural for such a powerful extension.
Actually, once I learned how everything works, I find it the product designed magnificently. They made it very easy to update the extension (which is often neccessary, once you update your Joomla core). Setting up new sites is also very easy, once you have learned the proper configuration.
I like to point out, that the support is incredibly fast. Be prepared, that you might have to ask the forum once or twice during your learning experience, but support will come fast.
To sum up, if you are willing to invest a couple of hours of learning and a little trial and error, then this extension provides some great functionality for you.
Actually, once I learned how everything works, I find it the product designed magnificently. They made it very easy to update the extension (which is often neccessary, once you update your Joomla core). Setting up new sites is also very easy, once you have learned the proper configuration.
I like to point out, that the support is incredibly fast. Be prepared, that you might have to ask the forum once or twice during your learning experience, but support will come fast.
To sum up, if you are willing to invest a couple of hours of learning and a little trial and error, then this extension provides some great functionality for you.
Few extensions I have used offer the kind of power I believe this one can. I can see it. I can read the docs and watch the tutorials and read through the forum and know that there's much it can do.
Having said that, I cannot experience that for myself. This extension requires much understanding that you should confirm you have prior to purchase. I suggest you spend time looking through the forums and reading docs.
I can definitely understand why this extension has no free trial. If it did, most would never result in purchase. I have worked for approximately 18 hours on this one extension and still no closer to making it work for me. The developer assumes a level of understanding in his responses that most people will not have.
The support is forum based only. In my several posts, no users have made an attempt at helping but the developer does respond typically within about 20 hours. Unfortunately, his responses are almost verbatim from the docs and/or point to said docs rather than offer a more simplistic explanation.
The warning I give is just that this is not an out-of-the-box extension. It will require a great deal of learning for most users.
Having said that, I cannot experience that for myself. This extension requires much understanding that you should confirm you have prior to purchase. I suggest you spend time looking through the forums and reading docs.
I can definitely understand why this extension has no free trial. If it did, most would never result in purchase. I have worked for approximately 18 hours on this one extension and still no closer to making it work for me. The developer assumes a level of understanding in his responses that most people will not have.
The support is forum based only. In my several posts, no users have made an attempt at helping but the developer does respond typically within about 20 hours. Unfortunately, his responses are almost verbatim from the docs and/or point to said docs rather than offer a more simplistic explanation.
The warning I give is just that this is not an out-of-the-box extension. It will require a great deal of learning for most users.
I started a new project with very specific requirements and needed an efficient tool to help automate site creation, minimize disk space and avoid replicating unnecessary data - not just one site, but thousands. I found Jms2win while researching, installed and tested it in a matter of a few minutes at a basic level. Only then did I realize the power and flexibility of Jms2win, so went back and educated myself on all the features/abilities by reading through all of the tutorials, how-to guides, and scanned the Forum (conveniently located on the Jms2win site) – the documentation is great, and a must read if you want to prepare a successful implementation plan.
I had a number of presales questions as well as custom one-off requests, and was introduced to Edwin, who shared his insight and answered all of my questions. After feeling completely comfortable with the product and Edwin's timely support/responses, I purchased the full product, Menu and Article mods and began development.
I did run into one Symbolic Link issue working with YooTheme templates, which I shared with Edwin. He was able to troubleshoot, isolate and develop a solution to solve YooTheme’s problem – not his own product limitation. Finding anyone today who is willing to go out of their way to solve a 3rd party issue, is rare. Because of his willingness and support, my project was able to move forward.
Edwin is an amazing developer and provides exceptional support, and Jms2win is an outstanding product, that I would recommend to anyone!
I had a number of presales questions as well as custom one-off requests, and was introduced to Edwin, who shared his insight and answered all of my questions. After feeling completely comfortable with the product and Edwin's timely support/responses, I purchased the full product, Menu and Article mods and began development.
I did run into one Symbolic Link issue working with YooTheme templates, which I shared with Edwin. He was able to troubleshoot, isolate and develop a solution to solve YooTheme’s problem – not his own product limitation. Finding anyone today who is willing to go out of their way to solve a 3rd party issue, is rare. Because of his willingness and support, my project was able to move forward.
Edwin is an amazing developer and provides exceptional support, and Jms2win is an outstanding product, that I would recommend to anyone!
About a month ago, I need a tool to build mutisite, so I contact with Edwin and ask him whether his product can meet my requirements. The feedback email Quick and detailed. So I decide to purchase this component. But my account came across a problem when i was paying the bill. Yesterday I complete my payment,But I Encountered a problem when I install the component, I contact with edwin by email, and leave him an administrator account. Guys guess it, what happened then? today's morning, when I got up from my bed, every thing is done, the mutisite works fine, they even help me to creat a slave site yet. those excellent guys, they professonal and responsible. I am very happy with his extra work, so I got pay them an extra fees.and I strongly recommend this product to those people who want to creat mutisites.(forgive my poor english.)
It has been several years that I have been using this extension. Earlier, I purchased the 1.1 version. Then I had to pay full price of the 1.2 because there was no update version.
For some reason there are problems in the logic of programming. Since years I hoped that this developer will learn to understand the problems of admin and will remove the faulty logic. He does not.
Now sometimes the saving of new sites does not work and after saving it gives a white page. It in fact did save the configuration but somewhere in the middle it dies.
Hence I ended up many times to completely remove the component and reinstall it all again. After that it works.
Now I was trying to uninstall a couple of components from the master site to be removed from the slave sites (it has a management tools inside).
I saw multisite in the newly created site. So I uninstalled it. I found that the newly connected site was uninstalling the multisite component from the master site.
The newly created site did not create the configuration of the slave site and hence was getting to the master site.
I did not realise this immediately. So I deleted all the mysql tables from the slave site. Only then I found that it was connecting the master.
Those are the practical problems in using this component. It works indeed ok.
There is an installation directory of joomla. I thought that the developer will somehow change the name sometime in the login. Now the multisite uses this installation directory for some parts of the module diversion. So if your configuration gets damaged like mine, then it will point to the installation. I fooled myself when I began to reinstall every thing again and found that everything was in the database. Only the multisite was screwed up. After renaming or backing up it works agains.
So this is a nightmare it something small goes wrong and the whole installation does not work.
Now the programmer does not offer any forum. Emails does not always gets answered. So there are not much possibilities to complain.
It would be better to change the handling of all the sites for the administrator.
I write this because I was just now fooled by the component and was furious as this was just the programing logic that the guys does not change it since many years.
For some reason there are problems in the logic of programming. Since years I hoped that this developer will learn to understand the problems of admin and will remove the faulty logic. He does not.
Now sometimes the saving of new sites does not work and after saving it gives a white page. It in fact did save the configuration but somewhere in the middle it dies.
Hence I ended up many times to completely remove the component and reinstall it all again. After that it works.
Now I was trying to uninstall a couple of components from the master site to be removed from the slave sites (it has a management tools inside).
I saw multisite in the newly created site. So I uninstalled it. I found that the newly connected site was uninstalling the multisite component from the master site.
The newly created site did not create the configuration of the slave site and hence was getting to the master site.
I did not realise this immediately. So I deleted all the mysql tables from the slave site. Only then I found that it was connecting the master.
Those are the practical problems in using this component. It works indeed ok.
There is an installation directory of joomla. I thought that the developer will somehow change the name sometime in the login. Now the multisite uses this installation directory for some parts of the module diversion. So if your configuration gets damaged like mine, then it will point to the installation. I fooled myself when I began to reinstall every thing again and found that everything was in the database. Only the multisite was screwed up. After renaming or backing up it works agains.
So this is a nightmare it something small goes wrong and the whole installation does not work.
Now the programmer does not offer any forum. Emails does not always gets answered. So there are not much possibilities to complain.
It would be better to change the handling of all the sites for the administrator.
I write this because I was just now fooled by the component and was furious as this was just the programing logic that the guys does not change it since many years.
Owner's reply
As the customer does not seems to have found the forum, it is possible either to access it from the "support" button present in this page or the menu forum present in our website or directly at the address http://www.jms2win.com/forum
This extension does exactly as advertised and does it well. There is some complexity to it, but remember that you're dealing with an operating system, a web server, Joomla! and a complex extension all at once. We've had a few installation issues, mainly due to unix permissions and apache configuration, but none unsurmountable. I can highly recommend this for people that need to run multiple sites on one server.
Edwin's customer service is second to none!
Edwin's customer service is second to none!
Great program, any "bugs" I came across were of my own missunderstanding of the way it works. If you have no tecnical understanding of MySQL - invest in an hour of Edwins time to go over your set up. Well worth the money! I paid for a couple of hours of time though and was VERY happy I did. Edwin is extremely knowledgable, And taught me what I needed to know to get this program working to save me hours if not weeks of developement time. Edwin was even able to help me integrate a different program into Multisite's sharing setups.
Wow - I have just found exactly what I needed with Joomla Multi-Site (JMS). I could not get past what was inevitably going to be a nightmare as I have grown in my site building to a point where even just the new version updating would have taken me days.
After finding JMS I was skeptical but went ahead hoping for the best. Wow was I surprised! Not only did JMS make it possible to produce hundreds of Joomla sites with just a single install, it did it in such a way that we were able to build 400 sites in a single day.
I originally wanted a multi-site solution for maintenance issues going forward but found not only a solution for that but also found a solution that drastically reduces the time I now spend building profitable sites not to mention the additional benefit of the space it saves on the servers.
If you are growing and have found the need to have multiple sites this is your solution. I wish I would have found it before I started my second site.
Support has also been top level.Edwin knows his stuff and is constantly adding new things to make this solution even better!
After finding JMS I was skeptical but went ahead hoping for the best. Wow was I surprised! Not only did JMS make it possible to produce hundreds of Joomla sites with just a single install, it did it in such a way that we were able to build 400 sites in a single day.
I originally wanted a multi-site solution for maintenance issues going forward but found not only a solution for that but also found a solution that drastically reduces the time I now spend building profitable sites not to mention the additional benefit of the space it saves on the servers.
If you are growing and have found the need to have multiple sites this is your solution. I wish I would have found it before I started my second site.
Support has also been top level.Edwin knows his stuff and is constantly adding new things to make this solution even better!
This component allowed me to use Joomla! for a large multi-site configuration rather that moving to a different CMS. Making updates to 10 sites at once through shared template files makes the update process much easier. Not to mention Joomla! version updates. I decided to write this review because of the customer service I have received from the developer. He provides top notch technical support through forums, emails and video.
This is the most comprehensive component I have ever seen. The possible configurations are endless.
I am using Jms Multi Site for a client who wants to manage several sub-sites from a central admin panel.
They have one main website, and several sub-sites. Each of the sub-sites will contain a smaller subset of the main articles and products, with a few that are unique to that site.
With Jms Multi Site, and some of the excellent add-ons available, we are putting together a system where they will be able to manage all their VM products, articles (and soon even contacts) via the main admin panel for their master site.
The only thing that they will need to manage from separate sub-site admin panels is the unique menu for each site. Everything else will be handled from the main master admin panel.
Of course, this represents only one of the many ways that Jms can be configured for multi-site management. Many people are using it for their many Joomla! clients who have completely different websites. Sharing the core Joomla! engine allows for developers to host, support and upgrade many Joomla! websites easily.
I recommend this low-cost component to everyone! There are many add-ons for it, so you can choose what you need.
Purchasing this system for my client has saved them so much money. They probably would not have been able to afford the development costs of engineering a system for their needs. But Jms saved the day!
I am using Jms Multi Site for a client who wants to manage several sub-sites from a central admin panel.
They have one main website, and several sub-sites. Each of the sub-sites will contain a smaller subset of the main articles and products, with a few that are unique to that site.
With Jms Multi Site, and some of the excellent add-ons available, we are putting together a system where they will be able to manage all their VM products, articles (and soon even contacts) via the main admin panel for their master site.
The only thing that they will need to manage from separate sub-site admin panels is the unique menu for each site. Everything else will be handled from the main master admin panel.
Of course, this represents only one of the many ways that Jms can be configured for multi-site management. Many people are using it for their many Joomla! clients who have completely different websites. Sharing the core Joomla! engine allows for developers to host, support and upgrade many Joomla! websites easily.
I recommend this low-cost component to everyone! There are many add-ons for it, so you can choose what you need.
Purchasing this system for my client has saved them so much money. They probably would not have been able to afford the development costs of engineering a system for their needs. But Jms saved the day!
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