SobiPro 
Version
1.0.8/1.1.0 Beta3 (last update on May 13, 2013)
Rating
Compatibility
Reviews
72
License
GPLv2 or later
Non-Commercial
Type
Date Added
30 April 2011
Editor's Note
- This extension has additional addons listed in an extension specific category.
- Requires: CURL library, OpenSSL and XSL Support
With SobiPro you can easily create multiple directories or content types. 10 integrated core field types and the possibility to install additional field types gives you everything you need to run any kind of directory. SobiPro allows you to build a business directory or a restaurants guide, a real estate management or a members and profiles directory, a documentation and FAQ area or a download management system, a simple weblinks list or even a blog. Almost any type of directory or content presentation for your Joomla! powered website can be realised with SobiPro.
With a wide range of additional SobiPro applications you can enhance your directories with a lot of features such as a review and rating or a notification system. Various module types are available to present your directory content in different ways.
Earn money with SobiPro. Let your customers submit and manage their content from front-end. Search, filter and view the content depending on Joomla! user groups.
The real power of SobiPro is the amount of customization you have available for your specific website content needs. You can customize all output views of SobiPro through the powerful professional SobiPro template system. SobiPro comes with a default template which doesn't need any customisation. But if you want to set yourself apart from your competitor, design your own template for your directory or make your directory mobile ready by using a responsive SobiPro template!
Please note: XSL Support is required. CURL library and OpenSSL are necessary only for specific features of SobiPro (e.g. Repository) but not for standard use.
For Joomla 3.x we've just released SobiPro 1.1 Beta. Please note, that this is a Beta version which should not be used on production sites.
Images
I am a new user in SobiPro, but I'm very pleased.
There is too much to talk, but there is still much that I do not know of, so I'll highlight some points.
business - the business solution, pay for a support period, it is very cool. Can I pay one month, three months or a year. Paid according to my need. If you think you are TOO smart, get the software and go a ahead. I am not.
forums - very active. Some precise answers, other well-intentioned. The response time varies from one day to a few hours. This is very important, shows the vitality of the community.
flexibility - I wanted a flexible tool. A tool that could solve my problem, but that was not a closed solution, I could customize. So far, it's much more than I need.
Finally I have to say some things about me. I've worked with COBOL and MUMPS (you knew this? Really?). So I'm not the most current web developer, to say little. PHP and HTML are ok, but I need to find a good book of Xsl. Still, I'm doing well with SobiPro.
There is too much to talk, but there is still much that I do not know of, so I'll highlight some points.
business - the business solution, pay for a support period, it is very cool. Can I pay one month, three months or a year. Paid according to my need. If you think you are TOO smart, get the software and go a ahead. I am not.
forums - very active. Some precise answers, other well-intentioned. The response time varies from one day to a few hours. This is very important, shows the vitality of the community.
flexibility - I wanted a flexible tool. A tool that could solve my problem, but that was not a closed solution, I could customize. So far, it's much more than I need.
Finally I have to say some things about me. I've worked with COBOL and MUMPS (you knew this? Really?). So I'm not the most current web developer, to say little. PHP and HTML are ok, but I need to find a good book of Xsl. Still, I'm doing well with SobiPro.
A FANTASTIC new component with lots of possibilities but also and very importantfact : a very good team of professionals always ready to listen, help and give solutions.
Some may ask questions about paying or not a membership. For us it was the best solution, it was obvious as we had a very important project, the price of the membership worths it !
So why only 4 stars? Because I am too demanding and I expect to see future developments, including alphabetical ordering of the entries, my problem ;-)
Some may ask questions about paying or not a membership. For us it was the best solution, it was obvious as we had a very important project, the price of the membership worths it !
So why only 4 stars? Because I am too demanding and I expect to see future developments, including alphabetical ordering of the entries, my problem ;-)
Almost simultaneously with the release of the new Joomla! series last year, the new Sobi product 'SobiPro' was released too. Never has the opportunity been bigger than back then to jump on this train, follow the development and lift your website to a new level with a new Joomla! and a completely new and powerful directory listing component. By now, SobiPro 1.0.3 stable has been released and it is time to consider the results of months of studying and using this component.
It is not only a directory listing, but also a content construction kit and you can use it either way or in a combination of both features, which makes it ultimately powerful. With SobiPro you can easily create great directory listings and customize almost every part of your directory listing, because every part and every view has its own template. There is no limitation on how many templates you create or on how and when you do use them.
The main templating language is XSLT, which is somewhat unusual and it takes some effort to learn it. I do not consider this a big problem though, because there are great learning tutorials on the Web and the language is straightforward. Once the basic XSLT skills have been mastered, really every single part of the directory listings can be customized. It needs to be said that the SobiPro XSLT templates also allow to use HTML/JavaScript in it and the use of predefined or custom PHP functions, respectively. In other words: The XML/XSLT language does not limit SobiPro templating, but in fact extends it!
As already known from Sobi2, the default installation also provides you with sample data and templates that do not need further customization and will display any custom field and custom entry you may create. This allows the use of this component even for absolute beginners, not skilled at any programming language.
Other new features of the component are that it runs on Joomla! 1.5.x as well as on Joomla! 1.6+, it has multi-directory functionality, advanced Access Control List, data filters and multi-language ability - just to mention some!
The SobiPro component is certainly powerful, but also quite resource-intensive and has quite high requirements that need to be met. It has been running absolutely fine for months on my high standard but nevertheless low-resource servers(s). If you intend to run directory listings with tens of thousands of entries and hundreds of categories, it may require a boosting of your servers CPU and memory.
SobiPro is free software released under the terms of GNU/GPL V3. So the price-performance ratio is unparalleled. The current version can be download and new versions are constantly released at the SigSiu homepage. The component is considered stable and for the use on live sites, but naturally not completely bug-free. The developers do work though on it from the bottom of their hearts. From my experience, the developers do take it almost personally, when discovering a bug and try to patch it as quickly as possible. Very big plus.
The support is excellent and goes way beyond what is actually expected from a support for a product. As an extra-professional webdesigner and web administrator, I do not need constant support for this product, but professional support came with the membership package and the support alone was worth the money. It saved my countless hours of developing, testing and debugging and thus, a lot of money. Notably, a SobiPro team member is working almost 24/7 supporting members and if time, even supports the public forum. The speed and quality of the support and the analytical and troubleshooting skills of the supporters is also, I would say, unparalleled. Another very big plus.
In conclusion, this is a superb component and my personal goal is to get rid of all other components and in future do EVERYTHING with SobiPro and it extensions alone. I already replaced the social component, all other directory listings and presenting components like galleries, maps and contacts etc. And with every other application this component gets more and more powerful.
SobiPro team, keep up the good work!
It is not only a directory listing, but also a content construction kit and you can use it either way or in a combination of both features, which makes it ultimately powerful. With SobiPro you can easily create great directory listings and customize almost every part of your directory listing, because every part and every view has its own template. There is no limitation on how many templates you create or on how and when you do use them.
The main templating language is XSLT, which is somewhat unusual and it takes some effort to learn it. I do not consider this a big problem though, because there are great learning tutorials on the Web and the language is straightforward. Once the basic XSLT skills have been mastered, really every single part of the directory listings can be customized. It needs to be said that the SobiPro XSLT templates also allow to use HTML/JavaScript in it and the use of predefined or custom PHP functions, respectively. In other words: The XML/XSLT language does not limit SobiPro templating, but in fact extends it!
As already known from Sobi2, the default installation also provides you with sample data and templates that do not need further customization and will display any custom field and custom entry you may create. This allows the use of this component even for absolute beginners, not skilled at any programming language.
Other new features of the component are that it runs on Joomla! 1.5.x as well as on Joomla! 1.6+, it has multi-directory functionality, advanced Access Control List, data filters and multi-language ability - just to mention some!
The SobiPro component is certainly powerful, but also quite resource-intensive and has quite high requirements that need to be met. It has been running absolutely fine for months on my high standard but nevertheless low-resource servers(s). If you intend to run directory listings with tens of thousands of entries and hundreds of categories, it may require a boosting of your servers CPU and memory.
SobiPro is free software released under the terms of GNU/GPL V3. So the price-performance ratio is unparalleled. The current version can be download and new versions are constantly released at the SigSiu homepage. The component is considered stable and for the use on live sites, but naturally not completely bug-free. The developers do work though on it from the bottom of their hearts. From my experience, the developers do take it almost personally, when discovering a bug and try to patch it as quickly as possible. Very big plus.
The support is excellent and goes way beyond what is actually expected from a support for a product. As an extra-professional webdesigner and web administrator, I do not need constant support for this product, but professional support came with the membership package and the support alone was worth the money. It saved my countless hours of developing, testing and debugging and thus, a lot of money. Notably, a SobiPro team member is working almost 24/7 supporting members and if time, even supports the public forum. The speed and quality of the support and the analytical and troubleshooting skills of the supporters is also, I would say, unparalleled. Another very big plus.
In conclusion, this is a superb component and my personal goal is to get rid of all other components and in future do EVERYTHING with SobiPro and it extensions alone. I already replaced the social component, all other directory listings and presenting components like galleries, maps and contacts etc. And with every other application this component gets more and more powerful.
SobiPro team, keep up the good work!
If you are looking for a directory style extension this is the one. The only issue seems to be getting it to work on different servers. Install the non-commercial version before spending your money. I could only get the software to work on one server out of four. This meant most of my sites had to be moved to the appropriate server to get it to work at the sacrifice of other features the other servers offered. My main site which is with a different (high end) host cannot run the software because that host refuses to modify the server due to security concerns. If you can get it to work, it's worth the money.
Since I work now for more than one year with SobiPro (starting with "beta") I would say, SobiPro has the capacity to become the one and only stand alone all in one component for the Joomla! CMS. In the future it will be no more necessary for Joomla! users to search for dozens of different extensions - mostly among themselfes incompatible. They can wipe aside most of them at one sweep and take the whole programm from a single source: SobiPro
SobiPro is not only a directory component like its forerunner Sobi2, it is a component for creating every kind of content and hence a real Content Construction Kit (CCK). SobiPro allows moreover to use the same component in one Joomla! installation as often as wanted, because it is possible to create independent separate sections with its own fields, templates and customizations.
SobiPro allows to create as many types of fields as the server allows:
- Inputboxes
- Textareas
- Select Lists and Multiple Select Lists
- Radio Buttons
- Checkboxes
- Email Fields
- Image Fields (including a galery)
- Profile Fields
- Aggregations Fields
- Geomap Fields
- QR Code Fields
- Calendar Fields (searchable by a range search!)
- Download Fields
and much more. All fields are customizable and most of them are searchable, also by a range search. This is the biggest advantage against all other components: The capacity of SobiPro to search and sort all properties created with the fields.
SobiPro can be used for any kind of content for a website:
- Simple directories
- Classified sites
- Image Galeries
- Video Galeries
- Rating and Comment sites
- Forms
- Real Estate
- Calendar component
and some more.
In addition to this has SobiPro its own right/access system, where different rules for different kind of users can be assigned. Of course works this system properly with the Joomla! standard User Manager together.
SobiPro comes with a brand new XSLT template concept, which allows to implement functions without PHP. The templates, including the CSS files are directly implemented in the backend where they can easy be edited without an external editor. A comprehensive and continuous growing documentation do round out the offer.
These capicities make SobiPro to the prefered candidate of each webdesigner. It will come the time when user say: "Yes, of course, I know SobiPro - but what is Joomla! ?"
moondog
SobiPro is not only a directory component like its forerunner Sobi2, it is a component for creating every kind of content and hence a real Content Construction Kit (CCK). SobiPro allows moreover to use the same component in one Joomla! installation as often as wanted, because it is possible to create independent separate sections with its own fields, templates and customizations.
SobiPro allows to create as many types of fields as the server allows:
- Inputboxes
- Textareas
- Select Lists and Multiple Select Lists
- Radio Buttons
- Checkboxes
- Email Fields
- Image Fields (including a galery)
- Profile Fields
- Aggregations Fields
- Geomap Fields
- QR Code Fields
- Calendar Fields (searchable by a range search!)
- Download Fields
and much more. All fields are customizable and most of them are searchable, also by a range search. This is the biggest advantage against all other components: The capacity of SobiPro to search and sort all properties created with the fields.
SobiPro can be used for any kind of content for a website:
- Simple directories
- Classified sites
- Image Galeries
- Video Galeries
- Rating and Comment sites
- Forms
- Real Estate
- Calendar component
and some more.
In addition to this has SobiPro its own right/access system, where different rules for different kind of users can be assigned. Of course works this system properly with the Joomla! standard User Manager together.
SobiPro comes with a brand new XSLT template concept, which allows to implement functions without PHP. The templates, including the CSS files are directly implemented in the backend where they can easy be edited without an external editor. A comprehensive and continuous growing documentation do round out the offer.
These capicities make SobiPro to the prefered candidate of each webdesigner. It will come the time when user say: "Yes, of course, I know SobiPro - but what is Joomla! ?"
moondog
Initially SobiPro comes off as a basic extension that feels inflexible. The number of parameters and options is very small, and the allocation of fields seems rigid.
But the real power of SobiPro becomes evident when you start to work with the templates. These aren't convenitonal templates in the sense of "appearance" like Joomla templates, although that's a part of it. These are full fledged XSLT templates that control how your data is presented to different users under different circumstances. With XSLT, you can mold your directory to suit any purpose. By combining PHP with XSLT, the SobiPro templates are the most flexible framework I've ever worked with.
All that power and flexibility would be completely useless if I didn't know to work with it. Documentation is key! And that's where SobiPro shines. The documentation at http://sobipro.sigsiu.net is top notch, it covers all the information I need to use the SobiPro framework to its fullest. While documentation was scarce during the RC phase, it's now been fleshed out to cover all the important specs, and continues to evolve constantly. The only exception is documentation on XSLT itself, but that's very well documented elsewhere on the web anyways.
The best part? SobiPro itself is free! Being a paid member has a lot of benefits, but even the core component has all the power and flexibility you could need.
And the icing on the cake is the paid support forum, which is fast, friendly and helpful. The members of that forum won't hesitate to come up with a custom snippet of code to get your templates to do exactly what you need them to. Even for some very complex functions. I've already renewed my membership for another 6 months, and I'll probably upgrade to Gold membership when this one nears its end. This is money very well spent.
The downside is that this extension has some very high end requirements for full functionality, and most normal web hosts won't have these requirements in place. Since we manage our own web servers, we were able to get everything to work fairly easily, and that results in some very advanced functionality. Also, if you're not willing to get your hands dirty with XSLT and PHP, then you'll be dependent on just the functionality exposed in the backend and through existing pre-made templates. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just more limiting.
SobiPro is one of the best extensions we've added to our site, and will probably end up being the biggest draw for visitors in the near future.
But the real power of SobiPro becomes evident when you start to work with the templates. These aren't convenitonal templates in the sense of "appearance" like Joomla templates, although that's a part of it. These are full fledged XSLT templates that control how your data is presented to different users under different circumstances. With XSLT, you can mold your directory to suit any purpose. By combining PHP with XSLT, the SobiPro templates are the most flexible framework I've ever worked with.
All that power and flexibility would be completely useless if I didn't know to work with it. Documentation is key! And that's where SobiPro shines. The documentation at http://sobipro.sigsiu.net is top notch, it covers all the information I need to use the SobiPro framework to its fullest. While documentation was scarce during the RC phase, it's now been fleshed out to cover all the important specs, and continues to evolve constantly. The only exception is documentation on XSLT itself, but that's very well documented elsewhere on the web anyways.
The best part? SobiPro itself is free! Being a paid member has a lot of benefits, but even the core component has all the power and flexibility you could need.
And the icing on the cake is the paid support forum, which is fast, friendly and helpful. The members of that forum won't hesitate to come up with a custom snippet of code to get your templates to do exactly what you need them to. Even for some very complex functions. I've already renewed my membership for another 6 months, and I'll probably upgrade to Gold membership when this one nears its end. This is money very well spent.
The downside is that this extension has some very high end requirements for full functionality, and most normal web hosts won't have these requirements in place. Since we manage our own web servers, we were able to get everything to work fairly easily, and that results in some very advanced functionality. Also, if you're not willing to get your hands dirty with XSLT and PHP, then you'll be dependent on just the functionality exposed in the backend and through existing pre-made templates. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just more limiting.
SobiPro is one of the best extensions we've added to our site, and will probably end up being the biggest draw for visitors in the near future.
Sobipro cannot handle 1100 entries (60 categories). We have the site on a good (not busy) server but because Sobipro is a resource hog the site is very slow and often crashes. When you click "All Entries" on the admin area all browsers crash. Sobipro acknowledges this is a bug but offers no help, even though I paid for support. Thus, there is no easy way to view the latest new entry!
The support person said that I should re-arrange the directory with fewer categories. I should not have to tell my client that 60 categories is too many!
According to two programmers that helped me, the earlier version (Sobi2) did not have these issues. It seems that the 'new' Sobipro is fundamentally flawed and needs to be rebuilt from the ground up to handle large databases.
The support person said that I should re-arrange the directory with fewer categories. I should not have to tell my client that 60 categories is too many!
According to two programmers that helped me, the earlier version (Sobi2) did not have these issues. It seems that the 'new' Sobipro is fundamentally flawed and needs to be rebuilt from the ground up to handle large databases.
Owner's reply
This review needs some corrections and clarifications:
The author of the review is not very truthful about the number of categories and entries. Actually his site has more than 500 main! categories and not only 60. He wrote in our forum "..we have more than 400 categories and nearly 2000 entries..". And as these are all main categories, we gave him the helpful advice to re-structure his categories to make his site more user friendly.
Yes, there is a problem with the speed in the 'All Entries' screen in administration area. We are working on a solution. Unfortunately it needs some major changes and cannot be done within a few days. We gave him a workaround until the problem is solved. So it is simply not true that we 'offer no help'. On the contrary.
SobiPro is able to handle large directories. The author of the review himself confirms that the speed problem is only in the 'All Entries' screen in back-end.
Honestly, I used a lot of them. And then I tried sobipro. After I installed it the first time I was very surprised. It works out of the box.
Then I tried to customize it a bit and it scared me at the beginning.
So I risked it and bought the club subscription to get access to the docs. I have to say it was worth it.
Not just that the documentation is good. I have to admit it is not quite completed but they apparently working on it.
But mainly because then I realized how powerful and flexible the template system of sobipro is.
It is just awesome!!
After I read a bit about XSL i was able to do incredible magic tricks with it.
And because it is possible to create multiple directories with this component I can use it for many purposes on the site. It's just cool - one component which allows to so many things.
Thanks guys :)
Then I tried to customize it a bit and it scared me at the beginning.
So I risked it and bought the club subscription to get access to the docs. I have to say it was worth it.
Not just that the documentation is good. I have to admit it is not quite completed but they apparently working on it.
But mainly because then I realized how powerful and flexible the template system of sobipro is.
It is just awesome!!
After I read a bit about XSL i was able to do incredible magic tricks with it.
And because it is possible to create multiple directories with this component I can use it for many purposes on the site. It's just cool - one component which allows to so many things.
Thanks guys :)
This is an excellent extension right out of the box. Unfortunately my servers did not meet minimum requirements. Therefore I am unable to use it to it's full potential due to the cost of having to upgraded to a dedicated hosting package. My dealings with support were prompt and professional.
Maybe later.
Maybe later.
I thought that sobi2 was the limit to what sigsiu would create. But it's better than ever! I am impressed with how much functionability this extension has. In my personal opinion I like the set up much better than sobi2, I was able to figure things out much faster and feel like I had more control over it. With this extension you can make all kinds of advanced searching for your content, and if I wanted I could even make a wiki out of it. The upgrade manager is one of the most impressive I have ever seen with easy to find extensions on the list. The only thing "bad" that I would say about this extension is that some of the really cool plugins are commercial. But even without the commercial extensions it works like a charm. Thanks for taking the time to make this great extension for joomla!
Cheers Josh Lewis
Cheers Josh Lewis
First - SOBI and SOBI2 took advantage of Joomla's core capability and put it on steroids- J1 and J1.5 sites were taken to a new elevation with these excellent components.
Now - SOBIpro - without a doubt, is the most powerful extension Joomla has to offer. After endless grueling years of grinding this component to perfection, SOBIpro takes all benefits of J1.5+ and gives endless possibilities to webmasters.
With a moderate learning curve, once this component is familiarized - a door opens up to much more advanced realization.
Used car salesman to full 2.0 automotive site - done. It can be modified to be even better than cars(dot)com
Real Estate agent? No problem. Create your personal listings and make the upload form simple for your agents. Don't want simple? Make an MLS! YES - SOBIpro has the power to do this.
Take any item you're selling, any idea you're promoting, any niche you're growing... SOBIpro ads the Socialized, web 2.0, whatever you call it, makes it possible, and runs as smooth as butter.
On one site, I have:
- Used car section
- local business listing with reviews
- FSBO for real estate
On another, I have:
- Video game directory, with reviews
- Gaming clan directory
- User blogs
This component aint no joke. I've been using it for years - if you use it too, the results will cause you to leave a review as positive as mine. =)
Now - SOBIpro - without a doubt, is the most powerful extension Joomla has to offer. After endless grueling years of grinding this component to perfection, SOBIpro takes all benefits of J1.5+ and gives endless possibilities to webmasters.
With a moderate learning curve, once this component is familiarized - a door opens up to much more advanced realization.
Used car salesman to full 2.0 automotive site - done. It can be modified to be even better than cars(dot)com
Real Estate agent? No problem. Create your personal listings and make the upload form simple for your agents. Don't want simple? Make an MLS! YES - SOBIpro has the power to do this.
Take any item you're selling, any idea you're promoting, any niche you're growing... SOBIpro ads the Socialized, web 2.0, whatever you call it, makes it possible, and runs as smooth as butter.
On one site, I have:
- Used car section
- local business listing with reviews
- FSBO for real estate
On another, I have:
- Video game directory, with reviews
- Gaming clan directory
- User blogs
This component aint no joke. I've been using it for years - if you use it too, the results will cause you to leave a review as positive as mine. =)
Until now the only component to create multiple directories.
You can create different directories on the same site, where each directory can have its own entries, with specific fields, specific templates, acls etc. etc.
The most flexible by far.
Fantastic support sobipro development team as well.
Do not hesitate, do not waste time, other alternatives are less powerful.
You can create different directories on the same site, where each directory can have its own entries, with specific fields, specific templates, acls etc. etc.
The most flexible by far.
Fantastic support sobipro development team as well.
Do not hesitate, do not waste time, other alternatives are less powerful.
As always the team at SOBI have come up with a solid product - since I have been using sobi 2 (and currently continue to do so while I get my head around SOBI PRO) the improvements are excellent and the first Template is for a restaurant guide...cool.
This is still in RC stage so a great time to learn all the new stuff.
The application installion feature is brilliant.
High time this component went commercial.
Well done
This is still in RC stage so a great time to learn all the new stuff.
The application installion feature is brilliant.
High time this component went commercial.
Well done
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