Phoca Download 
Version
2.1.9, 3.0.0 (last update on May 27, 2013)
Rating
Compatibility
Reviews
113
License
GPLv2 or later
Non-Commercial
Type
Date Added
27 July 2008
Demo:
http://www.phoca.cz/demo/phoca-download/category/1-files
http://www.phoca.cz/demo/phoca-download-plugin
http://www.phoca.cz/download
Joomla! 2.5 Demo:
http://www.phoca.cz/joomlademo/phoca-download
Setting own style demo, Youtube videos in Phoca Download:
http://www.phoca.cz/joomlademo/phoca-download-youtube
Joomla! 3 Demo:
http://www.phoca.cz/joomla3demo/phoca-download-demo
Images
Must have extension for Joomla. Joomla should make this extension as a native feature. Still wondering why people bother using paid DOC*** while Phoca is more powerful and FREE.
Pros (againts DOC***):
1. Front-end upload
2. Many additional feature (tree, article download button, etc)
Cons (againts DOC***):
1. Not nested yet
2. Adding allowed MIMe/extension is tricky. I think Phoca should have configuration allowing all MIMe/ extension.
COns (againts Joomla Category Manager):
Cannot move category to anohter section. Very fatal if I want to move many categories.
Difficultness adding MIME and disability moving category to anohter section lower the score for the best. I would give Phoca 4 Star.
CMIIW
Pros (againts DOC***):
1. Front-end upload
2. Many additional feature (tree, article download button, etc)
Cons (againts DOC***):
1. Not nested yet
2. Adding allowed MIMe/extension is tricky. I think Phoca should have configuration allowing all MIMe/ extension.
COns (againts Joomla Category Manager):
Cannot move category to anohter section. Very fatal if I want to move many categories.
Difficultness adding MIME and disability moving category to anohter section lower the score for the best. I would give Phoca 4 Star.
CMIIW
Now I undertand when people say it's a "must have" component.
For the next versions would be nice the possibility to see the files but be able to download only if the user is online.
For the next versions would be nice the possibility to see the files but be able to download only if the user is online.
Being quit new to Joomla (a little bit more than 7 day’s) the system roocks….
With Phoca Download manager U get what U pay fore.
First of all it’s “Mission impossible” 2 find documentation to install and setup the system – Phoca’s homepage lacks structure.
But I managed to get Phoca Download to run within 2 hours.
The interface is nice but the buttom’s are ;-(
Next is setting up the module….
Without documentation I’m only capable of creating a menu which points to section which point to a category which contains the files which user could be able to download. It’s the same way user has to access the files – click on the menu, chose a section, chose a category, and then final chose a file….
Am I missing something here?
Furthermore it seems impossible to select only one section/category for a specific menu point it’s all or nothing
Isn’t it possible to go directly from the menu to the category folder?
Well without the documentation it hard to customize Pooco…
But it’s free and it works – what more can U expect?
Nice work – and still room for improvement.
With Phoca Download manager U get what U pay fore.
First of all it’s “Mission impossible” 2 find documentation to install and setup the system – Phoca’s homepage lacks structure.
But I managed to get Phoca Download to run within 2 hours.
The interface is nice but the buttom’s are ;-(
Next is setting up the module….
Without documentation I’m only capable of creating a menu which points to section which point to a category which contains the files which user could be able to download. It’s the same way user has to access the files – click on the menu, chose a section, chose a category, and then final chose a file….
Am I missing something here?
Furthermore it seems impossible to select only one section/category for a specific menu point it’s all or nothing
Isn’t it possible to go directly from the menu to the category folder?
Well without the documentation it hard to customize Pooco…
But it’s free and it works – what more can U expect?
Nice work – and still room for improvement.
I have installed PhocaDownload together with two competitive DownloadPlugins to see which would come closest to the look and feel I wanted.
Option 1 failed because of an uncomfortable backend.
Option 2 limited my options for file and category naming not allowing special chars
Option 3 was PhocaDownload - it does almost everything I wanted it to do, and even if I had to mess a bit in the code to get the rest done I am still convinced that this is the best way to go in terms of download plugins.
Also the forum is busy with tips, tricks, hints and at the time of my last visit the creator had made over 10.000 posts in the support forum. Speaks for itself, doesn't it?
Option 1 failed because of an uncomfortable backend.
Option 2 limited my options for file and category naming not allowing special chars
Option 3 was PhocaDownload - it does almost everything I wanted it to do, and even if I had to mess a bit in the code to get the rest done I am still convinced that this is the best way to go in terms of download plugins.
Also the forum is busy with tips, tricks, hints and at the time of my last visit the creator had made over 10.000 posts in the support forum. Speaks for itself, doesn't it?
I'm using this component on my own portfolio website for implementing a file repository for Joomla extensions I'm offering. Phoca Download does an excellent job with this! Easy to install and configure, it does exactly what it's supposed to do and more.
Thanks for sharing this great component for free!
Thanks for sharing this great component for free!
This is my preferred download component and clients love it. The only downside at the moment is that the menu option is a simple all or nothing choice.
Howver - There is a patch available on joomlacode.org by codejunkie, that changes that and now I can add menu items witha choice of sections/categories/files and this works brilliantly.
With a little knowledge of php and CSS I have been able to style the output to meet my client's needs exactly.
This is now a standard component on my base installation for clients.
Howver - There is a patch available on joomlacode.org by codejunkie, that changes that and now I can add menu items witha choice of sections/categories/files and this works brilliantly.
With a little knowledge of php and CSS I have been able to style the output to meet my client's needs exactly.
This is now a standard component on my base installation for clients.
Owner's reply
Hi, thank you for your review. Since 1.3.1 the menu option (solution from codejunkie) was integrated to the component.
So big thanks to codejunkie.
Thank you, Jan
Wow!
After struggling with the integration of Docman with joomla multi site, I came across Phoca Download. From the first install, everything worked perfectly. It is so easy to use and looks nice and clean.
I have nothing to say against it!
Phoca extensions never stop amazing me!
After struggling with the integration of Docman with joomla multi site, I came across Phoca Download. From the first install, everything worked perfectly. It is so easy to use and looks nice and clean.
I have nothing to say against it!
Phoca extensions never stop amazing me!
This is a simple and easy to use extensions. Works without any problem! Thanks!!!
This component is great, don't get me wrong. It does everything it claims to do, and it does it very well. But if your template requires modifying Phoca's CSS file, put on a hat right away, because you'll be pulling your hair out in no time.
I've created dozens and dozens of Joomla sites with templates from all over the place. I have never seen more complicated CSS in my life. If you need to so the simplest thing, like change the color of the text in the front end component, you'll have to manually add the CSS yourself. Some of the images are called from the CSS file, others from php files that are so buried in the package, you'll need a flashlight to find them.
Actually, no amount of words can do justice to the amount of frustration you're going to experience trying to customize the CSS. Just go ahead and try. You'll see what I mean.
Again, just to be clear, the component seems to be rock solid and extremely useful. Definitely worth more than the price (free). But the CSS? My goodness, it should be an example of exactly how NOT to style a site.
I've created dozens and dozens of Joomla sites with templates from all over the place. I have never seen more complicated CSS in my life. If you need to so the simplest thing, like change the color of the text in the front end component, you'll have to manually add the CSS yourself. Some of the images are called from the CSS file, others from php files that are so buried in the package, you'll need a flashlight to find them.
Actually, no amount of words can do justice to the amount of frustration you're going to experience trying to customize the CSS. Just go ahead and try. You'll see what I mean.
Again, just to be clear, the component seems to be rock solid and extremely useful. Definitely worth more than the price (free). But the CSS? My goodness, it should be an example of exactly how NOT to style a site.
Owner's reply
Hi, thank you for your review.
Please, let me know exactly (http://www.phoca.cz/forum), what you mean with the CSS problems. E.g. the color of text is not set in Phoca Download, as color of text is set in Joomla! template, this should be changed there (Phoca Download doesn't change your main style)
Some of design parameters can be added via Parameters, so these cannot be saved in external CSS but as Phoca Download follows MVC pattern you can easily overwrite the design of Phoca Download template (default.php files).
Jan
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