Briefcase Factory
Version
3.2.0 (last update on Aug 3, 2012)
Rating
Compatibility
Reviews
9
License
GPLv2 or later
Commercial
Type
Date Added
26 June 2009
Editor's Note
- This extension requires registration to download.
Users can Upload their Files and share them with other users or with specific assigned User groups. This way you can manage an easy to administrate Document sharing system that features email notifications, limited download times (for instance you can make some limited offers, and bind users to your website)
There is the possibility to use categories and a folder structure (virtual folder - the files are stored differently in the hosting) - this way users can keep their files organized and share specific folders to users or groups of their choice.
The user interface is intuitive, AJAX driven, therefore page reloads are minimized to improve productivity. You can ADD more than one file at a time; number can be set in admin backend. The uploaded Files can be SHARED with one/more users, one/more groups, all users, or with the public (registered and unregistered users).
Highlighted Features:
* Allow users to upload a file / multiple files
* Restrict access to upload based on Joomla user groups
* Restrict access to downloads based on Joomla user groups
* Webmasters can restrict the maximum Folder size (in MB) or maximum File size
* Users can share to specific Users, User Groups or Public (Guests)
* Users may share whole folders or just specific files
* Users may share only for a limited amount of time some files (share expires after day X)
* Files may have a lifetime, that means files can be automatically deleted after a specific date
* Webmasters can restrict to whom users may share
* Webmasters can force uploaded files to be shared with a specific group
* Webmasters can override for an administrative group specific settings (for instance to allow a higher Folder size)
* Webmasters may import files from the hosting folder and assign them to users
... and more
There is special integration with Community Builder - we provide several CB-Plugins that allow you to include Briefcase Factory in the CB Profile of the user.
If you uploaded some files in the wrong folder you can always MOVE them as you please. Files can be assigned to several Categories (configurable in the admin backend) and the category can also be changed after the upload. Create Folders where you like, even folder in folder.
Files Shared for Me by other users are accessible under a separate area and there is also a separate area for Public Shared Files, where any visitor can view or download files.
Logged on as administrator you can access ALL the Files uploaded by all users on your system in the administrative backend. You can search after certain terms or filter one particular user. Any file can be deleted, renamed or you can change it's Category.
For a more info please read our Documentation Section.
Following Modules & Plugins are also included in Briefcase
I'm having a problem using Briefcase with SEF enabled. Then I contacted support and within minutes Erik Folberth response and helped me to fix the problem. I'm really impress with his fast support.
Support has been one of the major advantage that i will look forward in extending my subscription with theFactory.
Support has been one of the major advantage that i will look forward in extending my subscription with theFactory.
I agree with the previous reviewer. Difficult to configure software and we had to wait days for email support for a paid commercial version. Not to mention archaic update methods, we had to fill out a form to request updates as opposed to logging into our account and being able to update to the latest version. Not very understanding and friendly support staff and very inconsistent in their support policies. We have purchased every piece of software this company created for our clients hoping for good solutions and without exception, have been disappointed in the code. In situations were the code could have worked, we were disappointed by the support methods, uncooperative staff, and the upgrade hoops we needed to jump through just to get maintenance updates for the software our clients purchased. Save your money, there are much better solutions out there.
Owner's reply
After the incident from 21.09.2012, of course we had to stop providing updates. We provided you support and updates for this product and I don't remember you had any issues with us being "inconsistent". Support is offered in a couple of hours, maximum 24 hours and stating you have waited for days under this "revenge-review", is very misleading for our honest customers.
The process of getting update is very simple on our site, you just have to login and click a few links, and it worked for you as you sure know.
I feel it's unfair that you felt you had to provide a misleading negative review just to get your "revenge". You know very well that you had practically zero issues with product support and updates and also the product configuration is more then easy. You just have to go once through the settings and you have a ready to use product!
Easy to handle but with big limitations: * no possibilities to grant users to access only to specific category.
* no possibilities to create subcategories
* (last but not least) problem dowloading file bigger than 100 MB.
Support is quite good and well organized, but in any case the component doesn't fit our requirements
* no possibilities to create subcategories
* (last but not least) problem dowloading file bigger than 100 MB.
Support is quite good and well organized, but in any case the component doesn't fit our requirements
Owner's reply
We never stated that the current version can allow user limitations to specific categories, nor subcategories.
It would be more fair to post reviews that comment/describe existing features then to post a 1 star negative review due to some "missing' features we never claimed to provide. We are open to any feature requests or needed customizations, but we did not receive any message from you prior to this review.
Posting a 1 star review is totally in contradiction with your own statements "Easy to handle", "Support is quite good and well organized". Does that count for nothing ?
We are sorry that you hastly posted this review with just 1 star, clearly meaning to give us more then that.
Also the problems you mentioned with the downloading are a mixture of hosting-connection issues, since the code contains no limitations in this direction.
Solid document managing system, never had any trouble with it from install to this day, it does what it’s supposed to. Simple to use, even more simple to configure. I recommend this if you want an all purpose file sharing platform, or just want to store files online for remote use.
Took me a while to find something like this, but better late than never. A lot of great extensions never made it to joomla 1.6 and further, i’m glad this is still around and with active support.
Truly rugged extension for document management, a lot of sharing modes and features.
Every website should integrate something like this for its users.
Truly rugged extension for document management, a lot of sharing modes and features.
Every website should integrate something like this for its users.
Briefcase Factory was the thing i needed for file sharing, easy to install and use with lots of features.
It allows users to share files publicly or just for a specific user. The user can set a date at which his upload will expire.
One thing i liked especially was the sharing system of files, files can be shared with a single user, with designated admins, with all users, not shared at all and downloads can be restricted for guests or specific user groups.
I am very glad i found this.
It allows users to share files publicly or just for a specific user. The user can set a date at which his upload will expire.
One thing i liked especially was the sharing system of files, files can be shared with a single user, with designated admins, with all users, not shared at all and downloads can be restricted for guests or specific user groups.
I am very glad i found this.
I bought this extension to perform some specific file sharing tasks and it's doing them perfectly. It installed in a click, it was fairly easy to find the right settings for my usage, and it looks pretty good if you use a template to begin with. The few appearance modifications I needed to make were not hard to figure out.
There are so few additions to Joomla that allow for this type of file functionality, I found the price well worth the expenditure, and the couple wee questions I had.. were answered pretty darn fast and very nicely (and thoroughly).
Thumbs up for sure.
There are so few additions to Joomla that allow for this type of file functionality, I found the price well worth the expenditure, and the couple wee questions I had.. were answered pretty darn fast and very nicely (and thoroughly).
Thumbs up for sure.
A nice addon for a social networking site – having a documents repository. Is pretty much inspired from the now defunct Yahoo briefcase (I think that’s why they have the briefcase name). The script is pretty neat, and works ok. There are some features I would like to see in the next versions (embedded video player?), but overall I have no complaints – it’s doing what it says it does, it is easy to install and configure, and there are no bugs I that I noticed so far.
I really enjoyed thefactory extensions, so a big thanks to you guys !
I really enjoyed thefactory extensions, so a big thanks to you guys !
I was looking forward to using this extension, it's the only extension out there that allows users to upload and share documents and also keep some documents private. I tried some of the other components and none had a simple way of separating private from public documents like this one does.
However, there are a few things you really need to consider before using this extension, hopefully this will help you:
Price to Value (poor)
48.99 euro (about $72) is extremelly high for the quaility of this product. You are probably better of going to a freelance site and get one done just for you..
Support (average)
You can email them or go to the forum. You will get an answer but don't expect it to help much.
Interface/ user-friendly (poor)
The upload page has a bunch of fields with no labels to direct the user. Things are just thrown out there for the user to figure out.
Customization (poor)
Very few options to customize unless you want to crack open the code and make all your changes there.
Admin panel (good)
Nothing too fancy but at least there is one.
Quality (poor)
Can use a face lift to make it user friendly. Language file not in the language folder but in the component folder. Code doesn't have notes to help you if you want to make changes. Have a bug for files larger than allowed size, instead of error it just opens your front page inside the component's page.
Closing remarks
If you are going to purchase this product pay close attention to the demo as you will have a hard time customizing it to your site. If you like it as is then you might be okay with this product but I would definitely not buy this product again.
However, there are a few things you really need to consider before using this extension, hopefully this will help you:
Price to Value (poor)
48.99 euro (about $72) is extremelly high for the quaility of this product. You are probably better of going to a freelance site and get one done just for you..
Support (average)
You can email them or go to the forum. You will get an answer but don't expect it to help much.
Interface/ user-friendly (poor)
The upload page has a bunch of fields with no labels to direct the user. Things are just thrown out there for the user to figure out.
Customization (poor)
Very few options to customize unless you want to crack open the code and make all your changes there.
Admin panel (good)
Nothing too fancy but at least there is one.
Quality (poor)
Can use a face lift to make it user friendly. Language file not in the language folder but in the component folder. Code doesn't have notes to help you if you want to make changes. Have a bug for files larger than allowed size, instead of error it just opens your front page inside the component's page.
Closing remarks
If you are going to purchase this product pay close attention to the demo as you will have a hard time customizing it to your site. If you like it as is then you might be okay with this product but I would definitely not buy this product again.
Owner's reply
Please check out the new version of the Briefcase factory (also available for Joomla 1.6) There are huge usability improvements ;)
thank you for your review!
