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Account Expiration Control - Membership Manager 
Version
0.12.6 (last update on Aug 7, 2009)
Rating
Compatibility
Votes
197
Favoured
205
License
GPL
Non-Commercial
Type
Views
202984
Date Added
14 November 2006
Features at a glance:
• More than 40 payment processors built in (Manual Transfer handling, Paypal (& Pro!), 2Checkout, Authorize.net (& AIM, ARB, CIM!), CCBill, Paycom...)
• Extensive Registration & Subscription workflow handling
• MicroIntegration API to attach PHP code to payment plans
• Already features more than 45 MicroIntegrations, including: emails, htaccess, mysql queries, setting of remository, docman or VirtueMart groups, restricting of listings amount in Mosets Tree and many more
• Multiple payment plan options (Paid, Free, Lifetime, Trials, Global free trials)
• An easy and comprehensive front- and backend and easy customization - you will have your memberships set up in a blaze.
• Integrated Registration and Subscription process with JomSocial and CommunityBuilder (amongst others)
• Shopping carts
• Discount Coupons
• Extensive Access Control Features for visibility of plans (hierarchical setup of plans)
• Grouping of Payment Plans
• Comprehensive event handling (notification of processor and user problems)
(To update, just uninstall your old AEC and install the new one - all data will be preserved, although you should check your AEC settings for additions or changes that might affect you)
This entry here now describes the latest development release which is ready for production use in either Joomla! 1.0.x or Joomla! 1.5.x. The package that you can download after registering at our site includes a ten page quickstart manual to get you set up. If you don't want to go through the trouble or don't have the time to set up the software - we offer many different ways of getting help from our support team, ranging from helping you out with small problems - to full blown installation service to your specifications.
Please support our work by getting a paid membership on our site! This is Free Software, but it can only be that with your Support!
Register here
http://valanx.org/get-your-valanx-membership.html
Editor's Note
- This extension requires registration to download.
bypeda on October 28, 2009
This component is excellent and free! I had no problems to set it up - the quick start manual is sufficient to install and configure AEC. Support costs money ... and I think that's OK.
Good work!
Good work!
byjongittoes on October 15, 2009
I’ve been using this component for almost a year now and would highly recommend it for anyone that requires this kind of functionality.
We’ve processed over 35000 payments through AEC and it’s done everything we have asked of it.
I was originally a bit concerned about their support structure, but the team have now addressed this and have a ticketing system up and running, you do have to be a paid member to access this, but at the end of the day, this component allows you to earn money from your site, so paying the developers a few euros a month for priority support makes perfect sense.
Keep up the great work!
We’ve processed over 35000 payments through AEC and it’s done everything we have asked of it.
I was originally a bit concerned about their support structure, but the team have now addressed this and have a ticketing system up and running, you do have to be a paid member to access this, but at the end of the day, this component allows you to earn money from your site, so paying the developers a few euros a month for priority support makes perfect sense.
Keep up the great work!
byPolyOz on October 13, 2009
Love it - the only reason I haven't rated it higher is because of the lack of documentation available, particularly in the area of using the micro integrations.
I can see with good documentation that this component would be a far more powerful tool.
I have run previous versions very successfully on Joomla 1.0 sites and honestly could not fault it - the integration with Paypal is seamless, it's just the latest release and the lack of documentation that takes some time to get your head around.
I am not overly sure about the paid support model either - should one really have to pay X euros to find out how the raffle system works? Certainly I could pay the developer to set it all up - but then what have I learned? - and if in the future something goes wrong I have to pay a subscription and get them to fix the issues - particularly when that subscription is about 1/2 our gross yearly membership fees. But not going to get into a big ramble about that side of things.
But overall - as I said - great component, does what it says on the box and works on the basic level straight out of the box with very little setup, hope to see it progress further as it is an important tool for people like ourselves who run small associations.
I can see with good documentation that this component would be a far more powerful tool.
I have run previous versions very successfully on Joomla 1.0 sites and honestly could not fault it - the integration with Paypal is seamless, it's just the latest release and the lack of documentation that takes some time to get your head around.
I am not overly sure about the paid support model either - should one really have to pay X euros to find out how the raffle system works? Certainly I could pay the developer to set it all up - but then what have I learned? - and if in the future something goes wrong I have to pay a subscription and get them to fix the issues - particularly when that subscription is about 1/2 our gross yearly membership fees. But not going to get into a big ramble about that side of things.
But overall - as I said - great component, does what it says on the box and works on the basic level straight out of the box with very little setup, hope to see it progress further as it is an important tool for people like ourselves who run small associations.
Owner's reply
Yeah, as I've said in the current public discussions - direct to access online documentation is a big thing for the next release.
As for the raffle system - that was a client job that is pretty much completely undocumented - even I have trouble getting my head back into it. But then I don't get raffles themselves.
Yet finally - 2 stars for a component you say you "love"? Thats a bit tough!
byalethal on October 8, 2009
This component really seems like a lifesaver - BUT I did run into some issues when trying to configure and install it -
I paid for the support (shawncubik is my username) but have not gotten any useful responses to my questions in over a week -
it is frustrating because I really just need a little information - I was sure paying for support would be all that I would need -
I paid for the support (shawncubik is my username) but have not gotten any useful responses to my questions in over a week -
it is frustrating because I really just need a little information - I was sure paying for support would be all that I would need -
Owner's reply
Thanks for your review!
As for your question - if you don't hear from our support within 24 hours, please try another channel (we have an email form, a ticket system and forum IMs) to get to us. It is most likely that there is a technical issue (emails eaten by spam filters, requests filed when logged out) if you don't hear back for so long.
In your particular case, I would guess that you sent in an email - as there is no ticket filed under your username. Please log in and put your request into the ticket system, this will help speed up the process and make it easier for both sides to follow the discussion.
byFrostNetwork on October 8, 2009
This component is about the best and most advanced I've ever seen, it may be a bit hard to use at first but it works wonders after you know how to use it right, It took me 2 days to learn how to use it. Not that long right?
Thanks alot for making this,
I find it VERY useful for what i do, and I'm very confident many many others will find a good use for it.
Good work guys, 5/5
Thanks alot for making this,
I find it VERY useful for what i do, and I'm very confident many many others will find a good use for it.
Good work guys, 5/5
bythewitt on October 8, 2009
AEC is a complex piece of subscription software that does quite a lot out of the box, however the developers need to be very clear that there is no support if you don't pay for it.
You can categorize subscription plans into groups, you can restrict subscriptions so that a user must be in a specific state in order to purchase a plan, and the most powerful feature in my mind Micro Integrations - allows you to interact with other software in your Joomla installation when someone purchases a plan, when a plan is nearing expiration, or when it expires.
The major concern I have with the program is it's support model.
The software is free.
Support for the software will cost you money. The Basic Membership Plan is currently $160+ USD a year, though it's available in 3 month increments for $45 as well.
There is a forum where you can commiserate with other forum members who are looking for help, however there is no active presence on the forum by any support staff (last post from a support person was currently 24 days ago - and that was not an answer to a question).
The forum is virtually worthless - as the hundreds of unanswered posts will confirm. It does not appear you can even use the forum for posting bug reports, since it does not appear to be monitored.
Paid support may be better (must be better?) but why the antagonistic, hostage-support model?
I believe that customers would be much happier with the program if it honestly represented itself as a commercial application - though when you read through the other reviews here the developer stands firm by the position that he does not sell software - however he clearly sells support.
There are video tutorials - oh, but did I forget to say you can't view them unless you pay for support.
There is online documentation - however it's out of date and incomplete, leaving out virtually all of the advanced features of the current release.
There is a Quickstart guide and some good contextual help, however I did find this statement in the guide rather comical:
"[we have] A support forum that you can use to find problems that have been discussed before, or to ask new questions. We normally answer within 6 hours."
I will likely pay for support simply because I think that AEC is currently very close to what I need, however I am also going to review other commercial solutions since it's obvious that AEC will not be able to support my needs without me paying for support - like I would have to do with any other commercial application - and the costs are not trivial.
You can categorize subscription plans into groups, you can restrict subscriptions so that a user must be in a specific state in order to purchase a plan, and the most powerful feature in my mind Micro Integrations - allows you to interact with other software in your Joomla installation when someone purchases a plan, when a plan is nearing expiration, or when it expires.
The major concern I have with the program is it's support model.
The software is free.
Support for the software will cost you money. The Basic Membership Plan is currently $160+ USD a year, though it's available in 3 month increments for $45 as well.
There is a forum where you can commiserate with other forum members who are looking for help, however there is no active presence on the forum by any support staff (last post from a support person was currently 24 days ago - and that was not an answer to a question).
The forum is virtually worthless - as the hundreds of unanswered posts will confirm. It does not appear you can even use the forum for posting bug reports, since it does not appear to be monitored.
Paid support may be better (must be better?) but why the antagonistic, hostage-support model?
I believe that customers would be much happier with the program if it honestly represented itself as a commercial application - though when you read through the other reviews here the developer stands firm by the position that he does not sell software - however he clearly sells support.
There are video tutorials - oh, but did I forget to say you can't view them unless you pay for support.
There is online documentation - however it's out of date and incomplete, leaving out virtually all of the advanced features of the current release.
There is a Quickstart guide and some good contextual help, however I did find this statement in the guide rather comical:
"[we have] A support forum that you can use to find problems that have been discussed before, or to ask new questions. We normally answer within 6 hours."
I will likely pay for support simply because I think that AEC is currently very close to what I need, however I am also going to review other commercial solutions since it's obvious that AEC will not be able to support my needs without me paying for support - like I would have to do with any other commercial application - and the costs are not trivial.
Owner's reply
Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed review. I have written a hopefully equally satisfyingly detailed response on our blog. Lets have a proper discussion in the comments there!
bymaxentropy on October 7, 2009
This is an excellent component that worked well out of the box for me. Setup was simple and the documentation helped immensely. The membership process integrated seamlessly with my existing site's registration and there are plenty of emails throughout the process that can be leveraged for upselling.
I wish the developers would give a hint as to whether or not they are working with Joomla 1.6 to figure a way to do account expiration control with the new ACL and if we will be able to migrate to Joomla 1.6 or rebuild.
I wish the developers would give a hint as to whether or not they are working with Joomla 1.6 to figure a way to do account expiration control with the new ACL and if we will be able to migrate to Joomla 1.6 or rebuild.
Owner's reply
Thanks for the review. Don't worry about 1.6 - I will, at the very least, make sure that AEC deals with the new ACL properly. But I'm working on a couple of things beyond that as well. So this area is covered!
byMedianN on October 2, 2009
I was excited when I found this extension, mainly because it was exactly what I was looking for, FOR FREE!
However, I was new to Joomla, and there was an initial frustration period with this extension. When I look back on it though, it was my own mistakes.
I give it 4 stars because the documentation is perhaps a BIT lacking, and because I believe their FREE support system should be taken down, because that just causes extra frustration for people.
I think skOre should make this extension commercial and charge a flat rate that includes support, to remove some of the negative image surrounding this product.
That being said: This product works perfectly when it is set up correctly.
Thank you for the extension skOre; now I have to try and make some money HEHE.
However, I was new to Joomla, and there was an initial frustration period with this extension. When I look back on it though, it was my own mistakes.
I give it 4 stars because the documentation is perhaps a BIT lacking, and because I believe their FREE support system should be taken down, because that just causes extra frustration for people.
I think skOre should make this extension commercial and charge a flat rate that includes support, to remove some of the negative image surrounding this product.
That being said: This product works perfectly when it is set up correctly.
Thank you for the extension skOre; now I have to try and make some money HEHE.
bygirlpoetus on September 28, 2009
I have been working with this product for over a week now. I posted twice on their forum but never heard back. I finally heard back and the staff was great. Unfortunately I dont think this product will fit my needs but I was very impressed with the help I did get.
Talya
Talya
bykteller8 on September 26, 2009
I was extremely happy to have found the Aec product when we needed a subscription base program for our website. I installed this twice to find nothing but problems with the install, the know how to run the program is above avg and the support is terrible.
Now, this all can be 'bought/fixed' if the price is right. I went to the support website and they do not offer any offical support on the forum. If you want real support you got to pay. At the point of our problem i would have paid ANYTHING to get our site working. We were losing close to $500 a day! The site said: "It is available to be used by all paid supporting members. (Basic, Generous and other paid supporting memberships)". So we paid the min. support and got a note back, telling us to pay 50 euro's or 100 euro's. So if you want to get this program, do it knowing you ll have to pay for their support in the upwards of $100 plus. I would have paid that in a heartbeat, but at this point. Ill find something else
Now, this all can be 'bought/fixed' if the price is right. I went to the support website and they do not offer any offical support on the forum. If you want real support you got to pay. At the point of our problem i would have paid ANYTHING to get our site working. We were losing close to $500 a day! The site said: "It is available to be used by all paid supporting members. (Basic, Generous and other paid supporting memberships)". So we paid the min. support and got a note back, telling us to pay 50 euro's or 100 euro's. So if you want to get this program, do it knowing you ll have to pay for their support in the upwards of $100 plus. I would have paid that in a heartbeat, but at this point. Ill find something else
Owner's reply
You paid a small donation which gets you support via our ticket system, where you requested on-server support. We then told you that on-server support is for priority support plans. I have trouble understanding where your real issue comes in here. You knew in advance that on-server support is not available for donors.
And I will repeat - the AEC is not that hard to set up and we already ship a pretty good Quickstart Manual with the package that people really need to have a look at!
byNicMason on September 26, 2009
This component does the lot, and communicates beautifully with Paypal!
AEC is leagues ahead of anything else, and is so easy to use. I signed up for a support subscription just to show my appreciation and help support the development of such a fantastic product.
(I tried out a couple of commercial components prior to this, and they were very lacking in both features, and styling. Even though one of the commercial components has amazing support, their product just wasn't ready for prime time.)
AEC is leagues ahead of anything else, and is so easy to use. I signed up for a support subscription just to show my appreciation and help support the development of such a fantastic product.
(I tried out a couple of commercial components prior to this, and they were very lacking in both features, and styling. Even though one of the commercial components has amazing support, their product just wasn't ready for prime time.)
bykmalone on September 24, 2009
This AEC component will either work for you or it won't. Be prepared to invest a lot of time to get it working. Mentally prepare yourself for frustration and disappointment if it does not work out. It's a potentially wonderful component but badly let down by lack of a support and a decent FAQ to deal with "common problems".
I installed AEC version 0.12.6 onto Joomla 1.5.14. XMAP, sh404SEF and Mtree are the only non-core addons. The installation ran smoothly apart from 2 hacks which I had to perform manually because the text in Mtree.php was slightly different. Once the hacks were performed and I had all green tick marks on the hacks page, my frontend Mtree didn't work. I kept getting a blank page. I undid the 2 mtree related hacks and hey presto my frontend Mtree worked perfectly again.
So I restored my backup from before I started (THANK GOD for backups) and tried installing again. I had the same hack problems as before but after I created 2 new plans (following the install and getting started instructions) my frontend was telling me that no plans existed. Strange considering that they were both enabled, visible and had payment processors attached. No obvious errors here!
After spending 14 hours trying to get this extension working, I gave up. I'll wait until the next stable release to try again. Perhaps it's not compatiable with the latest release of Mosets Tree? This might make some sense as the first glitches were hack related to mtree.php.
I have to say that I was impressed with the workflow and range of features and variables. It's just a pity that I couldn't get it working properly. I've got some very complex modules to work in the past but I admit that AEC got the better of me (on this occasion).
I lost confidence when the documentation for latest version (0.12.6) still refers to keeping legacy mode switched on even though it is supposed to be 1.5 native. I see in the other comments below that Jake has acknowledged that this legacy reference has to be removed from the documentation but I'm suprised to see that this 30 second task of removing one line from a PDF file still hasn't happened. Overall documentation is weak and thin on the groud when trying to troubleshoot common problems.
A quick note on support. I think they were swallowed up by a black hole. There is tumbleweed blowing across the forums. They're obviously overwhelmed. I hope they are busy working away on the next stable release that has proper hacks for the latest version of Mtree. I submitted a ticket in the new queue system and received an automatic acknowledgement but that's all. I considered paying for support but having read other reviews here, I came to the conclusion that this might not be a good idea.
I'll admit that the problems that I had are probably very straight forward and easily solved. An indepth "common problems and solutions" document would be very welcome in this case.
I installed AEC version 0.12.6 onto Joomla 1.5.14. XMAP, sh404SEF and Mtree are the only non-core addons. The installation ran smoothly apart from 2 hacks which I had to perform manually because the text in Mtree.php was slightly different. Once the hacks were performed and I had all green tick marks on the hacks page, my frontend Mtree didn't work. I kept getting a blank page. I undid the 2 mtree related hacks and hey presto my frontend Mtree worked perfectly again.
So I restored my backup from before I started (THANK GOD for backups) and tried installing again. I had the same hack problems as before but after I created 2 new plans (following the install and getting started instructions) my frontend was telling me that no plans existed. Strange considering that they were both enabled, visible and had payment processors attached. No obvious errors here!
After spending 14 hours trying to get this extension working, I gave up. I'll wait until the next stable release to try again. Perhaps it's not compatiable with the latest release of Mosets Tree? This might make some sense as the first glitches were hack related to mtree.php.
I have to say that I was impressed with the workflow and range of features and variables. It's just a pity that I couldn't get it working properly. I've got some very complex modules to work in the past but I admit that AEC got the better of me (on this occasion).
I lost confidence when the documentation for latest version (0.12.6) still refers to keeping legacy mode switched on even though it is supposed to be 1.5 native. I see in the other comments below that Jake has acknowledged that this legacy reference has to be removed from the documentation but I'm suprised to see that this 30 second task of removing one line from a PDF file still hasn't happened. Overall documentation is weak and thin on the groud when trying to troubleshoot common problems.
A quick note on support. I think they were swallowed up by a black hole. There is tumbleweed blowing across the forums. They're obviously overwhelmed. I hope they are busy working away on the next stable release that has proper hacks for the latest version of Mtree. I submitted a ticket in the new queue system and received an automatic acknowledgement but that's all. I considered paying for support but having read other reviews here, I came to the conclusion that this might not be a good idea.
I'll admit that the problems that I had are probably very straight forward and easily solved. An indepth "common problems and solutions" document would be very welcome in this case.
Owner's reply
From our records, I can see that you did not buy a membership - so I guess that automatic reply on the ticket system probably said "this is restricted for paying members". And as I have said a number of times before - the forums are for members to help each other. I really don't have the time to help out everybody with a problem, which I'm sorry for - but thats just the way it is.
As for your specific problems - I actually tested the latest AEC with the latest Mosets, but it seems there are still some issues left. I will look into that.
Oh, and the PDF has actually been updated, but maybe I messed that up somewhere...
Thanks for the criticism!
bylosmantis on September 23, 2009
I think this is an amazing product and it seems to get better. They just released a new build that looks clean and takes away alot of the hacks.
Unfortunately the support is a bit inconsistent. I had them check on my setup and the main developer actually wrote a special plugin for us. Amazing. Unfortunately I can't get them to implement the plugin. They must be busy with there new build because it's been weeks and I have not had any contact from them.
Anyway...beside the intermittent support this is a great product. I would recommend paying for the support to that you get help with the documentation.
Unfortunately the support is a bit inconsistent. I had them check on my setup and the main developer actually wrote a special plugin for us. Amazing. Unfortunately I can't get them to implement the plugin. They must be busy with there new build because it's been weeks and I have not had any contact from them.
Anyway...beside the intermittent support this is a great product. I would recommend paying for the support to that you get help with the documentation.
bygarkell on September 18, 2009
As a relatively new user of Open Source packages and only just recently (2 months ago) been exposed to Joomla as an alternative to coding an entire website using a text editor, this package is sensational.
I am close to retirement age and have in the past 10 years been providing some small amount of support for several community/not for profit groups with website skills. This has been done using basic php - my code looks unsurprisingly like cobol and quite combersome, but gets the job done. Building content management type webpages to enable other members of these community groups to ease the load has meant significant time on my part to try and make it idiot proof.
Having set the scene, I have jumped into the Joomla environment and the world has opened up to me. This Account Expiration Control component is fantastic and so easy to install even for an old fart. Expect a donation from me once I have "gone live" with my Joomla conversions. Cheers.
I am close to retirement age and have in the past 10 years been providing some small amount of support for several community/not for profit groups with website skills. This has been done using basic php - my code looks unsurprisingly like cobol and quite combersome, but gets the job done. Building content management type webpages to enable other members of these community groups to ease the load has meant significant time on my part to try and make it idiot proof.
Having set the scene, I have jumped into the Joomla environment and the world has opened up to me. This Account Expiration Control component is fantastic and so easy to install even for an old fart. Expect a donation from me once I have "gone live" with my Joomla conversions. Cheers.
byallon on September 11, 2009
I do not often write reviews, but here I have to. There are hardly no components with such a good contextual help. Of course there are a lot of options and screens, but when you play around with them for a few hours, the logic behind them will appear and you will discover the power of this extension:-))
One word more.....I do understand the developers of this component (I have also some extensions in the JED) that they don't respond to every post in their forum. sometimes the users are just too lazy when it doesn't work in the first two minutes and then they have to blame somebody. common guys the AEC team is doing an impressive job and hey I'm sure you gave a way a couple of dollars for more stupid things than a joomla extension...
keep up the good work!!
One word more.....I do understand the developers of this component (I have also some extensions in the JED) that they don't respond to every post in their forum. sometimes the users are just too lazy when it doesn't work in the first two minutes and then they have to blame somebody. common guys the AEC team is doing an impressive job and hey I'm sure you gave a way a couple of dollars for more stupid things than a joomla extension...
keep up the good work!!
byarch66 on September 6, 2009
First I would like to respond on comments where users are complaining about complexity of the component and having problems with it. In it’s basic setup it is not complicated at all, but once one wants to use the more sophisticated options of it, naturally it will take some time to get your head around it.
Why do we put a payment system in place? Of course to make the site profitable. That will take time and effort and perhaps a little cash for support …
But then again where do you find a membership/payment system of this caliber with such extended features and the possibility using multiple processors and switch processor in a matter of seconds? ....nowhere!
I worked personally with David, the developer of the component, on the integration of a new payment processor and can tell you no effort is too much for him to get things working. We just can’t expect him to entertain hundreds of free users, who usually just don’t take the time thoroughly reading the manual, the forum and check themselves for possible conflicts with other extensions etc.
Combining a great CMS like Joomla with the AEC will give you an extremely powerful setup by using the best of both worlds
Why do we put a payment system in place? Of course to make the site profitable. That will take time and effort and perhaps a little cash for support …
But then again where do you find a membership/payment system of this caliber with such extended features and the possibility using multiple processors and switch processor in a matter of seconds? ....nowhere!
I worked personally with David, the developer of the component, on the integration of a new payment processor and can tell you no effort is too much for him to get things working. We just can’t expect him to entertain hundreds of free users, who usually just don’t take the time thoroughly reading the manual, the forum and check themselves for possible conflicts with other extensions etc.
Combining a great CMS like Joomla with the AEC will give you an extremely powerful setup by using the best of both worlds
byorionkc on September 2, 2009
Ok, first the developers did a lot of work on this and it seems to be a wonderful free extension. However, it is quite a complicated monster and given that it is handling money, it really needs better documentation and/or support for it to be useful, or at least a warning that "Hey, this is free, but you are basically on your own if you have problems."
As an example, the latest version is supposed to be 1.5 native, but under step #3 of their guide it says to enable the system legacy plugin without any further explanation. Huh? (It seems to work the same without the legacy mode enabled though)
I did send an email to support with a problem I was having with the registration process and received an automated message saying that they don't do support unless you pay. I don't mind the paid support model but according to the forums on their site even the paid members are complaining about lack of response to support requests.
It seems like a great product, but the developers just seem overwhelmed with requests for support. They apparently have created videos but require payment to gain access to them (to cover bandwidth costs they say), which is rather disappointing given that it is supposed to be a free product and they could easily post them to YouTube without any cost. So this makes me wonder if they might be hiding the ball. If so, in my mind that would put this extension in the "commercial" category.
Just know that unless you are experienced or have a lot of time on your hands to figure things out on your own, you might want to consider looking for another solution.
Advice to developers: Have a scaled down version that is only for Joomla 1.5 and only for the most popular payment gateway (i.e., PayPal). All the settings I have to go through in the user guide, why not simply make those the default settings???? Document the scaled down version very well so even people who are new to Joomla don't need to bug you with support questions.
Then sell add-ons for the other gateways and unique features AEC offers. Those that want/need those other features probably have clients willing to pay for those add-ons.
I did figure this out on my own, and when you factor the value of my time, this becomes a very expensive product to use.
As an example, the latest version is supposed to be 1.5 native, but under step #3 of their guide it says to enable the system legacy plugin without any further explanation. Huh? (It seems to work the same without the legacy mode enabled though)
I did send an email to support with a problem I was having with the registration process and received an automated message saying that they don't do support unless you pay. I don't mind the paid support model but according to the forums on their site even the paid members are complaining about lack of response to support requests.
It seems like a great product, but the developers just seem overwhelmed with requests for support. They apparently have created videos but require payment to gain access to them (to cover bandwidth costs they say), which is rather disappointing given that it is supposed to be a free product and they could easily post them to YouTube without any cost. So this makes me wonder if they might be hiding the ball. If so, in my mind that would put this extension in the "commercial" category.
Just know that unless you are experienced or have a lot of time on your hands to figure things out on your own, you might want to consider looking for another solution.
Advice to developers: Have a scaled down version that is only for Joomla 1.5 and only for the most popular payment gateway (i.e., PayPal). All the settings I have to go through in the user guide, why not simply make those the default settings???? Document the scaled down version very well so even people who are new to Joomla don't need to bug you with support questions.
Then sell add-ons for the other gateways and unique features AEC offers. Those that want/need those other features probably have clients willing to pay for those add-ons.
I did figure this out on my own, and when you factor the value of my time, this becomes a very expensive product to use.
Owner's reply
Hmm, a number of problems with this one. You are not on your own (we do have a forum and pretty good support) and that is more than you get for many other extensions.
Legacy Reference: You have indeed found the last reference that I have missed to take out of the Quickstart Manual. Thanks!
Support Delay: We now have a help desk that makes response time a lot quicker and easier - why not try that one out?
Overwhelmed Support: No, Jake (who is not the developer) is doing quite fine. And yes he does like to point to the videos, which are pretty good and the only thing we ask for is a donation. Not sure where you got the bandwidth cost thing from (maybe a late-nighter for Jake?), but we see it rather as a bonus for people who are willing to donate and thus keep them on our site.
Only for Experienced: Not true from my conversation with users. It most likely depends on what you want to accomplish though, so maybe you were trying something tricky?
Advice to Developers: Oh thats a classic one. Parts of this are underway, parts of this are not applicable. I have a pretty good idea of where I'm going with this, but thanks for the input.
"Expensive Product": Yet you did learn to use it and are now completely independently able to master a membership-based site! Why not share that with somebody else?
bya2purn on August 31, 2009
Easy Install and use, just follow guide of installation Thanks.... :D
byaksdad on August 24, 2009
I suggest you carefully read the forums on Valanx.org before deciding if you want this extension. It has a wealth of features and obviously a lot of work went into it, but unfortunately it works very poorly for some payment processors. Also the response to reported problems is slow or non-existent. For example, in my experience (and others) the post-back feature doesn't work. Also the billing periods aren't correct. I set one for 14 days and it instead gave 28 days. When set to 2 weeks it granted 4 weeks. The Cancel feature doesn't work at all. You have to log in to the payment processor and manually cancel. This may be just a problem with the interface to Authorize.net, but the forums indicate others experience similar problems. Documentation is poor.
The majority of reviews here are very positive. I wish that was my experience too, but it wasn't. Perhaps it works flawlessly for other payment processors.
The majority of reviews here are very positive. I wish that was my experience too, but it wasn't. Perhaps it works flawlessly for other payment processors.
Owner's reply
I have tried to contact this reviewer, but it seems I could not get through (Hey, if you read this, just drop me an email!).
As for the claims made: There is a similar bug I'm fixing right now with Alertpay, but I have not heard about any problems with Authorize.net yet. Similarly, the cancel feature was just tested to work fine. I', also not sure what kind of "response" you are talking about, but as I have said earlier - please do not confuse the public forums with our support tracker!
The documentation is still lacking. I apologize for that.
Worked as advertised right out of the box. Easily one of the best contributions to the Joomla community I have ever seen. I wouldn't know how to thank the developers enough.
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