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Hi VirtueMarters,

The VM Email Manager was good from the start, version 2.0 is even better, and the mail functionality is simply the best around. The Interamind developers - with whom I've been in contact about a multilingual solution - sent me this upgrade that now supports VM language tags. So I had an early opportunity to test this version, compare it to the old one as well as to other extensions that I've tried out.

- Fist, VM is a great product and covers all the ground needed for an online shop, but like a Swiss army knive, it offers the tools you need to survive, but a tool dedicated to a single task is often better for that particular task. VM will get your mails out and that's it.
- Second, because of the lack of configurability to your needs you might consider an extension that lets you design your own mails. There are popular solutions for Joomla, and if you have the time and inclination you can roll your own. Be aware though that integration with VM entails some hacks.
- Third, you may consider a turnkey mail extension in the hope that it'll tie in with VM and will take care of registration mails, order confirmations, and emails on status changes. It's a vain hope. Excellent programs, such as AcyMailing and others of the kind, can take care of your marketing, but not your ordering or registrations.

So if you don't want to accept the VM bare bones or invest a lot of time and effort in designing and coding your own mails, you actually don't have a good alternative to Interamind's VM Email Manager.

Luckily, it's a good extension that works out of the box, but allows you to modify the layout and contents to your needs. A couple of VM files are replaced - the original ones are backed up. You can send test mails to yourself until you got it down pat. When you update or upgrade, not a singe comma is changed in your personalized emails - and w/o having to backup or uninstall your old version. And if you do have a problem, the devs are very responsive and helpful.

Cheers, Mike

AceSEF supports many extensions, many of them free. Getting good SEF URLs with JoomFish and VirtueMart for instance is no easy task, but AceSEF does it with flying colors.
The backend is clearly structured and easy to use despite the complex features. Also, you are notified of upgrades for AceSEF and all your extensions. What's more, you can download them directly from the AceSEF component backend, which stores your download IDs.
AceSEF beats the other Joomla SEF programs by miles.
If you get the Pro version, which I recommend, you can access the ticket system. I've done that a number of times due to minor compatibility issues, got fast responses and good help. Yesterday, I got an error message when a certain menu item was clicked, opened a ticket, got a reply within hours including a file, copied it, and the error was gone. BTW: yesterday was Saturday, the support mail was sent at 22.00.
I recently bought JXtended Finder. Before, I asked Denis, the owner of AceSEF, whether he was planning on creating an extension for it. On the same day, I got his answer: He tested it and said it works fine w/o an extension. I've tested it too and can confirm that. And BTW: sh404 has problems with Finder...
Hope this helps, if you're deciding what SEF program to get. I spent a lot of frustrating time with other SEF solutions, before finding AceSEF.
Cheers, Mike

Hi Joomlers, Ever wonder how to get that personal touch on your site, something to make it stand out, perhaps even be unique? Well, typography is a good way: You can make a statement by choosing a font that fits your site. The problem is getting people to see your great font - well, was. I researched the different possibilities and found that sIFR is by far the most elegant solution - it's fast as well as SEF & access friendly. However, its implementation can be a headache. one I tried, didn't work at all and another approach required coding that was beyond adding some snippets. The solution was Ninja Super sIFR: It worked out of the box and was super easy to install. Nevertheless, it offers all the features you could ask for, such as choosing html tags like h1. I had one minor problem, what I called an artifact, a split-second blinking when going from one page to another. I asked the Ninja guys to have a look. They put my localhost site online on their test site to do that and found a suspect: It turned out that MediaBox was loading on all my pages and was also interfering with other extensions of mine. That's what I call customer service - help far beyond what you can expect. My tip: Sign up with Ninja for the silver membership and get to dowload practically all their extensions - and they do have more really good ones. It's worth it. Enjoy your new fonts, Mike

Hi,
The other reviewers have already raved about the features of MooFAQ and the very good service. I can verify that on both counts:
Note that you can use the accordeon effect not only for FAQs, but for any content - a great way of getting the most out of your page real-estate.
As to the service, Douglas helped me to customize two of his modules to fit my style and layout, for instance. You don't find that kind of support often - especially considering the very reasonable price...
Cheers, Mike

I beg to differ in Pinto's assesment below. The Ajax Contact provides all the functionality to be expected of such a module. Besides captachas/math security features, it can also collect relevant user information and returns the last page the user visited. Numerous fields can be added. Moreover, Douglas offers a Contact Enhanced component with very extensive functionality, if needed. All his products are priced very reasonably and he is very forthcoming with assistance. I highly recommend his products.
Cheers, Mike

Looking for something other than a scare-off captcha for a VM site, I found RV2.
Based on the good reviews for RV1 and lightening-fast answer from Dave on a couple of questions, I bought it. Download, install, and test took no more than three minutes.
The plug-in worked out of the box with my VirtueMart login, SEF, JoomFish, and the usual extensions for a shop.
I went to botscout.com, used the name of another site I own (you need to enter a valid, online website) and immediately got a mail with my API key. Then it was just copy-paste the key to the plug in, register on my test site (localhost) with a botscout-listed email (you'll find the latest ones right on their home page), and voila: My bogus registration was rejected faster than you can say spambot with the reason for the rejection: "Sorry, your registration failed. (botty@bogusmail.com listed at www.botscout.com (click result to view)."
You can't beat that kind of efficiency and service for the very reasonable price.
Easy to use and efficient, Mykl