The Joomla! Extensions Directory ™

It is not simple task to objectively rate such complex and extensible application which AEC for sure is. I think review of crashedfx is very detailed and most similar to my opinion.
As I work with many excellent components like Sobi my expectations are pretty high! I will try to be brief and summarize pros and cons and some summary at the end :

Pros :
+ It is most extensible component I know, this is huge advantage! You can integrate it with almost any other component (community builder, sobi, newsletters..).
+ Fantastic flexible backend with lot of setup features, maintenance tasks (this is something what can be done only with huge experience of developer and many releases)
+ Integrates with all core payments processors (paypal, google checkout..), and some country specific payment processors (for those who are so lucky and are in these countries)
+ It has advanced setup of signup plans
+ It has advanced setup of coupons (dynamic or static)
+ Support namely Jake is able to fix any issue you have with AEC (for sure not for free, and also it may take some time as he is busy)
+ Very good integration with ACL components (in my case FUA)
+ Reliable component which seem to be also very safe
+ Micro integrations - great idea which will help you to integrate AEC with almost anything, or to write custom MI
+ Very good backend for invoices

Cons :
- Forum is accessible only for paying members. Also structure of the forum is really, really bad No categories, hard to find anything.
I recommend to David to look at forum of Sigsiu team (thousands of users) to see what I mean.
I believe good forum is must have for joomla components, and that users can help each other, create microintegrations and share knowledge.
Good forum can only help to developer to improve his component.
- Documentation is online and accesible only for paying members. If you do not have subscription, you do not have documentation. No matter you paid
10 EUR or 90 EUR (like me). You have to have active subscription to access documentation or forum. Documentation is not completed yet, but most important articles are there.
- Multi-language support is limited. Unfortunately there is stil many people not able to understand english.
Although there is some support of Joomfish (for translation of plans) it is not enough.
This is weakness of joomla and most components. What I do not like in AEC that you can not have different buttons (images) in different languages
without additional hacks of core AEC files. Good example of limited langauge support is when you want invoice in multi-language and word "Tax" is hardcoded and thus you are not able
to translate it without core files changes.
- Exact oposite of AEC backend is AEC frontend. Backend is so nice and proffesional that it could win 1st price in joomla components backends.
What I do not understand is design of Frontend (html, css). It is not only looking bad, I think that it can confuse end-user.
So without any change of core HTML and CSS you will end up with really ugly checkout pages (pages which are most important for your business!!!)
Modification of core HTML files is not described in manual (so far) therefore it is up to you to do it yourself.
- If you want own modern pricing table (very important thing, also integrated on VALANX site), you can integrate it only with Jquery workaround.
- They are increasing subscriptions price and also current price is quite high. It would be perfectly ok if documentation is final and issues above are removed, but not now.
I would prefer higher price for component+documentation, lower support prices (less needs to hack and customize)

Summary :
Advanced component for advanced joomla users/developers. It not ends with purchase of AEC - this is only beginning.
In my case I needed to hack HTML, one microintegration and core class in order to have multilanguage support and correct format of invoices in multilanguage.
I had 3 support tickets and spent one month with integation and modifications of AEC (and now I'm almost done with its integration).

Final word - It is very good component without competitor. Other components are not so flexible, extensible and advanced and this is biggest advantage of AEC.
In my case it was my only option and If I should decide again, I would pick AEC again.
On the other hand it would be better if this component would have real competitior, because it could help to force Valanx to improve things which are neccessary (turn good component into perfect).

This is so simple that it is beautiful. Should be in the core of Joomla.

Now is user aware about system messages.

Thank You!

I have spent significant amount of time dealing with my site performance. As it is quite complex site, full of JavaScript and CSS, it was crucial for me to tune up - optimize site (google likes it, users too).
I played with CssJScompress, JHC, JFinalizer. JFinalizer was my favorite, but it was nightmare to setup and to have all optimization in place. So even it is great tool, not for my site. Today I explored Jbetolo and I can honestly tell you -> THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST IF NOT BEST. You have lot of options (and correct setup took me max 2h),possibility to omit sensitive JS, CS files which do not like to be minimized. I also like the fact that source code of website looks cleaner after optimization. I did not use options for CDN, smash service, but it is only +. What I would suggest to add is gzip (joomla system gzip do not work? At least for me) and css sprites (but I assume that this is not easy to integrate).
Jbetolo changed my score in webpagetest.org from 65 to 81! Yslow from D to C (75). And most important I can see that site loads faster.
It would be even better, but I have lot of JS files which do not like minification so I had to omit these from optimization.
Thank you for this great plugin! I recommend your inteligent plugin to everyone. I believe that in few months it will be the best rated plugin in Site Perfomance section. Bravo!

I have installed Jseblod due to perfect reviews here, joomfish support, integration with com_content and for its feature richness (especially fields like dynamic ajax select are interesting). After installation I was frustrated and lost. Documentation and videos are not enough for such monster (videos without sound). Also support forum wasn't mature for me - much more lost people asking and few people able to respond. In most cases I got only only simply high level replies and not explaining problem. I'm working with Joomla more than 1 year and with sobi2 8 months (I love sobi2 - but it is more like directory than CCK - it is for other purpose in my opinion). After 5 days I was able to understand how it is organized. You create content items from fields and you can present these content items in front-end, back end in forms or/and lists...
With lot of trials and errors I was able to create form and content(supplied from the form). However I wasn't able to customize it. For this they use template system, but again without documentation...you are lost. I would rather pay for this extension, than to play weeks with undocumented non-commercial monster. I understand all good reviews here - good rating is due to lot of options and due to respect to developers. However this CCk is not only for ADVANCED USER, but also for very patient user with lot of time. If you are like me, you need to develop rapidly and not to spend weeks or months with one component.
So i unistalled Jseblod. I do not want to disappoint you. Install it and try it yourself, maybe you will be more lucky.
I will wait for documentation and videos. Once it will be mature, I will come back to change my opinion an to give it full star review. For now it is only good - I spent lot of time with no result.

This tool is simple, well documented, super usefull and effective. You can have module anywhere you want, and this is giving you much more possibilities with your website. This is really Joomla core enhancement!

This is so simple and so effective that is should be integrated in sobi2 (or sobi pro). Support of developer is outstanding and I was able to integrate this in my entry form realy quickly. I can only recommend it. Usability of this category selection is as good as it can be (it is idiot-proof). Thank you for developing missing piecies of Sobi2 for reasonable price.

With this plugin is easy to setup map in entry form by address or by clicking on map. It is way better than just fetching coordinates from address fields. So if your user has problem to get coordinates from his address he will get it from map.

Great extension & fast reply from developer.