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This extension is a good idea but falls far short of anything ready for actual use.

There is ZERO documentation on their website for this extension (which is truly unorganised and extremely difficult to find anything of any use whatsoever), there is no real assistance in their forum, and creating a menu link to the component is a really strange way of integrating it into Joomla.

It says you can get 120 backlinks for your content page - sure, but consider that you would have to do this process 12 times for each article you publish - what a pain! Is anyone really going to do that?

Once installed on a J1.7 site, with the menu item made, after choosing 10 sites from which you want to get backlinks, there ends up an 'infinite loop error' so it doesn't even work.

There's a demo on their site - save yourself the headache and just use that (no infinite loop error there) if you must. But there are far better free backlink sites online that don't require 12 times for each article or section.

Yes, this CCK is a bit to get used to, but once you do, it flows so nicely, outputs content so beautifully you may wonder why you had ever used the core Joomla! articles before.

The apps (commercial) are very, very handy and very versatile. It is possible to configure many different ways to output the content, also add Joomla! modules of any type within the Zoo content, and with some extension-specific plugins, really make a superb site using only ZOO.

I switched from K2 (which I did love) to ZOO because of the flexibility and beauty of the output. Sure, some fiddling with code and options (of which there are a lot) was necessary, but I think it has been worth it - and so do our site visitors. Our site traffic has increased due to the better output organisation and overall look (basic psychology: if it looks prettier, people want it more, no matter if the quality and content is exactly the same as before) and it is very easy to add new content.

If you are moderately familiar with css, xml and some php, this may be just the thing you were looking for in a CCK. Take the time to explore all the options of layout, modifying existing 'elements' and adding and tweaking them to your purposes.

Don't count on any assistance in their forum, however, it is notoriously unhelpful (otherwise I would give it 5-stars). On the upside, they do have a pretty extensive help section on the site, but it would be a lot more helpful to have a .pdf to download.

It also would be really nifty to be able to actually add videos to their Movie Database App, but oh well, we can't have everything!

I have to agree with pwsheff, this is a must-have for any Joomla! site. Even though the developer is Italian the user's manual is in English (wow, thanks for that!) with clear, concise directions on how to use the extension. Not only does it do what it says, but it does so easily (and powerfully - I can't get over all the available options with re: regular expressions & macros) with no hassle.

I haven't had any problems with it so didn't need any customer service, but I have no doubt that if I did, the developer would be there to assist.

I wish more extensions were as well thought-out, powerful and had such flawless execution as this one.

If you, as a webmaster/administrator have: moved hosts, changed domains, altered your links in any way - you need this extension, plain and simple so you don't bleed Google Page Rank due to 404 errors, especially when it is so simple to rectify it with this fantastic extension.

Kudos to the developer(s) at sistemistica.it!!

To find this extension was such a relief! I really appreciate the ability to choose so many options for the display of the sitemap in Xmap.

You might have to try a few things first, but you'll figure it out pretty quickly so your html sitemap will show what you want, and not what you don't.

It was also very helpful for the xml sitemap, and you can submit it to Google with a slight modification to the URL.

Great job.

This is one of the most essential tools any Joomla administrator can have. I couldn't imagine using Joomla without it! Otherwise you have to have two tabs open - one to make changes and another to clean the cache, which is just a pain.

No# has done it again! Thanks guys, you are truly superb.

Directions are confusing (note, they don't have a demo listed for it on their site, the link here works though), and even configuring it exactly like it's shown on the demo doesn't work. Like the last reviewer said, looks promising, needs work.

Even when you buy more than one of their extensions, their support system is a joke. Never once had a ticket answered.

Don't waste your money.

Everyone understands that free extensions are appreciated and that it takes time to develop, however, there is an ethical line that cannot and should not be crossed. If JED hadn't alerted anyone that the backlink was there, people would be leaking Google page rank all over the place with everything shared on FB. If the one reviewer had not mentioned it, and the developer replying, we might not know where to look to remove it.

But I noticed something even more insidious and unethical than that. Even when you choose NO for the static URL, it put the developer's website in! So if you were to choose 'no' and save & close it, thinking (silly you!) that the choice you made would 'stick.' HA!

It automatically puts *their* website in the field, no matter what you choose. Even if you put your own URL in, if you save & close and then open it, guess what? That's right. The developer's URL is in the static URL field! Even if you go into your database and change it by hand, the next time you look at it, it has been changed back to their URL!

This is a seriously dirty trick to pull on people and the developers should be ASHAMED of themselves!

I don't want to email the developer, I don't want assistance from them; I uninstalled this plugin and will never use anything from this group again.