prilly

Reviews(25)
 
byprilly, November 16, 2009
LyftenBloggie
I've been using Lyftenbloggie for a couple of months now and I'm very happy with it. It's comfortable to use: logical interface and sufficient features. I haven't had any problems. It's the best of all the Joomla blog extensions, IMO. I'm putting it on all my Joomla websites.
byprilly, October 16, 2009
ODude Ecards
ODUDE ECards is a nice program. Easy to use. It's a classic ecard layout. The admin area allows you to change colors to suit your template.

I had two problems with it: text in the comment area didn't wrap, so (on the actual ECard to the recipient) the paragraph I had written simply went off the template in one straight line - and wasn't readable. This needs to be fixed.

Also, the form for Recipient didn't format properly on my template so I wasn't sure which blank space was for the email and which field was for the recipient name. I guessed wrong and the eCard went nowhere. Once I knew my mistake I was able to put the email address in the proper field, but all my users are likely to have the same problem. So the formatting on that template needs to be fixed as well.

ODude has a lot of potential, especially for social sites. The Pro version is inexpensive and allows you to use SWF and other animated formats.
Owner's reply

Hello Prilly,

Feedback like yours help us to grow better.
We continuously work on this component.

Just today we added some more features and fixed some minor bugs.

Your comments is not a big issue and it can be easily solved if try to edit css on your theme.

Every components are not fully compatible with all the themes. So user is required to work on it.

'Comment Wrap' can be fixed by editing css file by searching ... tag. In next version these pre tag will be removed.

Recipient name & email address are again not properly ordered due to again your css settings. You can check many live sites on net using pro version of odude which doesn't have this issue.

We are upcoming with member integration and captcha support but before that comments like yours should get fixed.

Thank you,
Navneet

byprilly, October 10, 2009
j960
His demo is an excellent tutorial illustration for the 960 concept. And, you can download the template to learn how to implement 960 for your own site. Very interesting and informative. Thank you.
byprilly, October 3, 2009
GTranslate
I was afraid to look into site translation components... I was sure it was going to be an ordeal. I installed this and it works perfectly, immediately. Less than 5 minutes to have a multi-lingual site!

Of course I chose Chinese as my first sample language, and then discovered that I couldn't read any of the languages in the language list either, so couldn't revert back to English. (I had turned off all the flags: I didn't see the point in using them.) Now I'm using the flags, too, so I can get back to English again. :)

This is a really great module.
byprilly, August 22, 2009
IDoBlog Free
I like IDOBLOG better than the blogging system I paid for, that I'm using on my other Joomla site. It's very straightforward, with all the essential features. Fast. Nice editor. Compact layout. Fits perfectly into my template as if it was made for it. I didn't have to fuss over IDOBLOG at all. I will keep my eye on this script. I hope they integrate with Jomsocial eventually.
JZen
I've looked all over for ANYTHING that could hook up ZenCart to something else (anything else!) and I wasn't having much success. None of the freebies that I tried were functional. And it seems that some of these bridges are abandoned.

JZen is the only option I could find where the developers are maintaining their product.

I had problems with JZen at first too, but the guys got to work on it immediately and fixed it. So THIS Bridge works! It's updated to the current versions of ZenCart and Joomla, and it works very well. It's easy to install.

And it's soooo nice to have the world of Joomla available for my ZenCart store.

Many thanks to the JZen team!
byprilly, July 28, 2009
MaQma Helpdesk
This looks like a really good system but the free or "non-commercial" version has Tickets and Knowledgebase disabled so it's not even a working Demo. So I can't actually evaluate how it works. The setup was fairly standard for this kind of system and everything looks nice. Well organized. But I couldn't test it because the critical features weren't functional. If you want the program you have to buy it. The price is reasonable.
Owner's reply

There's a trial of the commercial edition where you can try the other features :)

RWCards v3
This is a lovely program. There is excellent support on the forum: I got responses the same day as posting.

The only tip for new users: make sure your categories have cards in them. If you have any empty categories, the program might not show on the front end. Other than that little discovery, I had no difficulty installing and using RWCards. It's very nice, looks great, and very easy to use.

I make the ECards from photos that my users contribute, so it's also a community project. If you're using Jomsocial, there's a "userpoints" hack for RWCards in the Jomsocial support forums that gives userpoints when the RECEIVER of the Ecard goes to read it on your site.

RWCards can also work like an Invitation system. I created one category with invitations to my site, which any of my users can send to their friends. And, get userpoints!

I'm very pleased with RWCards. It turned out to be much more flexible and useful than I expected. Very, very nice!!
Analog Clock from Jay
A clock sounds BORING, right? This extension was a surprise, because there are some really fun clocks in the assortment. If you want to be serious, you can be serious. But I have a collector site and there's no need to be "institutional", so now I have an adorable, ornate cuckoo clock on my site. And for Christmas I will certainly use the hilarious Santa clock.

The assorted clocks are very beautiful with high quality graphics. You can size them to fit anywhere you want on the page. The clock displays the time on the user's computer. This extension was extremely easy to install and configure. Thank you! to the developer for a very beautiful module.
EventList
The Eventlist is perfect for Community websites. Users can easily add their own events by filling out one form. This extension was easy to install. It has lots of configuration options and lots of ways to control those options. The only problem I found: there was no obvious way for users to Add an Event. The icon was teensy weensy and unmarked except for the hover flag. So I replaced the tiny icon with a nice big fat attractive button that says ADD EVENT, and that solved the problem. Everything else is very straightforward. This is a very nice extension.
byprilly, May 4, 2009
PrayerCenter
Very well thought out module, with nice add-ons. Very easy to set up. I have a collector site, so I set up the prayer center with a different template, away from the "busyness" of the rest of the site. It's like a little chapel. We have always shared prayer requests in our group, even though the site is mostly about our hobby. The point is: the prayer center can be implemented on a lot of sites and not just church-related.
2J Tabs -  Joomla AJAX Tabs
I needed a little help getting started, and the developer was very prompt in replying to emails. He sent me a file to show how he did the setup. I'm sure it would be easy for more experienced Joomla users but I'm still confused by the connection between articles, sections, categories and modules.

Once that was sorted out, this is VERY easy to setup. I created five articles in one category (one article for each tab.) Then select that category in the 2JTabs module. Refine the settings, put the 2JTabs module in a Position and enable it. It was such a surprise to see it worked immediately without any fussing with the settings. Wow!!

This Tabs module doesn't conflict with anything on my site. I've had lots of problems with javascript conflicts, but apparently this one doesn't use javascript even when it's running in slideshow mode. If it does use javascript they've refined it so there aren't as many problems.

This program is compiled so it's not as easy to do custom CSS but there are 21 style sheets for the tabs so it doesn't matter. Besides, most of the "styling" is done in my articles where there is plenty of freedom for designing.

This module is well worth the modest price. It's just so good!! It adds lots of glamour to the front page of my site, without causing any trouble for anything else on the site.

There are lots of potential uses for this program. I'm so happy with my first set of tabs, I'm trying to figure out how else I can use it, because this was FUN.
byprilly, May 4, 2009
Game Sweetykeeper
This is a very good quality game and it's fun to play. I usually don't play games but this one is addictive. You click on any two pieces to swap them so you can match three of a kind. When three or more match up, they are removed from the board. If you're fast enough you can go to the next level. It seems that each level is the same degree of difficulty, so the main thing is to see how long you can keep the game going and rack up points before you time out. Very easy. I wish there were more games like this for Joomla 1.5. Most of the available games require Legacy mode.
Rapid Forum
I like the Shoutbox concept but not the way they're implemented. I think Rapid Forum is the better solution. It's just as easy as a Shoutbox but without the typical limitations. If people want to post a little more, they can. If they want to get replies to their posts, they can.

I was on a Social Networking site recently where it was all kids, and they had a Shoutbox. The comments were typical teenage inane: "I'm bored. This site is boring. I burped." Etc. And I think a Shoutbox encourages that kind of almost brainless conversation. Rapid Forum is super easy but it's the "grown-up" version of a shoutbox and by the nature of it is going to encourage users to provide a little more than three word comments.

Rapid Forum can take the place of a Chat room, too. Chat rooms are hard on a server, but with a fast-post forum you can have the benefits of a Chat room without the server load. I think it will be a very popular interactive part of my site.

I had some problems with the installation but Amanda responded immediately and even CALLED to try to work it out. Eventually I discovered it was a conflict with my menu. Since a lot of things conflicted with that menu, I trashed it and I kept Rapid Forum. You can always find another menu, but you can't find another program like Rapid Forum.
byprilly, April 26, 2009
I believe I may have installed all 92 menus that are listed in the Extensions Directory... It speaks well of Joomla CMS that my site survived all of that.

I had lots of problems with the jQuery and Mootools menus. They're beautiful but things would stop working, or the menu would slide UNDER the graphics, or the tooltips wouldn't render or I couldn't upload photos... you know the list!! I hope the Joomla developers can work out all the problems because the extensions that use Mootools and jQuery are soooo nice but I decided I'd rather have a site that works good.

So far, THIS little menu system doesn't conflict with anything. It uses a teeny bit of javascript.

I think the developer is modest about his abilities because this menu seems to be well designed and complete.

It installs easily as a MODULE, which means it will work with your full mainmenu mods, not just articles.

And, to find a horizontal menu like this one is unusual for Joomla, although I see these menu systems online a lot. MG Menu fits into an amazingly small space and handles lots of links.

The thing that really made me happy was the CSS file. I like to dig into the CSS and make my own styles and colors. It has a standard CSS file and you can do what you want with it.

I think this menu may be a hidden treasure among all the menu systems here.
Superfish Dropdown Menu
I'm sure this is very "Easy" for developers. I wasted a lot of time trying to understand it. Obviously there needs to be a REAL TUTORIAL, not a few pages of hints and tips.

The so-called Plugin is an assortment of files with no explanation of what to do with them or where to put them. I am not a stupid person, so I'm offended that this is presented as EASY when there's no real documentation for it. You MUST have background experience with Suckerfish in order to "Get it."
Owner's reply

This is a module... you install it... via the install screen in your Joomla administration. You simply point the installer to the zip file, Joomla does the rest.

You set the menu up just the same as you would a normal menu, via the Module Manager. As for styling the menu beyond what is presented in the module screen, yes, you do need to have experience with CSS. Experience with Superfish/Suckerfish is helpful but not required.

I am more than happy to help anyone with questions or problems they may have; all they need do is ask (via the support forum or email).

I thank you for your comment and have placed a disclaimer in the module description.

J2Top
I do so much work on the computer that I'm always at risk for carpal tunnel flareups... So this button looks good to me and my poor tired arm! Reduces the work of scrolling by a lot!

And it's fun to play with too, when you're tired: we go UP and then DOWN, and then UP and then DOWN... It's kinda irresistable, you have to play with it. :)

And yes, it's super easy to install. Almost no setup. You can customize it if you like. This would possibly be classified as a little gimmick item, but I think once you have it you'll see that it's actually a very useful and use-able part of the page. I like it!
Smart Blog
I love this multi-user Blog system! It's very attractive, neat and simple to use. Many webmasters may prefer that it was tied in with the user profile in Community Builder or JomSocial, but the fact that this is a stand-alone multi-user system gives it some unique possibilities. I am using it for a Community Corkboard, where the various clubs and groups can post site-wide Announcements. I had tried some other programs for that purpose but none of them were quite right. This is more than perfect for what I needed. Many thanks to the developer: I'm very happy to find this neat little program.
Owner's reply

Thank you very much for the review. Next version will be fulfill the reviewers requirements.

JooTabs
Jootabs works GREAT!! This is an awesome extension, it has lots of potential. The developers have a very active template site so I don't think they're abandoned it. This has been a popular extension for a long time so it probably doesn't need much babysitting.

JooTabs has 8 styles included, plus you can use module suffix to style it the way you want. Very configurable and stylable.

Most of the setup is self explanatory but I thought the module setup was a little confusing. So, here is my setup as an example. To set up Jootabs with 2 tabs for Photos:

Title of the 1st Tab: LATEST PHOTOS
Module of the 1st Tab: jooposition1
Title of the 2nd Tab: RANDOM PHOTOS
Module of the 2nd Tab: jooposition2

The jooposition1 and jooposition2 should be on your XML file, but not on your template or in an article or anywhere. You only want to position Jootabs. Jootabs will then position everything else for you.

Then, JooTabs needs it's own position on the XML file AND on your template or article or however you want to publish it.

Once you've got that sorted out, then, make sure that all modules are enabled. Very easy. The only problem is the lack of documentation: it's easy if there's a little bit of instruction.
byprilly, April 19, 2009
f2c Accordion Menu
I was really getting frustrated with menus. Apparently Joomla "generates" it's menu links so it's hard to apply CSS to them. When I did, every link on my site looked like my menu. Ok, I'm a newbie and I need some help...

So I went looking for menu systems but there aren't very good instructions with Joomla extensions sometimes (often!) And some of the menu systems don't come in the form of modules or plugin's. So what do you do with it?

Fortunately, THIS menu comes in the form of a MODULE... YAY!! It installs easily. I had to learn how to make submenus, but I needed to learn that anyway.

Then you can decorate the menu all you want with CSS. This menu makes sense. And it looks good, it's a huge improvement over standard links. If you do need some help with customizing, I was amazed at how reasonable (cheap) his customizing fee is.

Thank you to the developer for a very nice, easy, sensible menu extension.
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