The Joomla! Extensions Directory ™

I love Joom Donation. I was looking for something that allowed me to EASILY set up several campaigns with the choice of one-time or recurring donations and this was it! I volunteer my time for an animal rescue and sanctuary, Circle L Ranch, and I was happy to pay for this excellent component myself for the time it saved me. I can't imagine anyone not being thrilled with Joom Donation. I'm going to check out more extensions by Ossolution.

Great component! FYI, I bought the "Plus" version. It was easy to set up and style. I wanted this contact form because of its captcha options. My client and I are not fans of standard captcha--typing in characters or a secret word--but we liked the idea of clicking on images. I bought the additional white tile images and added a tint so they blend with our website. As one reviewer said, the images slow down page loading so I removed all but 4 images and that made a huge difference in speed. (The images can stay the same since each page load/refresh changes the required image.) Now speed is not a problem. I did contact support on one issue but found the answer in the user guide (oops) before they got back to me. Like every new component, read the instructions first! This is my go-to contact form from here on. Great product!

I was looking for a Joomla 2.5 menu that allowed multiple columns in the drop-down menu items and this fills the bill. Styling the menu is similar to styling any other module except for using the .php file instead of a .css file. Save yourself a lot of frustration and pay the small fees for the Maxi Menu CK plug-in to easily set menu parameters in Admin and also for the documentation. Maxi Menu is a well-designed professional product and I'm sure I'll use it over and over in the future so the cost was peanuts compared to the value. I highly recommend this if you're willing to pay a few dollars for the plug-in and documentation. If you're not good with css styling, get the templates, too. Once you understand how to use this menu system, you'll wish you had found it years ago! The options are practically unlimited.

OMG! After I figured out how to use this, it was so fast I thought it had failed. In fact, you'll get an error message that it failed but check your articles and they'll be there. 1) If the WP database is on a different server, export it and import it into a new DB on your server. 2) Install the component on your Joomla site. 3) Open JConverter under Components and enter settings for your new WP database in JConverter's Global Configuration. 4) Hit Start Conversion! Laugh your head off because you're done. I didn't set it to import categories so I still have to do that but ALL my posts and pages are in my Joomla articles. Kudos to SopanTech for an excellent extension. Please send these guys a few bucks after you see how much time they save you.

Wow! Everything on the wish list in these reviews seems to be included. Results can be vertical or horizontal. Lots of requests for CB search module so that's included. Blank fields don't show up. Easy set up, maybe 10 minutes (less if you read the manual). A little extra styling and it's perfect! I highly recommend this CB Advanced Search component and module.

I've been using this banner rotator for a few months and recently tweaked a few settings without writing down what I changed. Didn't realize until days later that my clients' banner links no longer worked. I logged in at the ProJoom Multi Rotator site, contacted support, and had an answer (my error, of course) within a few hours on a Sunday. That's crazy-good support for an already terrific extension. I'd rate it 6 stars if I could!

I found the Googlemaps plugin easy to install and set up following the docs provided. After using it for a few weeks with my Community Builder member profiles, it was displaying my default latitude/longitude for one member who had an unusual street address. I sent a support ticket and Mike replied a couple of days later, actually apologizing for the delay because he had been out of town. We emailed back and forth as I tried his suggestions, and then I realized I had changed the name of the zip code field in Community Builder. I corrected that field in cb_googlemap in my database, and Googlemaps works perfectly again. This problem was entirely mine but Mike couldn't have been more gracious. Besides being a great plugin with lots of flexibility, the support is crazy good. I rarely get this kind of response for a paid extension... so I sent a small donation, which considering the quality of this plugin and the time and frustration Mike saved me, was well worth it. I highly recommend GoogleMaps to newbies, novices and experts!

Being a first-time AEC user and still struggling with Joomla, too, I needed a lot of help so I paid for the 4-month support package. I've seen complaints about Valanx going commercial and charging for this product but AEC isn't some simple little plugin that animates your mailbox icon! It offers a ton of features and options which makes it extremely versatile though complicated for a newbie like me even with the great step-by-step videos.

I don't know if Jake sleeps or if there are a dozen guys named Jake, but I received timely responses to my ticket requests. Sometimes a response seemed like it was delayed but it was because Jake was logged in to my site finding the solution (usually I had checked the wrong box or unchecked the right box) and then he emailed what he had done or what I should do so I would know for the future.

When I compared what I would pay for Valanx support to what I'd pay on a Joomla-programmers-for-hire site, the fee was a bargain! Look at other payment systems: Amember Pro costs $199US, doesn't offer as much, and, if you're in the U.S., you'll wait at least a day to get a response from Alex (though he's a great guy). Compare CB Subs that starts at $134US with fees adjusting upwards based on number of members and number of sites! We're spoiled as Joomla users and expect everything to be free but AEC's competition isn't free. Why should they give it away?

I think the switch from free to commercial has been rough on this company. They lost all the great reviews they had as a free extension plus they get complaints because they don't give free support and don't give out an "AEC for Dummies" manual. They're currently offering a tiered fee system so if you're smart enough to figure it out, you don't have to pay the higher fee for help. If you're not clever enough, you need to pay for the support and stop your whining. Personally, I believe if they ditched the tiered fees, charged one flat fee for the product (like the competition) and included support for 6 months or a year, no one would complain. I highly recommend AEC with the paid support!