Opinion

6 Joomla blogs to follow

Written by Sudhi | 29 May 2009

Joomla real estate options reviewed

Written by Sudhi | 20 May 2009

The Free Options

Property Component

This is a great new option that the Joomla! community is really responding to. As a new component, there are a few options still to be developed but overall this component appears to offer the Joomla! admin a great free alternative to the commercial options. "Property" is partially AJAX powered which offers a smooth interface and comes with a full compliment of search options.

Check it out | Demo

CMS Realty

A bridge to integrate OpenRealty with Joomla!, CMS Realty is a great option if you already know the OpenRealty system. You can do virtually anything with it providing you know your way around PHP. Although it can run great out of the box as well. One important note: the demo site for OpenRealty (http://www.open-realty.org) had a listing hacked at press time.

Check it out | Demo

The Commercial Options

EZ Realty

Three license options from standard to brand-free range in price from $129 to $199 makes this option not cheap but a solid, supported and (virtually) bug free. If you're in the market for a high quality real estate extension, compare to Mosets Hot Property and pull the trigger with an instant download.

Check it out | Demo

Mosets Hot Property

This extension has been around a while so it comes with a pretty strong support network. As with any commercial extension, you should expect pretty fast and quality support. In addition, Hot Property has a pretty wide range of modules and plugins to compliment the component. Prices start at $119 and decrease with bulk orders so this is a great option for developers.

Check it out | Demo

This is not a comprehensive list, only a list of extensions we have enough knowledge of to write about.

Why commercial template designers should offer free templates

Written by Sudhi | 10 May 2009

I recently wrote an article for Smashing Magazine outlining some of the best free and commercial Joomla templates. Each template that made the cut got four "dofollow" links from a very popular and high pagerank blog with a large, loyal readership.

The reason I bring this up - several commercial template designers had provided free templates. They don't make a lot, just one every year or so. But when they offer a free template, they are of the same quality as their premium templates. They also got links to their sites, and will probably see some sales originating from this article.

I looked at all the major premium template providers, and only two offered some free templates - Rockettheme and Joomlashack. They got links, the rest did not.

In addition, premium template providers should offer some free templates because it's the right thing to do. It is not good karma to take advantage of an open source frameworker and give nothing back to the community.

The 5 Most Vital Social Media Outlets

Written by Sudhi | 01 May 2009

These are only 5 of the many social media outlets that I believe all Joomla sites should integrate with.

The oldest and most basic social media format but that does not make it less important. RSS, by far, is the most accessibly and cross-compatible content distribution format.

Twitter is new, but so freaking popular right now. We get a new follower(s) every day and it drives some significant traffic to the site. Updating with quick, snippy hints at new content with a link to your site.

We've already discussed this subject at length in this article, but newsletter subscriptions are a great way to keep your readers engaged and coming back.

We're still experimenting with stumbleupon and a significant portion of our traffic comes from this source. It does rely on your readers submitting your content. But if you've got quality content - that shouldn't be a problem.

Digg has yet to pay out for this site, but many people use Digg to keep track of their favorite content.

Did you like this article? Please share it using your favorite social media site.

10 Elements of a Successful Commercial Template Provider

Written by Sudhi | 20 April 2009

In researching this article for Smashing Magazine, I learned a lot about what makes a commercial template provider successful. Whether you are thinking of offering your own commercial Joomla! templates, or shopping around for a new premium template provider, this list may be useful.

Stunning Design

To be competitive, a commercial template provider must keep their design ahead of the curve. It is easy to create a boxy, boring template for Joomla! It is hard to create a unique, visually appealing, functional design that makes the user say "wow!" Here are some examples:

Simplicity

Commercial templates that can pull off a simple design can often be the most successful. Some providers feel they need to offer a complicated, feature-rich template to stay competitive. But often their skills are tested by creating a template that flows, holds content nicely, and offers flexibility - all while keeping the clutter to a minimum. Here is a great, simple template for Joomla:

Quality Support

The quality of a template provider can be measured by the quality of the support received for their product. In addition to being accessible to customers who need some help, quality support means courteous interaction, complete and accurate answers and fast responses. Additional support elements that make up a successful template provider include tutorials on how to customize and install templates and active support forums.

Usability

Templates must be usable. All those fancy features and stunning graphics won't matter if the administrator can't set up the template to meet their needs or the end-user can't take advantage of them.

Great commercial template providers build in backend management of the template features and fully comment their source code so a slightly skilled administrator can customize the template like a pro.

Specific Functionality

Successful commercial template providers have built in a specific purpose or function for the template. Although a standard template may be what you're looking for at times, many new templates are being created for a specific application such as displaying sports news. An example of this might be a community building template that integrates with the Community Builder component and many of the extension-specific plugins. Another example is a template built to integrate with Phpbb or Virtuemart.

A solid pricing model

There are several models available - the most common and profitable appears to be the "Template Club" model. For those not familiar, the user will pay a monthly/quarterly/yearly price to have access to premium quality templates. These plans often come with multiple levels from individual (1 license) to a "Developer Plan" (unlimited licenses). Rockettheme, Joomlart, Yootheme, GavickPro and Shape5 all use this model.

Another model is the pay per download system which lets you choose one template that you want. This is better for someone with a smaller budget and only one site to develop. Joomlashack and Joomla-Monster both use this model.

Free Templates

A quality and successful commercial template provider offers free templates now and then. In addition to offering free templates, they should be the same quality as their premium template (although a few less premium features is expected). Read our other article outlining the importance of offering free templates.

Quality Coding

Without a doubt, a commercial template provider should offer at least HTML Valid if not XHTML Valid code. Additional criteria to look at include CSS Validity, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and the use of correct graphic types. All commercial templates should be compatible across browser types. You can check a template's cross-browser compatibility using this handy tool.

New Methods

Commercial template providers should be aware of new technologies available to designers. Althought they should not jump on the latest technique unless it is secure and stable, there are many new coding practices like Mootools that can make a template stand out from the rest. A quality template designer will push the limits of what a template can do for Joomla! They will build in functionality you might not have thought possible, and create unique and stunning applications out of the Joomla! core.

Options

A quality commercial template should come with many options. From color schemes to module positions. From layout to module variations - the administrator should be able to build several completely unique looking websites from the same template.