Working on a membership driven, Joomla 1.5, Community Builder site.
Have I lost you yet?
Alright, well Joomla is a CMS system (see first post re: Content Management Systems*) and is a free, open source web application. This particular site though has given me much heartache in the development, and as it has for my client.
Most sites I do are cut and dry. I run about 23 sites. Wordpress, Joomla, vBulletin, static html, maybe some php/mysql db, two in Drupal, one Volusion site (another venting post for another day), but once the functionality and features have been implemented, it's there. Only thing I need to worry about is training, maintenance which usually is maybe a security patch or two, and maybe a random content/graphic.
Anyways, so this site is constantly evolving. Which is great in that it keeps me on my toes and constantly tests my abilities. On the other hand, it keeps me on my toes and constantly tests my abilities. Which is why I need staff. Bad. Another problem is that as we implement new features that will support a real revenue stream, the server configurations change as well. It isn't just set it up on a server, click and install a couple things and go. It is tweaking Apache and OpenSSL, managing memory, and all the fun stuff when it comes to developing an enterprise level app.
If you don't know much about Joomla, it has an extensive community and many free and paid for commercial apps. You know that saying, "You get what you pay for?" At times with these mods, you don't.
I have found getting a free app and hacking the crap out of it to bend it to my will seems to work a lot better than paid for apps so far. Problem is, I dont have the time I need to sit around and make it work. So, I buy yet another mod/component that is "supposed to do" x and ends up *maybe* doing y, but because it won't play well with other apps and I can't get into the source code because they've protected it using a compiler like Ioncube, it screws up the rest of the site and spits out nada. Like CBSubs. I want to like it - I want to use it. I really really do. I love Community Builder - it's robust, highly configurable/hackable, has a great community for support, a truly solid and stable community platform, and it's the magic word: free! - BUT CBSubs with CB doesn't work on my server configuration, and frankly, I do not have time nor patience to move the whole site over to another server, yet again.
Another $ app: JomSocial. It looked so pretty, and I wanted to like it, but ended up going back to Community Builder. Maybe in a few more years JomSocial will have caught up, but now, I just feel a bit cheated that it doesn't have the capabilities I need it to do.
Another $ app: CorePHP's WordpressMU component. Really did not like how limiting the blogs were when implemented. There was no theme customization per user, no ability to do fqdn blog URLs (which is a true feature of WPMU), no real compliance with other Joomla core apps, and I found it to be buggy with all of the other components I added on.
Here I am, doing it again: buying another mod called AEC that is supposed to cure all my ails. So I am crossing my fingers, holding my breath and backing up the db yet again...
Will report back on how it goes...
Current site main apps configuration:
* WPMU (at root for user blogs with subdomains)
* Joomla 1.5
* Community Builder 1.2.2
* Kunena Forums
* MediaWiki
* EventList
* JDownloads
* VirtueMart
* Post Affiliate Pro
* Will add in links to items later when I get more time... yeah right!
Know what I hate?
12 years ago
