Thank you for the reply... so where do I go to download these extentions? And are they free and user friendly?

Check the joomla extensions directory. Here's a direct link to the CB specific extensions:

extensions.joomla.org/index.php?option=c...d=1854&Itemid=35

I guess I'm still kinda lost on the concept. While I'm sure the description of what Community Builder is accurate, I still don't really have a good sense of why I want it.

Can anyone explain to me a) what a community is, and b) why I should want one on my site?

Help me see the vision!

Thanks!

I second this request. It sounds like the $35 documentation might have an answer as to what people are using CB for, but do I really have to spend money just to learn how people are using it? As erichorne just said, "I still don't really have a good sense of why I want it."

micstermarvin wrote:


When you signed up on this site and now that you are a member you should really have a nice feel of what CB is.

The extended registration process on this site demonstrated a number of CB features like:

- extra fields (text fields, radio fields, drop down fields, etc)
- extended registration workflow (confirmation email) - there are 4 registration workflows.

You also - upon first login - were redirected to your profile page (the first login redirection is also a CB feature). Your CB profile has all these new fields you filled out during registration (and more) and you have the ability to upload your own photo - avatar. Ypu might have noticed that after uploading you get a message that the upload is in pending approval status and must be approved by a site moderator before it appears on your profile (for others to see).

Also upon first login, you should have noticed a welcome PMS and a connection request waiting for you to read. These also demonstrate many CB core features and extensions (autowelcome plugin) available.

If you visit your profile and edit it you will see more tabs like:
- profile tab (a personalized guestbook plugin so your profile visitors can leave you comments and rate your profile)
- gallery tab (a CB plugin that allows you to quickly upload various multimedia items to be shown in your profile)
- last visitors tab (so you can see which members visited your profile)
- connections tab (so you can see which members are connected to you).

I can really go on and on with this. The best way to fully understand what CB is - is to just start taking advantage of your Joomlapolis membership or even visit my profile (click on the little person icon on this post) and look at my stuff.

You don't need to subscribe to the documentation for all of this - but you do need to invest some time to learn CB (and joomla of course).

Thank you Nick for that reply.

Your right about needing to dig into Joomla! and Community Builder to get a feel for them, this is my first week with the software. I guess I fell victim to all the hype and thought that Joomla! would come out of the box ready to solve my problems magically

Here is what I was trying to accomplish with Joomla! and Community Builder that I was able to do with my previous (and no longer supported) Content Management System:

1. user directories
2. FTP access to user directory
3. sub-domain for each user directory i.e. user.mydomain.com
4. custom templates for each user
5. e-mail account i.e. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
6. The ability to limit users to creating articles for their subdomain only

So I came here trying to determine if Community Builder can fill this tall order. I started pouring through all the documentation I can find on both Joomla! and Community Builder. I have come to the conclusion that it might still be possible, but I doubt it will be as wholely integrated as I had hoped.

Post edited by: micstermarvin, at: 2007/04/15 21:49

Post edited by: micstermarvin, at: 2007/04/15 21:50