Wolf

JOSTalk's Editor In Chief waxes poetic about his favorite tools for your website.

I'm offering my top five picks for Joomla components, and while I don't expect everyone to agree with me on these, it has been my experience that these are the most powerful, easy to use projects in the Joomla Kingdom.

Community Builder (Version 1.1 Reviewed 5-19-08) is one of my favorite Joomla components. While the Joomla user management is a powerful tool in and of itself, CB allows a site to gather more information and give users of the site a great deal more interactivity. CB has been working its magic for quite a while, and with the CB Suite 1.2 version to include the latest 1.5.3 version JOS natively, it only makes sense that this component suite will gain strength and give you more power.

There are some issues with CB like the time it takes to configure and set up (biggest reason this is a Silver Medalist) the component, but with the power it possesses it is well worth the effort. Couple that with such things as a CB specific gallery, welcome project, guestbook and so much more, and you'll have all the power you need to develop a strong site that brings visitors back. Another small issue with CB is that it is often very time consuming to work the CSS for the templates and the like. But if you understand the basics of CB's visual display, it becomes very easy to manipulate and transform.

But you can customize a great deal of the component with the use of lists that are fully based on SQL queries.

Community Builder is no doubt one that you should check out. If not, you might be able to custom code your own community solution. When you do, let us know. We'd love to compare it.

Music Box is another of my favorites. This component is in its infancy, but the power that could be had with this solution is mindblowing. The current version is able to catalog, visualize an album, chart reviews and blend with a site's content to present a great experience for a visitor.

What Music Box needs is to add the ability for administrators to allow uploads to a directory for approval or not. This would make a site more dynamic, and allow users to either upload their favs or show off their talents.

ArtioSEF keeps the search engines happy. Coupled with great SEO principles and this tool is indispensible.

JoomlaWorks Frontpage Slideshow allows a site administrator to build a quick easy to update featured picture slideshow that can be adjusted to any location you have room for in the module.

JCal Pro is a calendar component that has built itself into one of the premeir multifunction options out there. With the new server addition, it will allow you to keep an active main calendar and add subsites or affiliate sites that promote the things going on throughout your network.

Tags: Joomla | Components | Modules | Community Builder | MusicBox | ArtioSEF | Frontpage Slideshow | JCal Pro