Very good notice

First off I say if it's a good component the we should pay.

There seem to be many Azrul fans here. I am new to the Joomla scene and I am looking for a blogging component. Can anyone tell me if they have experience with MyBlog and IDoBlog. What are the pros and cons of each?

Thanks

Hi there - anyone else having trouble creating an account and trying out the test version?? Can't seem to get in and really would like to give it a whirl!

that one is configurable via the backend.

=)

For the price of Jomsocial + Myblog + Jom comment. I realised that when I upload a picture on myblog on the demo site I can see the image folder. Not at all like how the pros like blogger/wordpress do it. Even phpfox/social engine does it neatly. Any help here?

It's worth bearing in mind that the cost will probably cover just one site and for only 12 months of updates.

I liked JomComment alot but stopped using it for new sites after my 12 months passed a few days before an update which fixed a big bug with caching comments that was crashing my site - and the choice between single site and 5-site license seemed too costly when wanting to launch a few simple blog sites with comments.

@Edi

I waited a while to get a Beta by signing up for the newsletter and becoming a member. I am sure it will be out shortly for those that don't want to become members.

@Adam

We also would like to install JomSocial. And we would pay for it. But there is no JomSocial to download and install...

I have been reading the comments for some time now. I can assure everyone that component is working very well so far. As for the free vs. paid well I used many components from sobi to fb to whatever else it out there. I run more than 125 Joomla based sites. This is the first time I have ever paid for components.

Jom Social is working like a champ and I just installed it at www.militarycommons.com to test it out there. So far no complaints. This weekend I am goign to work on integrating it better and see what kinds of things it can do at this point. Hang in there guys, and I think you will see it's worth a paid price.

I am sure that it will be a good component , it looks flipping brilliant

you get what you pay for
written by Brent Friar, November 15, 2008
JomSocial is far and away the best social networking component for Joomla so far. ??


How can any one tell that from a test page ?

Joomla is FREE and its brilliant, Sobi is free and its brilliant. Only on release will we see if its the best.

@Brent Friar

"CB is all hype and no substance. It takes major work just to get it working decent..." This is not true. I had no problems with the installation and use it for two social networks. And: The members like it!

It seems more that JomSocial is at the moment hype and no substance. There is nothing yet available, there is no announcement, when it will be ready, there is no pricing... :-(

JomSocial is far and away the best social networking component for Joomla so far. CB is all hype and no substance. It takes major work just to get it working decent, and it's still not truly 1.5 native. It is not very user friendly and has a long way to go with the GUI.

If you tried Joomunity you probably used my tutorial to install it. I removed it from my beta site after weeks of messing with it to have half the functionality of JS.

If you are unclear on how good it is, then sign up for an account at dev.jomsocial.com and see for yourself. It is very polished and feature rich for a pre-release component. For a single license I don't think that $50-100 is unreasonable at all, particularly if it comes bundled with Comment and Blog.

If you want a free component, there are plenty to choose from.

@John Birch

from what ive gathered this works off the default joomla users rather than creating its own users (like CB does) ive not got a build yet so cant confirm it though... but if thats true then there would be no problem integrating this into any joomla site or with any component like SOBI without the need for extra plugins like what CB needs...

Reading about the launch with interest.

I have a few questions ?

Is this component capable of replacing Community builder ? Is it intended to ? will it integrate ?

Is it a stand alone Joomla integrated registration component ?

Will it work with SOBI as that is a major component in most Joomla websites


will we have to wait for plugins to be built to integrate it with other parts of the web site.

With only 2 weeks till launch and not much info on what it can do I am confused.

I cannot be registered in http://dev.jomsocial.com

I see www.blobble.net talked up in a few sites and yet when I go to www.blobble.net its being put up for auction. They cop out? Too much pressure?

That is a rough question. I monitor every (under construction) social network component for jommla, and have to say, that a year ago, you would have much broader opportunity for pricing.

- CB is close to 1.5 native, and resurrected groupjive.
- dioscouri is currently making a group application, i guess integrating with CB.
- idoblog community edition is almost fullfill the requirements of a social network, and they are developing heavily.
- the arrival of anahita is floating for a year.

And finally: the developer of blobble.net is making the install version of the best social network i have ever seen, integrating with opensocial platform. It may kick off everything, whan it is ready, and may be for free.

Suddenly became many fish, and competitors out of nowhere.

So, jomsocial is great, though it has a strong touch of facebook, and not in the best manner. For ex. reaching the group function is too complicated, a core function like that should be in just one click.

Don't forget, that if somebody buy jomsocial, he has to buy myblog and jomcomment too, and the sum can be too much for many customer.

...the 50% off code for early beta-testers. We are drumming up business already, talking about how great JomSocial is all over the joomla world.

I am curious to know why you choose Joomla? Besides the fact that it is just awesome I am sure that the fact that it is free didn't hurt. Sure we all paid for some extension or template but nothing ridiculous. Especially when there are a few free options to choose from. Sure... some of you might buy JomSocial at a phpFox or Joovili price... But not many... Not me... a high price tag will turn off most potential buyers... lets stop talking about high prices here... You are scaring me... early!!! 50 - 100 is exactly where it should be if Azrul wants enough sales to make it worth while. Let's face it. This is not enterprise level stuff. How many corps have phpFox on their intranet?

JomSocial is awesome. I am holding out for it and Joomunity is far behind but I gotta say the right team might bring it along. And yes it does look very similar to (a stripped down version of) JomSocial. It might be early beta release at best but at least they RELEASED SOMETHING. (Hint hint, Azrul.) The install is awful but I got it installed ok. RTFM. If you can't install Joomunity reading the simple instructions then you just have no business running a website.

Just pre-release, Azrul. The wait is killing me. Start a pay to play, limited license, early adopter program. I'm in. Let's go0oOoOOO!!!

Thank you for sharing your opinion of the price for JoomSocial. I doubt it would be only $50 or $100. As some have written, it is not just another component. But we will see...

And: At the moment there is no other similar project. I tried to install Jommunity without any success. There are still to much bugs. But there are approches like elgg. elgg also is not ready. But it is free...

The magic number seems to be $50. I agree. That's the most I'd pay. A dime more and I would go with Joomunity myself. Azrul take notice.

I happily use JomComment and MyBlog, but I have done quite a few o my own little tweaks, as I do with most of the software we run. I've stopped using encoded software entirely (no matter how good it works or how well it servers the features I need) because inevitably there will be some little thing I need to change that takes about 2 minutes, but I can't get to the code in order to do it.

So please make sure the code is not encrypted.

Thanks!

I think the price depends on his target market. I know there are some sites that can only afford $50 on something, but there are many businesses to whom $100-$500 is not a huge price compared to what they spend on hosting, design, and custom development.

Perhaps there can be a dual license, where $0-$50 is GPL and requires branding, while $150-$300 is MIT or do-what-you-want and is fully white label. Azrul does have to make a living, after all.

We have a lot of experience with Joomla, Community Builder, GroupJive, and the Azrul product line, and I'm really looking forward to JomSocial's release. CB never really excited our clients without having to give it a big facelift. And no, I'm not affiliated w/ Azrul, I just think their products are pretty swell.

It might be a good idea for some kinda package deal at 100$, but for jomsocial alone, I'd probably be willing to pay around 40-50 max. While I know that there's a lot of people out there who use joomla for business, I just use it for my personal site, and I don't make any money off of my site, and since I'm still in college it will be difficult to pay a lot of money. Regardless, I do agree with paying for a good product as well, as jomsocial undoubtedly will be.

Whilst I appreciate what you are saying, 100 seems a little too much to me and would likely be out of my reach unless it included the set (JomComment, MyBlog and JomSocial), in which case 100 would probably be a good deal.

This is clearly quite an important and central component, but charging too much will put people off who maybe want to start up a small community as opposed to a basing a business on it.

I will be hoping for less as I already own JomComment.

I think Azrul deserves to be able to charge a premium price. This is not some one shot plug in that does one job, I've happily paid between 20 and 50 dollard for components to do a specific job. Jomsocial is going to end up being the very cornerstone of what makes a site tick, multiply page impressions and along witb it, ad impressions on sites that have them.

I'm not a rich man but I do believe in paying for a good product and Jomsocial is way more ambitious and has more potential than anything else out there for Joomla anywhere. I would like to see Azrul charging a good enough price for it so that it can be supported and expanded in the future.

I'd say a hundred dollars is the minumum price he should set it at. This is 'not' just another component. It's going to enable us to take our websites somewhere else.

I'll admit that integration into JFusion, which I've not heard of prior to checking out this blog, sounds like it'd be awesome. My question would be would there be linking of pms and profile between like say; phpbb 3.x and joomla 1.5?

I'd venture to guess somewhere between $60-$100, considering the size, scope and features of such a product. At least at this point, there is no equal (until MAYBE joomunity is released and stable).

It would probably be $30-$60

Okay, some are willing to pay for JomSocial. That's fine... But how much? $50, $100, $250, $500, $1000... I like to know. ;-)

I expect to pay for JomSocial and have zero problem with that. Azrul has delivered great components and support worthy of my investment. This business model works for both parties and I expect JomSocial will be no different. Now if we can just get it released in a public beta, all would be right in the world.

@David:
I am not here to make advertise to Agora I would like to use it in a future project in which I would also use jomsocial, and for that I would like if these two components will integrate with each other. However I don't understand the reasoning of "reinvent the wheel", if one follows this way of thinking should not use either jomsocial but should stick to Community Builder

@Alex and David: An integration with JFusion will be great too, but personally I prefer Agora, but it's only a matter of taste

Sorry for my English, it's not my first language

JomSocial, with JFusion will give it a lot of edge over it's competitors and will give it's users immediate access to a few other forums. I for one don't like Fireboard (lack of features) and would much rather work with SMF any day. If it's released with a JFusion plugin I will be sold.

Maybe this can be integrated with jfusion (www.jfusion.org) it bridges multiple softwares with the joomla system. I already use it to integrate mybb forum on my site.

JomSocial for FREE.

Make sure you integrate with Fireboard. Fireboard is a turnkey solution in Joomla and no need to reinvent the wheel. It looks good, works good, and you can actually build communities with it.

Is there any possibility of an integration with Agora Joomla Forum ? (The same profiles for both)

I would quite like to find out what's in-store for jomsocial in the future, so could you guys fill in the roadmap page?

I pay for community builder...its a yearly membership fee. I want to pay for these things so that the developers keep their focus on making it even better rather than worry about raising money or paying bills. I think you should be able to make money on it...especially if it rocks.

Azrul, let me know when I can be a beta tester, Im ready to go!

If jomsocial isn't free then it will dead..
Already exist community builder and joomunity!
Perhaps instead of having the gpl license Jomsocial is free like smf license would be the same.. maybe..

I don't care how much it will cost because we will be getting our money's worth. AZRULES

I will answer both questions in the next blog. The truth is, internally, we are discussing if we can present a viable business model on whatever license it will be.

At the moment, we are inclined towards our normal "zero-encoding, 100%-access-to-code, do whatever-you-want-on-you-own-site, non-redistributable" license, which our current users are very satisfied with.

As for pricing, our biggest concern is it should allow us to give excellent support to our users and give us freedom to take the project to the next level. I will make proper announcement soon.

good news, but still no information:

under what license it'll be released?

what price you'll ask to pay?