Stackideas

Site of the week is where we feature different Joomla sites that use our Joomla extensions. You can take this as a case study on our products and also to know how other users are experiencing our Joomla extensions and their thoughts on them.

Today we are featuring a travel site, KinderJet. Their site uses our Social Professional Bundle that consists of EasyBlog, EasyDiscuss and Komento. The site is basically blogging about family traveling and outing.

We have interviewed Paul Toth, President of KinderJet to ask about his view and experience on our products, and this was our conversation:

1. Have you used any Joomla extensions before EasyBlog?

Yes, we started with another blog extension but it was so clumsy and difficult to work with that we were considering to just use the stock Joomla article. Then I found EasyBlog and the rest was history.

2. How did EasyBlog help you better manage your blogs compared to your previous Joomla extensions?

EasyBlog is very well thought out and includes pretty much everything you need when running a blog. From adding media to scheduling posts, EasyBlog has allowed us to be flexible in how we need to manage our site. And it looks great out of the box! We have done a few minor tweaks to the overall look to match our template but what you see is more or less stock.

3. How did you get to know about our extensions and why did you choose them for your site?

After being so frustrated with the other extensions I started to look around at various blog extensions or components. We wanted more control over everything on our site, which is why we stayed away from WordPress and Blogger. EasyBlog gives us that control and flexibility to operate and manage our site. We've added EasyDiscuss and Komento as well. One of the things I like is that all these components are made by Stackideas so they fit together as you'd expect, plus any support issues you may have will get solved.

4. If there is one thing you can add or change in our product, what would that be?

I really do think that your products are very well thought out that there's nothing major. If there was one thing that I think would benefit me and probably other users is having a 'Profile' component. So regardless of whether you are using EasyBlog, EasyDiscuss or Komento they would all use the Profile component. As it stands right now each product has it's own and while getting them to talk to each other was not hard it was just a step that I probably didn't need to take if there was just one Profile component (I'd call it EasyProfile).

5. What do you think about our support team?

The Stackideas support team is outstanding. Response was generally very fast and always polite, but more importantly they are very helpful. I had a recent issue that not only did they solve but suggested additional code to make it do what I needed it to do. I doubt that there is another support team out there that is as attentive as Stackideas.

See our Joomla extensions in action for KinderJet:

EasyBlog

EasyDiscuss

Komento

Special thanks to Paul for the opportunity to showcase his website here. 

Paul Toth, President of KinderJet.com

This week we are featuring a community website that serves as a hub for information exchange amongst the Maori community in New Zealand. The Ka Pao site uses all three Joomla extensions EasyBlog, EasyDiscuss and Komento to empower communication between the Maori members for business networking, discussions and current news.

We got hold of Terry Perkins, the web developer for this website, who trusted our Joomla extensions in building this site for a short interview.

1. Have you used any Joomla extensions before?

Yes. I've built websites since around 1996 and started developing them in Joomla in 2007.

2. How did Stackideas’ extensions helped you better manage your website compared to the previous Joomla extensions?

It's the integration between each components, their similarity of design and purpose, and StackIdeas tech support that makes the difference.

3. How did you get to know about our extensions and, why did you choose them for your site?

From the JED, and reading though the glowing reviews there I decided to go with StackIdeas ' extensions ... What I found was a well laid out site that explained each component very well and had an active support area. After purchase it was less than a week before I posted a positive review on JED as well (and I never do that).

My initial purpose with Ka Pao was to build a site that allowed people to interact in as many different ways as possible and to make it very easy for them to do so. So, I chose the StackIdeas Professional bundle because it's perfect.

4. If there is one thing you can add or change in our product, what would that be?

If it was possible to create separate administrator announcement blog posts that hide author/date, etc. I could do away with the native Joomla article space on the front end altogether.

5. What do you think about our support team?

Your support is the best I have ever encountered for any software (including graphics, 3D, and video software... not just for website development)

Below is how our extensions look like in Ka Pao:

EasyDiscuss

Komento

We want to thank Terry for sharing his valuable review!

Jen Kramer

Author, Speaker, Instructor and Owner of jenkramer.org

We found out that Jen Kramer is quite an avid blogger so we decided to do a little interview with her recently about blogging. We’ve also chosen her site, jenkramer.org as our site of the week as she is one of our valued user of EasyBlog too!

If you are not aware, Jen Kramer is a trainer who provides training for website design, website development, content management system (CMS), international marketing and website planning and strategy courses for adults.

She chose EasyBlog blogging tool to share about the different technology, Joomla extensions, some programming tutorials and more.

We’ve asked the lovely Jen about her experience with EasyBlog and below are the details of the conversation:

1. Before EasyBlog, what other Joomla blog extensions did you used?

I always try to use core Joomla wherever possible, and I only add extensions when absolutely required. I wanted to be able to tag the blog posts, plus I wanted easy commenting. I also wanted the posts to be tied into social media. Unfortunately, Joomla core does none of that. I previously worked with MyBlog, when my site was in Joomla 1.5 and sadly it seemed to have security issues.

EasyBlog was well recommended by the community, was compatible with Joomla 3, and seemed to have an easy interface. StackIdeas was also a supporter of Joomla Day New England, so that also helped to make the decision to use EasyBlog an easy one.

2. How did EasyBlog helped you better manage your blog compared to the previous Joomla extensions?

It's a little easier. MyBlog did not have the social media integrations, but then, it came out in 2008. You had to integrate comments separately. But again, this was ancient history in the Joomla community, and blog extensions have changed quite a bit since then.

3. How did you learnt about EasyBlog and amongst all, why does EasyBlog fit the bill?

I typically go to the Joomla Extensions Directory, like most people in Joomla, and I look at the extensions offered. I look for extensions with a long track record, a solid company behind them, good recommendations, and timely responses to any negative comments. I look for an active support forum (where that is obvious). I look at what the company is contributing to the Joomla community, and I look at what my fellow Joomla developers are saying about a given extension and its company. All of this was favorable for EasyBlog.

4. If there is one thing you want to change in EasyBlog, what will that be?

Nothing comes to mind.

5. How do you find our technical support services?

I've never needed to use them.

Here is a screenshot of how EasyBlog looks in jenkramer.org

If you are looking for someone to provide training on web development, design and anything to do with websites, Joomla or not, you could contact Jen for an obligation-free consultation.

Site Of The Week is back! This is the first site for 2013. We will be featuring more interesting Joomla sites that are using our extensions.

The site that we are featuring this week will be RedShark. RedShark is a site that uses EasyBlog to blog about technology news, gadget know-how, applications and more. The site uses EasyBlog and lets see how EasyBlog works for them http://www.redsharknews.com/post

We interviewed Piotr Gasiorowski, Web Developer of RedShark, where he shares on what he thinks about EasyBlog:

1. Have you used any Joomla extensions before EasyBlog?

Yes, many. Though I'm a developer, I don't always need to create own extensions from scratch if it's available somewhere there.

2. How did EasyBlog helped you better manage your blogs compared to your previous Joomla extensions?

The installation and configuration was really straightforward. The default layout looks nice and it's quite easy to brand it.

3. How did you get to know about our extensions and, why did you choose them for your site?

I've heard about Stackideas from a colleague who is also a web developer/designer. I don’t only check on what's available in the extensions and whether it's easy to install, configure and customize but also how their codes look like, if it's following programming standards and if it is secured.

4. If there is one thing you can add or change in our product, what would that be?

Komento - absolutely nothing. EasyBlog - I could provide a list of functionality that I had to customize.

5. What do you think about our support team?

First impression was fantastic. I got help off working hours, which I didn’t expect.

Tell us what do you think about this week’s site. Leave a comment below, and you will get a chance to try EasyBlog for 3 months FREE.

Want your site to be featured in our blog? Drop me an email apson@stackideas.com we will be happy to feature your site.

Site Of The Week features different Joomla sites that use our Joomla extensions like EasyBlog, EasyDiscuss, and Komento. Last week we did a site about responsive templates, if you missed it you can click here to read the blog.

This week’s site is NLP University.

NLP University is a German site that has a blog about the study of hypnosis. Click here to see how EasyBlog works in their site.

Below are the conversations that we had with Julian Wolf, owner of NLP University:

1. Have you used any Joomla extensions before EasyBlog?

Yes, plenty. EasyBlog is the first blog component that I tried out.

2. How did EasyBlog helped you better manage your blogs compared to your previous Joomla extensions?

As I can´t really compare it with other blog components, I only can point out that EasyBlog is unbelievably clean and easy to use.

There is only very few components on the market that really work this nicely. The backend and frontend are well ordered, clean and self-explanatory.

The price of EasyBlog might be slightly higher than the others, but I would love to spend more money also for other extensions just so that I can achieve a workflow so professional and smooth as found in EasyBlog.

3. How did you get to know about EasyBlog and, why did you choose it for your site?

Simple -- your advertisements!

4. If there is one thing you can add or change in our extensions, what would that be?

This does not happen often to me. I didnt find any bug and I really don't know anything that could make EasyBlog more perfect.

There are a few minor things that can be improved but there is one thing I'd like to have is adding another picture for the Facebook auto-posting.

I suggest adding some features in EasyDiscuss that would make it possible to use EasyDiscuss as a User voice-System.

5. What do you think about our support team?

It´s amazing! My inquiries got answered in just a few hours! The answers were fair, quick and very respectful. I really love the support experience!

 Julian Wolf, owner of NLP University.

What do you think of this week’s site? Do you like how EasyBlog blends in the site? Leave your comments and opinions at the comments section below, you might be getting a free EasyBlog license worth 3 months.

If you would like to have your site featured in Site Of The Week, drop me an email to apson@stackideas.com.

Welcome back to Site Of The Week where different Joomla sites are featured here to show you how our Joomla extensions like EasyBlog, EasyDiscuss and Komento work in a typical Joomla website. Did you missed out last week’s site? If you did, you can read the blog post.

This week we are featuring WS-Theme!

WS-Theme is a German based site that produces responsive templates for Joomla and it currently uses EasyDiscuss as a customer support page and forum. Click here to see how EasyDiscuss works on their site.

We interviewed Brokk Oli, owner of the site, and this is the conversation we had:

1. Have you used any Joomla extensions before EasyDiscuss?

Before switching to EasyDiscuss I had used FAQ Book Pro from Minitek but there was no flexibility and the guests can't be notified when a new message is posted, which is very important for me. It was also difficult to make it work smoothly in my Joomla template.

2. How did EasyBlog helped you better manage your discussions compared to your previous Joomla extensions?

EasyDiscuss is truly Plug-and-Play, after installing the extension all the settings were done. I had to run through a few changes in the well-structured admin options to fit this awesome component to my needs. I gotsome minor issues fixed and after sale support was really a great experience!

3. How did you get to know about our extensions and, why did you choose them for your site?

I found out about StackIdeas some time ago when searching for a simple blog and tagging system for Joomla 1.5 (yes, long time ago). I've found it through Google search and the JED (Joomla Extension Directory) and found EasyBlog which was the best rated blog system for Joomla. I got a copy of EasyBlog and had a wonderful support, and I must say, I have fallen in love with the whole thing. It was a good decision!

4. What do you think about our support team?

Like I mentioned, the pre-sale and after sale support was really awesome. I want to create the same support system as appeared in the StackIdeas forum where it shows the Joomla user details and FTP account info. I requested for your support and within a few hours later, you guys sent me the full override!

Brokk Oli, Owner of WS-Theme

Did you enjoy this week’s site? If you have any comments we are glad to hear them. Leave your comments below and you could get a free EasyDiscuss license worth 3 months.

Do you like your site to be featured? Drop me an email at apson@stackideas.com we will be glad to share your site to the Joomla community.

Welcome back to Site Of The Week. The blog post that feature different Joomla sites using our Joomla extensions - EasyBlog, EasyDiscuss and Komento. If you missed out last week's site, click ShootSmarter to view the blog.

This week we are featuring iMaQma

iMaQma is a Joomla extension site that blogs most things related to Joomla. Click here to read more about their blog.

We interviewed Pedro Gonçalves, founder, CEO and Senior Developer of iMaQma, and below are the conversations that we had:

1. Have you used any Joomla extensions before EasyBlog?

Yes, I did use other blog extensions before.

2. How did EasyBlog helped you better manage your blogs compared to your previous Joomla extensions?

It's much easier and much more feature rich.

3. How did you get to know about our extensions and, why did you choose them for your site?

Because from the ones I've tested EasyBlog was more than one step ahead.

4. If there is one thing you can add or change in our product, what would that be?

For me, it has all that I need but you guys keep improving it with great features.

5. What do you think about our support team?

Never used support but all contacts I had with you guys were very good.

Pedro Gonçalves, founder, CEO and Senior Developer of iMaQma

What do you think about this week’s site? Leave your comments below and you could get a free extension of EasyBlog worth 3 months.

If you would like to get your site featured, drop me an email at apson@stackideas.com

Site Of The Week features different Joomla sites that use EasyBlog, EasyDiscuss, or Komento. Basically it can be treated as case study for users to see how our extension blends in your site and also it helps you to decide what extension fits your site best.

This week we are featuring ShootSmarter.

ShootSmarter blogs about photography techniques, hybrid photography, lighting ideas and more.

We managed to interview Will Crocket, the owner of ShootSmarter.

1. Have you used any Joomla extensions before EasyBlog?

We have used many Joomla extensions but this was our first time using a blog on our ShootSmarter.com website.

2. How did EasyBlog helped you better manage your blogs compared to your previous Joomla extensions?

We had not used a blog before this.

3. How did you get to know about our extensions and, why did you choose them for your site?

We found it in the Joomla Extension directory. It was the most popular and we liked the layout and features that it included. We also need the latest blog feature for our home page.

4. What do you think about our support team?

They were very good. We had one small RSS issue that was fixed immediately.

Will Crockett, owner of ShootSmarter. 

What do you think about this week’s site? Leave your comments below and you could get a free extension of EasyBlog worth 3 months.

If you would like to get your site featured, drop me an email at apson@stackideas.com

Inside Site Of The Week you can find different Joomla websites that are using our extensions like, EasyBlog, EasyDiscuss or Komento. If you would like to know how our extension works and fits to your site, this blog post will help you decide. If you would missed out last week’s site, click Living In NZ to read about it.

This week we are featuring Firestorm.

Firestorm blogs about managing different crisis, how to overcome them and what precaution measures must we do to avoid such crisis. Click here to read more about their blog.

We recently interviewed Karen Masullo, EVP Social Media and Kevin Struck, Information Technology & Development of Firestorm. And below are the discussions we had:

1. Have you used any Joomla extensions before EasyBlog?

Kevin: Yes, we have used Word Press for Joomla, and RSBlog.

Karen: We were using WordPress.

2. How did EasyBlog help you better manage your blogs compared to your previous Joomla extensions?

Kevin: We found it easy to integrate with our chosen template and it was easy to import our old Word Press posts into EasyBlog.

Karen: As the primary end-user of our blog, and during our recent transition to a new website, one of my biggest concerns was the import of content from our previous Wordpress blog. EasyBlog allowed this process to be a relatively seamless one. Additionally, we had struggled with Facebook plugins effecting performance on our last blog, but the built in social integrations with EasyBlog bring none of the performance issues. As an end-user, I find it to be exactly as named; “Easy”.

3. How did you get to know about our extensions and, why did you chose them for your site?

Kevin: Joomla Extension Directory. We chose EasyBlog based on reviews and testing we did and based on the reputation of EasyBlog and past experience with Stackideas and other components we have used.

Karen: Kevin switched us to Joomla. Based on his experiences with these tools, and the customer service he received from Stackideas, he made the switch to EasyBlog on our behalf.

4. What do you think about our support team?

Kevin: Support is Excellent. Second to none. Always receive responses to our questions and requests within a couple hours, which is important in a production environment.

Kevin Struck,
Information Technology & Development of Firestorm.

Karen Masullo,
EVP Social Media of Firestorm.

What do you think about this week’s site? Leave your comments below, the most meaningful comment will get a FREE Joomla extension that the site is currently using, with 3 months worth.

We have featured different Joomla sites that are using our extension through Site Of The Week. If you have missed out last week’s blog post, click Zeus Digital Media to read more

This week’s featured site is Living In NZ

Living In NZ blogs about photography, books, music and more. We managed to interview John Watt, owner of Living In NZ and below are the conversations we had:

1. Have you used any Joomla extensions before EasyBlog?

I’ve run Joomla for my site since 1.5 and initially used the built-in articles but wasn’t happy with the ease of use. So, I tried out K2 but again, just overly complicated for what I really wanted which was a one-stop shop that actually just works. At the same time, I checked out IDOBlog and LyftenBloggie but neither of them had the feel or the ease of use I wanted. I checked out EasyBlog and it did what it said on the tin, really simple and easy to use. EasyBlog is incredibly powerful so much so that I’ve basically designed my website around using EasyBlog as its core structure.

2. How did EasyBlog helped you better manage your blogs compared to your previous Joomla extensions?

It is just easy to use, plus the ability to post to it remotely from Windows Live Writer. I also found that I was able to rip out a number of other plugins to have the website share to Twitter and Facebook which helps in the reliability and again the ease of the site.

3. How did you get to know about our extensions and, why did you choose them for your site?

I spend probably about a week testing out the highest scoring blog components from Joomla and as I say EasyBlog just did exactly what I needed.

4. If there is one thing you can add or change in our product, what would that be?

The areas I’d suggest are tweaks in the showcase module. It would be nice for it to be able to just pick up a single image and expand that with the text floating on top. The new image wall is pretty nice but doesn’t have the feel of something like the Bamboo Box by JoomlaBamboo.

5. What do you think about our support team?

I think your support team is probably one of the best, if not the best (it’s close between you guys and my webhost for the best) I always get the support I need when I need it and it’s fast. I totally support and recommend you guys based on this (and the product of course!).

 John Watt, The Owner of Living In Nz.

Visit Living In NZ from now till 31st December 2012 and get 15% off when you spend $20 and above - exclusive for Stackideas customers. Use this coupon code: 80FB85 when you place an order at the Store.

We recently conducted a webinar on how to blog in Joomla with EasyBlog. The webinar was organized by our partner CloudAccess.net who specialized in cloud hosting solutions where over 200 Joomla users around the world participated in it. For those who missed the webinar, you could view the recorded version below:

(We hope you could finish the entire video, watch out for a SPECIAL GIFT at the end of the video :D)

There are other features not covered in this video but you could still check out our Documentations on some how-tos such as:

• Installing EasyBlog in your Joomla
• Setting up Facebook autoposting
• Setting up email blogging (post blogs from your email client)
• and more ...

You could also refer to the following tips to get MORE out of EasyBlog:

1. How to add comments into image galleries in Joomla?
2. Install blog templates in Joomla 3.0
3. Blog from your iPad with Blogsy
4. Monetize Your Joomla Blog with SocialAds

We are ever ready to support you for that smooth experience in using this powerful blogging extension for Joomla websites. Feel free to contact us.

It is a great pleasure to announce that EasyBlog version 3.8 is launched. We want to thank you all for your patience as it took us some time to make sure everything were as close to perfect before releasing it. Our developers had gone through all your suggestions and we have picked the best features to be added in this version of EasyBlog.

Download EasyBlog 3.8   OR   Buy It Now!

The new EasyBlog has some new and exciting features that you will love. Here are some of them:

Responsive layout

No more weird layouts when viewing your EasyBlog posts in your iPhone , iPad or any mobile devices -- EasyBlog is now fully RESPONSIVE!

New blog theme

We have designed a new theme for your next Joomla blog -- Vintage.

Schema tags

We've now added schema tags for Ratings and it is great for SEO.

Share in Facebook Groups

In EasyBlog 3.8, you can now configure auto posting to your favorite Facebook groups, the shares would be posted automatically when you create a new blog post.

Apart from some of these key features in EasyBlog 3.8, these are some of the other exciting new features to brag about:

Download EasyBlog 3.8   OR   Buy It Now!

From time to time, we introduce to you new aspirations to build your websites in Joomla. If you are a Wordpress user and looking to start a blog, you can count on Joomla for scalability and wider functions. And if you have customers looking to start a blog for their company website, why not introduce them with Joomla? 

Today, we are happy to give you another tip to build a beautiful blog in Joomla, powered by JSN Mico, the brand new Joomla template created by JoomlaShine.

Here is a screenshot of JSN Mico with special styling done to support EasyBlog, the preferred Joomla blog extension:

You could also view the live demo of JSN Mico template at our DEMO page.

JSN Mico is a fun template for any variety of website or a blogging site. This Joomla template has also been optimized to support EasyBlog and its powerful blogging features. You can rest assure that JSN Mico is fully responsive and it will look great in smartphones, tablets and iPads. Bear in mind, you need to have your website to be in Joomla 2.5 or 3.0 to make this template work.

Here's how JSN Mico looks in its original form:

This is the 5th template with EasyBlog styling built by the creative team at JoomlaShine. The other four Joomla templates were:

• JSN Pixel
• JSN Vintage
• JSN Gruve
• JSN Decor

We'd like you to check out the beautiful templates from JoomlaShine if you are shopping for a brand new Joomla theme. If you are a StackIdeas customer, you will automatically enjoy 30% discount on JoomlaShine's templates. Click on our Partners page to get the coupon code.

The JSN Mico-EasyBlog combo is all you need to create a solid Joomla website with a blog. Go ahead and download EasyBlog today.

We have recently just noticed that there is some issues with the automated updater in EasyBlog if you are using version 3.7.14091 or lower. In order to update to the latest version using the automated updater, you will need to download the patch file.

Thank you for your patience on this rather long due release of our Joomla blog extension EasyBlog to be compatible with Joomla 3.0. It was a tough time for us in terms of development in splitting our work between improving existing products and building a brand new major extension. We are happy to announce the release of EasyBlog version 3.7.13776 today and it is now ready for you to download.

Highlights on EasyBlog's new additions:

Joomla 3.0 ready

Yes, it is now officially ready to work in your Joomla 3.0 site. When you Download the EasyBlog installer, you will expect 3 main versions of it: Joomla 1.5, Joomla 1.6 - 2.5 and Joomla 2.5 - 3.0. If you are already running EasyBlog 3.5 and above and intend to upgrade to version 3.7, I would suggest you uninstall EasyBlog first and re-install EasyBlog 3.7 again. You may encounter errors if you overwrite installing EasyBlog 3.7 onto your EasyBlog 3.5, and the same error will happen if you run the built-in Updater to do the upgrade.

New Blog Theme - ORIGAMI

We've added a new EasyBlog theme that you can play with and named it Origami! If you are looking for a minimalist layout in your blog, Origami should be able to work it for you. This theme is added to all Community, Professional and Unlimited licenses.

Migrator for Blogger XML file

Moving blog posts from your Blogger account can now be done using the built-in migrator that accepts the XML files from Blogger. This will save you loads of time to move all your old blogs into EasyBlog without manually adding them one-by-one. We will be posting a blog later on the migration steps to take.

Integrate EasyDiscuss avatars

The avatars already added in your EasyDiscuss profiles can now work seamlessly with EasyBlog. When you enable avatar view in EasyBlog, it will pull those avatars from EasyDiscuss into EasyBlog in every blog you post.

We've also done some fixes on existing features, available in the changelog here http://stackideas.com/downloads/changelog.html?product=com_easyblog

And, EasyBlog 3.7 still works in Joomla 1.5, 1.6, 1.7 and 2.5. We still provide support to you if you are using older versions of Joomla.

Download the latest EasyBlog now!

DOWNLOAD EASYBLOG 3.7 FOR JOOMLA 3.0

It's great to work with our template partner JoomlaShine as we both compliment each other to come up with the best Joomla solutions you could get. The first impression of your Joomla site is important in establishing a connection with your audience and your website design will be the forein getting the message across.

JoomlaShine has nailed it once again with the birth of two new Joomla templates -- JSN Decor and JSN Vintage! We are also excited about these new template release as both are already compatible with our Joomla blog extension EasyBlog, too.

The JSN Vintage has that classic feeling if you want to create websites for hotels, antiques, sentimental, etc. See how it makes EasyBlog achieve the same classic looks:

VIEW JSN VINTAGE DEMO | VIEW EASYBLOG DEMO

JSN Decor template is best for websites like interior design, architecture, etc. You can see that EasyBlog fits like a glove in the screenshot:

VIEW JSN DECOR DEMO | VIEW EASYBLOG DEMO

The best part of it all is both JoomlaShine templates are fully responsive for any screen sizes of today's gadgets. Both templates does not support Joomla 1.5 so you might need to upgrade your site to at least Joomla 2.5 to make them work.

FOR A LIMITED TIME:

Because StackIdeas and JoomlaShine are partners in crime, you get to enjoy 30%-off when you get these new templates! Use coupon code: STACK30 when you get the templates from JoomlaShine website:

GET JOOMLASHINE TEMPLATES WITH 30% DISCOUNT NOW

 Offer lasts till Sunday, Oct 28th 2012 at 2359 hours (UTC+0)

EasyBlog was created with extensibility in mind. Our Joomla extensions are highly customizable and readily integrated so that we can help webmasters achieve what they want in a Joomla website.

In today's blog, we will show you another integration possibility that can help pay your bills. We are happy to show you how to monetize your EasyBlog blog with the help of SocialAds, created by our partner TechJoomla.

SocialAds is basically a one-stop solution of an advertisement system that you can manage ads, display banners and accept payments for advertising in a Joomla website. Advertisements can appear in Joomla articles and blogs and this includes blogs by our very own EasyBlog. If you already invested in EasyBlog and loved the returns from it, now is the time for you to take a step further by making money from your blog posts in EasyBlog.

We've created a demo of how SocialsAds works in EasyBlog. See how ads are created and displayed in this demo.

The TechJoomla Team have also created a comprehensive guide on how to get started with monetizing your EasyBlog. They have also offered a special incentive to you when you start monetizing your EasyBlog with SocialAds. Get a 20% discount when you buy SocialAds  from today till Sunday, October 14th, 2012 using this code: MONETIZE20

Monetize Your Blog & Get SocialAds!

If you haven't got EasyBlog, you could also get it at $5-off! Just use our coupon STACK5 to get instant $5 discount. BUY EASYBLOG.

We've been quietly improving the workflow of a major feature in EasyBlog. If you've read our blog last week, the major improvement was done on the Media Manager. Today, we are happy to announce the release of EasyBlog 3.6 and proud to show you the latest and FASTEST Media Manager ever for a Joomla blog extension.

We've added more stuff besides the ones mentioned in the previous blog post. Here are some of them worth highlighting:

• Revamped Media Manager
• Pagination settings for archived view
• Ability to filter by by category for single latest entry
• New Related Post module
• Sorting option 'by item ordering' in categories module
• and lots more... view the changelog

TIPS TO UPGRADE YOUR EASYBLOG

If you are using EasyBlog version 3.0.x and below, you are advised to uninstall your EasyBlog first and re-install EasyBlog 3.6 into your Joomla. You are not to upgrade your EasyBlog by installing on top (overwriting) of it.

Upgrading from EasyBlog 3.5 to 3.6 is as simple as installing it without uninstalling.

If you've been waiting to start a blog in Joomla, or thinking of moving over from older blog extensions, this is the right time for you to get a copy of the latest EasyBlog.

Get EasyBlog Now!

Media Manager for EasyBlog is a brilliant solution for you to insert images, audio and videos easily into your blog post. Since its initial release in EasyBlog 3.5, we have gathered numerous valuable feedback from you guys and rolled them into our next release. So here are some of the juicy stuff to expect from Media Manager in EasyBlog 3.6:

We love to work with other aspiring Joomla components developers because we believe initiatives like this symbolizes the open source spirit. This time, we've worked with JoomlaCK Editor to announce the smooth integration of this useful text editor for our Joomla blog component, EasyBlog.

JoomlaCK Editor is a lightweight, powerful WYSIWYG content editor for Joomla.  If you are familiar with the available content editors in the market, JoomlaCK Editor will not be foreign to you but instead with it, you can do MORE than just producing formatted text. Check out their latest version at their website.

We managed to get it installed in our Joomla and enabled it in the backend of EasyBlog as the default content editor. Look at what we got after the successful integration, in the screenshots below...

The frontend look of JoomlaCK Editor within EasyBlog:

This is how your Joomla backend looks when using JoomlaCK Editor within EasyBlog:

Notice the little icons in the content area? It was made possible with JoomlaCK Editor! In other words, you can produce beautiful blogs in EasyBlog with this wonderful content editor that you can download for free. There are other cool Joomla components to check out in JoomlaCK Editor and you need to be a member to download and use them.

FOR A LIMITED TIME ...

The JoomlaCK Editor Team is happy to offer you a 15% discount on their membership from today till September 15th, 2012. If you are already using EasyBlog, make sure to try out JoomlaCK Editor to spice up your blogs.

JOIN JOOMLACK EDITOR NOW WITH 15%-OFF!

Use coupon code: JCKBLOG16

Based on the feedback that we have received from our users when we released EasyDiscuss 3, our dedicated developers have been burning the midnight oil working on EasyDiscuss 3.1. Before I start bragging about some of the key features of EasyDiscus 3.1, it is my duty to let you know that we are also working on a new extension concurrently. More details will follow up very soon about our new extension, in a separate blog :)

Here are some of the reasons why you'll love the awesome EasyDiscuss 3.1:

A new theme

Twitter Bootstrap is great but we noticed that there are just too many sites that solely rely on their base styles. This makes every site look pretty much the same and kinda boring too! Some improvisations were done and our design engineer crafted this:

And oh, if you must know, our creative designer is now working on another prototype design (Still in the works, yeah).

Branching

Quite often on your site, some of the replies are worth being a discussion itself. In EasyDiscuss 3.1, we have introduced branching where you as the site administrator or your moderators can branch existing replies to be a discussion itself.

Converting comments as reply

At times, your user might post their answers through the built-in comment in the discussion itself and there wasn't any way to move the comment into an existing discussion and have it work as a reply. With EasyDiscuss 3.1, you will be able to convert existing comments on the site into a reply.

Online Status

A problem that most site owner's had previously was when the user's does not know the online status of another user. There is no way to tell if the moderator is currently online or not. In EasyDiscuss 3.1, we have introduced the new online state which appears beneath the author's avatar and name. This of course, is configurable as well.

Post types

In EasyDiscuss 3.1, you will also be able to define new post types for your site. When users create a new discussion, they would then be able to select the type of the post. It could be feature request, issues, tasks, bugs or anything else that would suit your site.

New post statuses

In EasyDiscuss 3.1, moderators can assign additional post statuses for the discussions on the site. This would then allow other users to view the state of the current discussion.

That's all folks. Stay tune to updates from our Facebook and Twitter page.

Of late, we've been receiving growing interest in our question-and answer tool EasyDiscuss from users looking to start a forum in their Joomla website. We are happy to discover that users are now learning about the real use of EasyDiscuss in managing opinions and feedbacks amongst users. And soon enough, we will see more Joomla templates supporting this extension as well.

In fact, there are already a handful of Joomla template developers built templates that integrate with EasyDiscuss. Recently, there is a new Joomla template supporting EasyDiscuss -- Xyst by ThemeRox.

Xyst is a responsive Joomla template best for corporate websites and it works on Joomla 2.5 and 3.0. Some of the main features includes:

• 5 types of slideshows
• 8 colors to choose from
• 4 columns supported
• 30 Photoshop files for customization
• and many more

Take a look at EasyDiscuss in the Xyst theme:

This theme is the sole product offered by ThemeRox and is available at ThemeForest template marketplace. You could also go in-depth into this theme in their demo.

 VIEW THE XYST-EASYDISCUSS DEMO IN JOOMLA 2.5 / 3.0

It's finally here! The highly anticipated Joomla discussions component EasyDiscuss version 2.0 stable is released!

We at StackIdeas are proud to announce this super versatile tool for Joomla is now packed with even more powerful features. Features that help fueling the need of a professional discussions area for your Joomla website, EasyDiscuss 2.0 is all set for the future -- Joomla 2.5 ready.

Read more after the jump

Yes, the wait is over! We are proud to announce the versatile Joomla questions and answers component EasyDiscuss version 2.0 is released today. Bear in mind, this is a beta version which means it still has to undergo a period of stress test before a stable release is out.

If you are already our customer, please feel free to login to our website and proceed to our forum at http://stackideas.com/support/discussions/index/easydiscuss-203091.html to download the EasyDiscuss 2.0 beta and do a trial run in your local server. I couldn't emphasize more on testing it on a local server and not on a live website because this beta version may contain certain bugs that may mess up your website.  So, yeah, I hope you understand.

Read more after the jump

This is actually my first blog post after joining the company not long ago. Some of you may have known me since back then but those who have never get to meet me yet, I am Mark one of the new developers here.

I hoped you guys are excited when the earlier post about EasyDiscuss 2.0 as it will be one of the biggest change ever. While working on EasyDiscuss, we were a reluctant to actually create YAC (Yet Another Comment) plugin but after developing it on the initial wireframe stages, it got us thinking that this is pretty cool and it allows easy searching when the replies are actually done in the discussions itself.

The plugin allows you to automatically link the articles in Joomla back to EasyDiscuss and vice versa. So, here it is some screenies of how it works and how it's going to help you build your site to allow collaboration between your site members and the author's on the site.

This is what the front page would look like after enabling this plugin.

First of all, I would like to wish everyone Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everybody had an awesome dinner last night.

By the way, I am Ajmal, the new hire here at Stackideas as the marketing guy. What can be more exciting for the new guy to start off than to announce the latest updates about one of our products, EasyDiscuss!

One of our focus lately is beefing up our Joomla questions and answers component, EasyDiscuss.

We gathered quite a substantial number of feedback from our customers about certain features to be included in the next new release of EasyDiscuss.

The list shows the major features that we believe will soothe the endeavoring souls of developers whom have been alerting us to have them included in the next version and, here we have it.

Whether it is a website on photography, catalogs, or an online family album, you will need a reliable image gallery extension to do the job for you. Better if both the gallery and comments tool work smoothly together so you could save more time in development. You could search the JED for the right Joomla extensions for the perfect combo but in this blog, you don't need to search far -- we've got just the right recommendations for you.

Enter FW Gallery and Komento in this new integration effort between StackIdeas and FastW3b!

FW Gallery contains useful features that's flexible for any kind of website to display beautiful image galleries. To enable comments for these images, just use Komento. The latest FW Gallery version 2.1 is compatible with Joomla 2.5 and 3.0 and is optimized for Komento with the help of the Comment Plugin for FW Gallery. 

See how Komento fits like a glove within the images displayed inside FW Gallery:

Deploying this combo doesn't require rocket scientist. You just need 3 items to make this work:

1. FW Gallery extension
2. Komento extension
3. Comment Plugin for FW Gallery (the all important tool to bridge both extensions)

Download and install all 3 items in your Joomla. In the Plug-in Manager of your Joomla backend, make sure that Komento is selected inside the Comment Plugin basic options tab.

After that, go to Komento backend > Integration and select Komento-FWGallery integration.

Make sure that comments are enabled and check other settings that may be important for you.



You're done! You now have an online gallery that's ready to receive comments and feedback from viewers.

DOWNLOAD KOMENTO   DOWNLOAD FW GALLERY

In Joomla, there are many tools that you can use to make your site work better for you. With the help of Content Construction Kits (CCK) - like K2, FlexiContent and ZOO - you can do wonders with your content. Komento now supports these CCK and you can enable your comments in these articles. Today's blog is all about a new integration with the upcoming CCK -- Cobalt 8.

Cobalt 8 is a fast growing CCK that works in Joomla 2.5 and 3.0 also, this can be used to construct any kind of websites from online galleries to e-commerce. We are happy to announce that you can now add Komento into articles created from Cobalt 8. Cobalt 8 already has it's own built-in comment system but, you may still use Komento if it is your preferred choice.

Take a look at how Komento works in Cobalt 8's articles page:

Activating Komento is really easy. You obviously need to have Cobalt 8 and Komento installed to your site.

From the backend of your Joomla, under Komento integrations, you should see a Cobalt 8 button, click on the button and this will bring you to the configuration page.

From here you can enable / disable how you want Komento to work on theses pages.

 Simple as that!

Our partner Fastw3b recently worked an integration of its popular real estate component FW Real Estate with Komento!

FW Real Estate is a top-rated Joomla property listing component with advanced features that you can use to create a full-featured real estate site. The new version 2.0 is compatible with Joomla 2.5.x and 3.0 and supports Komento and its other features as well.

Build interaction within your property pages

With this integration, Komento gives your property listing site more value as it allows visitors to comment on a particular property page itself. These comments represents the opinions of visitors and they are important decision factors for buyers to get the best property they desire. Of course, negative or abusive comments can easily be contained with Komento's filtering feature, presenting a 'clean' property website to your audiences.

Some of the main features of FW Real Estate includes:

Features for property agents and property sellers:

• Subscription facility – option to charge agents to add their properties
• Watermark feature
• Automated/manual agent approval
• Option to upload unlimited properties images, PDF files, video files, etc.
• Unlimited categories and types
• Google Captcha, and much more

Features for users and property buyers:

• Favorites list with add as favorite feature
• In-depth searches on price, property type, bathroom numbers, floor areas and more
• Add comments with Komento
• Apply simple-to-use filters like availability filters, lease term filters, ‘order by’ filters, etc
• Save searches option
• Share via Twitter, Facebook and email
• Print option
• View on Google Maps (Street view included)
• Add properties via front-end and much more

Check out the demo of a property listing site powered by FW Real Estate >>

And this is how it looks like when Komento works in FW Real Estate:

You will need to have 3 items to make this work:

1. FW Real Estate component
2. Komento component
3. FW Real Estate plugin for Komento

The FW Real Estate plugin is free to download at FastW3b website.

SPECIAL OFFER FROM FASTW3B:

The Fastw3b team is happy to grant all Komento users a 10% discount on all FW Real Estate Packs except Custom/MLS Pack. Please contact Fastw3b for more details. This offer expires on March 20th, 2013.

We are happy to announce the release of Komento 1.5 stable. This version will be the FIRST COMMENT EXTENSION to work in Joomla 3.0!

Some major updates in Komento 1.5 :

• Supports Joomla 3.0
• Optimized to work with large database
• Added custom columns view in backend comments management page
• Added reverse threaded sorting

Minor features:

• Added HWDMediaShare avatar integrations
• Added option to show comment ID
• Added option to parse http links
• Added option to use date time as permalink

Komento highlights

Joomla 3.0 ready!

We hope it is not too long a wait for Komento to support Joomla 3.0. We just had to make sure everything works right before we could release a compatible version. Along with it, we've also got dozens of requests to add new features so it took a bit of time to get this version out. We hope it is worth the wait!

Custom columns

We try to satisfy every user with cool features and this one should keep many of you happy for a long time. Some users want to view IP address, some like to view the email of the commentor so we've created total flexibility for you to configure these views in the backend of Komento already.

Reverse threaded

Viewing your latest or oldest comments in threaded mode can now be configured to your liking.

Upgrade to Komento 1.5

You can download the latest Komento version now and upgrade the one already in your site. Just install it on top without uninstalling it and you should see a little warning message like in the screenshot below..

We have made Komento to support large amount of comments (we've got users with sites that goes up to 30,000 comments!) and this step is important to follow. This will actually optimize Komento to load comments much faster.

Remember to head over to the Settings page to perform this maintenance action.

If your website is running on Joomla 1.5 and still need time to make the move to 3.0, worry not as we still have Komento for Joomla 1.5 too.

Go ahead and upgrade your Komento to the latest version! If you need any assistance, send them over to http://crm.stackideas.com.

DOWNLOAD KOMENTO 1.5 NOW

We are pleased to announce a new update for Komento, your preferred comment extension for Joomla. I am also taking this opportunity to share the 3 main highlights of this release.

Komento version 1.0.2841 now includes 2 new integrations with other Joomla extensions and 1 new feature that is highly requested by our customers.

Integration with HWDMediaShare

If you are using HWDMediaShare to display your media, now you can add Komento to it to activate comments in those media pages. Komento is ready to support HWDMediaShare in this version. Please take note that you will need to install the Komento addon from HWDMediaShare to enable Komento on HWDMediaShare. Refer to the documentation page for more information on how to enable Komento for HWDMediaShare.

This is how Komento fits into your media pages of HWDMediaShare:

Integration with SobiPro

And if you do have a directory site powered by SobiPro, Komento will add more value to it where users can leave their comments in those directory pages. You don't need any plugins to install as Komento is configured in the backend itself. Refer to our documentation page for more information on how to enable Komento for SobiPro.

Email notification for specific user groups

Previously, Komento sends email notifications of latest comments to the site administrator, subscribers and authors. In this version of Komento, we've given you total control of this where you can specify which user group you wish these email notifications to go to. This is great if you want to control privacy amongst user groups.

Check out how Komento looks like in some of our clients' sites

There you have it, the latest build of Komento that you must check it out. Komento is free to use and if you require professional technical support, here are some options for you.

Let's face it, we humans are not a happy lot when it comes to changes in our lives. Likewise, if you are moving all your existing comments from one Joomla component to another, the thought of migration easily puts you off when you have to deal with technical processes.

Well, for Komento, moving your old comments to Komento does not require rocket science. If you need to migrate comments from components that Komento doesn't support (like JomComment), you can breathe easy now as Komento comes with custom migration.

It only requires very minimal clicks to make the move over, really. To access custom migration, go to your Joomla's backend, and access Komento -> Migration, and you will see the "Custom" tab, in the image below. (click to enlarge view)

Just select the table name and the corresponding column name, set the component filter to your desired component, and click Start Migration. Simple as that!

Notice that the progress bar shows you the status of the migration so it may require a little longer time to move all your comments over to Komento if you have a large comment database.

What about migrating from other comment extensions?

You can also migrate your comments from ZOO, K2, SLIComments, JComments, JA Comment, CompoJoomComment, RSComments and even from EasyBlog out-of-the-box for Komento. For components that are not supported yet, Custom Migration is now here for you to migrate from any database table.

Feel free to drop us your comments below about this convenience. If you have any technical issues, you can post it in our Komento forum.

A new hotfix for Komento is available for download now. A very helpful user pointed to us a little issue in Komento and we had to postpone our restful weekend to get it fixed and resolved.

Designing a component for Joomla is not an easy task. For Komento, we had to make sure that the design is appropriate and easy to use for Joomla users around the world. The development team is focused on building an engaging user interface, in the hope of delivering users a great experience.

Komento's comment form is an integral part of the component itself. From here, your users will know the total number of characters that they have keyed in, tag their locations and with the power of BBCode, your users can do more than just plain text inputs. We have even integrated anti spam functions to control inappropriate replies with Captcha, flood control, word censoring, and Akismet in the comment form itself.

Recently, we added a new feature that allows users to insert Attachments. I have been assigned to improve this function to work even better. So lets take a look at the previous design, as shown below.

Overall, I assume that every user will understand what is the purpose of each section and knows how to use it, but then again, I could be wrong.

Putting on my bigger thinking cap and with some tweaks, here's how it looked.

As you can see, the attachment table is simple for users to understand on how they want to manage it later. But still, there are some room for improvements for this, for example, the Attach File button should not be in the middle of attachment table and the text editor -- users might miss out this function later. I have to say that the information design approach is direct and easy to follow, and with some touch-ups, we can restructure this information better.

So here is the comment form design AFTER the makeover.

In terms of organization, I tried to make it look as good as before the makeover structure. With box-to-box touch, I managed to make every section feel related to each other, organized and even simplified the overall viewing of the attached files.

In the new layout tweak, Komento users will find attaching images, documents and videos a breeze to use. After all, free Joomla components doesn't necessarily mean inferior products. Well, not at StackIdeas, for sure.

What do you think? Happy commenting!

After more than 2 weeks of the Komento stable release, we are happy to announce two more goodies of what this Joomla comment extension will bring you next.

1. Improved category selection

We've improved the category selection feature by adding in more flexible options. Existing users will need to reconfigure this settings if Komento is not loading properly on articles.

2. Attachments

This new feature will probably be the first amongst the other popular Joomla comment extensions that you see in the market. Your visitors can now do more to beef up their comments with Komento in your Joomla articles.

You can now attach files with Komento!

Do take note that existing users will need to manually configure this by going to: Integration -> Attachment

ACL (new attachment related rules)

Kindly take note that existing users of Komento will have to manually enable this attachment feature when you upgrade to this version.

Each attachment has its own preset icons that makes the attached files look more pleasant.

If you'd like to view the Komento changelog, its at http://stackideas.com/downloads/changelog.html?product=com_komento

Download it for free now.

We are happy to announce the release of Komento stable version 1.0.2136!

The good keeps getting better! The engines in the StackIdeas Team have been chugging hard and this time, the energy is channeled into the popular Joomla comment extension, Komento.

Just so you know, SectionEx is now compatible with websites that are using Joomla 2.5 and Joomla 3.0!

You can now have a beautifully organized Joomla website the way you have always wanted. SectionEx works like a site map or directory tree, where you can browse all your articles and categories in a listed format.

It has an easy-to-use and smooth interface for both front and back end.  Our designer came up with a new theme for SectionEx, it is called Default.

You can learn more about the features of SectionEx 2.5.93 here or grab the latest SectionEx by clicking the button below:

I want my SectionEx

Today we are proud to release latest version for SectionEx, v1.6.8. This release fixes several bugs in template override and page title. With this new version, you can simply choose to use theme from template override folder or other themes, configurable in your menu item parameter. With this option, you have more freedom in choosing your preferred styles without limits.

Joomla is super versatile when you want to create great looking websites with great features, like an online store, an online directory, a helpdesk, a blog site and more. In this webinar, StackIdeas and CloudAccess will zoom in to the blogging part of Joomla using the all-in-one EasyBlog extension.

This will be our first webinar and our effort to reach to all our users in a personal level and tell you more about us and how EasyBlog works for you. Our lead developer Mark Lee will be sharing on behalf of the StackIdeas team and if you have any sort of questions, you are free to ask him that time.

It's tomorrow!

When: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 9:00 am EST
Cost: FREE

Register early as space is limited

REGISTER NOW

Mother's Day is approaching and we usually find ourselves thinking about all of the wonderful things our mothers have done for us.

Here at StackIdeas, we love our jobs, our food, and our products. Yet, we still love our moms the most as they are the ones that have given us all the best bits in our lives including, say, the opportunity for us to create some amazing Joomla extensions for the community :)

StackIdeas is happy to offer you 30% off on our Joomla extensions this Mother's Day. Just use coupon code ILUVMOM to enjoy the 30% discount instantly. All of the products that are eligible for this offer are as below:

Product Bundles

Get EasyBlog, EasyDiscuss and Komento in one great discounted price for only $110.60 instead of $158
( you save $47.40 ).

This offer has expired

EasyBlog

We recently released EasyBlog 3.8 that comes with many bugs fixes and some new features for your new blog. The discounted price of EasyBlog's most popular plan is now at $55.30 instead of $79 ( saved $23.70 ).

This offer has expired

EasyDiscuss

If you haven't already used EasyDiscuss, you should grab a copy for yourself now. Supports responsive and Joomla 2.5 & 3.0. Our most popular plan is now selling at $55.30 instead of $79 ( saved $23.70 ).

This offer has expired

Komento

Still using and loving our FREE version of Komento? And now you want more of it? It's time to grab your professional copy of this powerful comment extension for Joomla at a discounted price! Now, Komento's most popular plan is only selling at $31.50 instead of $45 ( saved $13.50 ).

This offer has expired

This promotion is not valid for:

• Any license renewals, upgrades, JomSocial addons and SectionEx.
• Use with any other ongoing promotions/offers from websites other than Stackideas.com

If you have any other inquiries, please feel free to send them at our Support Centre

This Mother's Day promotion starts:

on Tuesday 7th, 2013 at 9:00am (UTC - 7 PDT) and ends on Sunday 12th, 2013 at 11:59pm (UTC - 7 PDT). Remember to use coupon code ILUVMOM to get the 30% discount when you're at the checkout page.

The Joomla!dagen Netherlands 2013 was a great experience of sorts. I can say it couldn't get any better in the organisation of this great event. Of course, this event was not the first time Sander Potjer (of ACL Manager) and his team running the show as it was the 8th time to be held in this land of beautiful tulips and historic windmills.

We only had 3 days to spend -- one in Amsterdam and 2 days were for the actual Joomla!dagen event. And in both days, the talks were a good mix of technical and non-technical topics that were mostly in Dutch language. The organisers were very thoughtful as they didn't leave out the English speaking attendees where each hour slot had an English speaker in it. Naturally, we went to most of the English sessions except for one that requires prior technical and programming knowledge to understand (I'm in marketing and Chang is our frontend developer).

Attendees also get to meet with the experts in one-to-one sessions via the Doctor Joomla where these 'doctors' will be stationed at a large desk to answer and guide these curious attendees.

Topics covered ranged from the future versions of Joomla 3 to the right selection of font type to attract visitors to stay in your site and it was all truly insightful and enlightening. The highlight of the event goes to speaker Paul Delbar and his 2-piece band singing the Joomla Blues song and the Story of Brian (Teeman??) where he shared about the trials and tribulations of maintaining a website.

We stayed at the Wouschoten Hotel and the distance between the room and the event was just a few steps away. I must commend again the thoughtfulness of the organisers for this awesome planning. Double thumbs up!

The relationships with people that we've contacted via email and Skype were renewed as I personally met the Joomla 'big guys' like Brian Teeman, Peter van Westen (NoNumber.nl), David-Andrew de Boer, Theo van der Zee of ThemePartner, Sander Potjer, Dianne Henning, Robert Deutz, Jisse Rietsma, Denis Dulici, and the SiteGround team.

I can sum up and say that all the years of running the Joomla!dagen had indirectly produced a whopping 15 Joomla! User Groups (JUGs) in the Netherlands! This reality was shown in the over 300 attendees who turned up at this event. I think Joomla is a common tool that many Dutch web developers are comfortable with. We were also proud to know quite a substantial attendees we've spoken to are familiar or have used EasyBlog, EasyDiscuss and Komento!

We want to thank the organizers for the opportunity to sponsor the Joomla!dagen Netherlands 2013! You could also view more pictures here.

We received numerous requests from non paying customers where their site has been hacked. Upon inspecting on some of these sites which downloaded EasyBlog and EasyDiscuss, some of the codes in the software has been injected with some "backdoors" which allows the hacker to gain super admin access to your site.

We would like to inform all non customers who obtained the extension from any external sites that we will not be providing any support and we do not hold any responsibility if your site is being hacked because you downloaded the archive from a 3rd party (warez / unofficial site).

If you are already using an unofficial copy, please do consider purchasing a valid subscription and install the official versions available only from out website http://stackideas.com.

If you are using the official copy, you are absolutely safe from all these reports :)

Again, we would like to stress out that we will not be responsible if your site is hacked because you installed an unofficial version.

Put it this way, EasyDiscuss is the Swiss Army knife of a Joomla forum. If you've seen the likes of StackOverflow, Yahoo! Answers and Quora, or even Kunena and phpBB, then EasyDiscuss is capable of doing them all in one single installation.

For a limited time, we want you to give EasyDiscuss a try and see the wonders in it. Go on and install it in your localhost or live site and play with it with all your might.

What you will get:

Your free EasyDiscuss license entitles you:

• 6 months worth of EasyDiscuss Professional ( Valued at $39.5 )
• Unlimited software downloads
• Unlimited professional theme downloads
• Regular software updates
• Access to documentations
• Participate in our forum to get support
• Access to priority technical support. See what others are saying about our awesome support.

I want my FREE EasyDiscuss!

Getting your free license of EasyDiscuss is easy. Purchase any of our Joomla extensions (EasyBlog, Komento, and Bundles) and we will add in the EasyDiscuss license into your account.

Here are some terms to get you through:

1. Only for new purchases made from today onwards from our website. Purchases before April 16th, 2013 is not eligible for the free EasyDiscuss license.
2. If you buy any of the single EasyDiscuss license from April 16th onwards till 18th, you will receive the additional 6-months to your license.
3. Not valid on any license renewals, upgrades and JomSocial addons.
4. Not valid with any other promotions/offers, e.g. the use of coupons is not allowed.
5. Bundles that has EasyDiscuss included will be added 6-months to the license.
6. Please allow 24-hours for your free EasyDiscuss license to appear in your account.

EasyDiscuss is free for 3-days from April 16th - 18th, 2013 at 2359 hours (UTC -8) Pacific Time.

THIS OFFER HAS ALREADY EXPIRED

We are extremely happy about Joomladagen Netherlands because we will be there! We last sponsored Joomlday Netherlands in 2011 and this time we are sponsoring again and want to be upclose and personal with fellow Dutch Joomla fans there.

You can expect Joomla 'celebrities' like Sander Potjer (ACL Manager), Brian Teeman, Ronald Pijpers, Peter Martin, and more to give you the low down on Joomla and things that revolved around it. If you havent got tickets, you better grab them now.

We will be arriving at Amsterdam on April 18th for a short day trip in the city and the next day on 19th, we will be at Zeist in the Meet & Greet session where sponsors, speakers and participants get to mingle before the actual event day on Saturday, April 20th.

If you guys are in Amsterdam or at Zeist, come and introduce yourself. We would love to meet each and every one of our Dutch Joomla users better!

GET TICKETS TO JOOMLADAGEN

We seem to be experiencing some email delivery issues by our mail provider Mandrill, earlier but the issue has now been resolved and you should be getting the mails really soon. Apparently the emails that we have sent out from our helpdesk a couple of hours ago wasn't delivered. If you have submitted a support ticket or email but still haven't received a reply yet, please do let us know.

Thank you for understanding and sincerely apologize for any inconveniences caused.

Bunnies, chocolates, colorful eggs...do they all remind you of a special day? You've guessed it right, it is Easter! At Stackideas we want to make this Easter day filled with sweet memories that will lasts.

Want to blog about your Easter celebration, start a discussion with your peeps to plan for the best Easter ever, or leave comments at your friend‘s blog post? We want to make your Easter celebration EXTRA special with a limited offer on all our Joomla extensions.

GRAB YOUR EASTER GOODIES TODAY!

We are giving you an additional 4 months support license with any purchase made in our STORE. No coupons needed, just purchase like normal and the extra 4 months will be added automatically. This offer will start today and end on March 31st, 2013 at 2359 hrs (GMT+0).

What are you waiting for? Hop into our store and grab your Easter goodies now!

Other Easter offers from our partners:

JoomPlace is offering you 20%OFF all of our extensions offered in our STORE! Just use the discount code – EASTER20JP – when purchasing any product. This sale will expire Sunday night (March, 31). Hurry up!

Use ENJOYEASTER to get 15% off for all FW Gallery subscriptions, VirtueMart Rental products and other nice extensions. The deal is valid till April 1 only.

I had a short stint as a counselor in one of the summer camps in Charlton, near Boston. It was 10 years ago where I last explored the streets of Boston and I must say it was a great experience working with an international staff and having fun with the kids at camp. I won't be going to Boston this time but StackIdeas will, in a form of sponsoring Joomla Day Boston.

Joomla Day Boston 2013 will be held on March 16th (that's this weekend!) at Microsoft's NERD Center where you get to learn all about Joomla and most importantly, relationship building amongst Joomla fans and users. This full day learning event will be held in 3 main rooms catered for beginner, intermediate and advanced Joomla users so regardless of which level you belong, there sure are lots to learn!

If you are an aspiring Joomla extensions/template developer or looking to build your network and possibly know who's who in Joomla. Some of the important folks to shake hands with are Paul Orwig, President of Open Source Matters, Elin Waring, Joomla Bug Squad, Andy Tarr and Michael Babker both from Joomla Production Leadership Team, and lots more.

StackIdeas is proud to be the Emerald sponsor for Joomla Day Boston 2013 and we were given 2 entry passes to attend the event. Unfortunately, we won't be able to make it and we want to give the passes away to deserving fans and users of our extensions.

All you need to do to get the passes is drop us a comment below and tell us WHY you deserve to attend the Joomla Day Boston.

You have until this Friday, March 15th, 2013 to send us your comments!

We love our family, love our food, and love our jobs. Here at StackIdeas, we love Joomla to bits and if you love us, it means you love Joomla too!

And, we hope you love Joomla a little more on Valentine's Day with a 20%-off when you buy any of our Joomla extensions storewide! Just use coupon code ILUVJOOMLA to enjoy the 20% discount instantly.

If you have been saving up to buy our popular blog extension EasyBlog, your savings value has just been bumped up with a 20% discount where you can buy EasyBlog Professional for only $63.20 instead of $79.

We recently released EasyDiscuss 3.0 that now works for Joomla 3.0 is also yours at 20% discount also at $63.20 for 12-months worth of support license. If you are using Joomla 1.6 to 2.5, worry not as the all-new EasyDiscuss 3.0 is still supporting them.

Our powerful comment extension for Joomla, Komento can be owned for $36 instead of $45. Komento is the FIRST comment extension to support Joomla 3.0!

JomSocial-powered communities can also take this advantage to start a blogging community by using our JomSocial plugins to activate JomSocial Group Blogging and blogging in JomSocial Events. Check out these powerful plugins at our Store.

If you have any sort of inquiries, feel free to send them at our Support Centre where we will get you answers on sales and product related details.

This Valentine's Day offer starts today and ends on February 17th, 2013 at 2359 hours (GMT+0). Remember to use coupon code ILUVJOOMLA to get the 20% discount when you purchase.