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[TomC Moderator TomCJoin date: October 2014Posts: 14077Downloads:58Uploads:137 Thanks: 948 Thanked: 3155 times in 2495 posts]

#172291

<blockquote>Move over CNN … Take a back-seat FoxNews … 2012 is here and JA NEX HAS ARRIVED !!!

Built upon JA’s robust JAT3 2 Framework and empowered with dynamic extensions like JA News Pro, JA Contentslider and JA Tabs – JA NEX brings it all together in an easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate way. With the content/blogging power of K2 (for both J1.5 and J1.7 versions) and Kunena, stories can easily be shared, liked or disliked and conversation encouraged on every story.

Bundled with multiple complimentary extensions, navigation systems and six color themes – JA NEX is how news can, and should, work on the Web.
</blockquote>

I don’t know about you, but as I was reviewing our first JATC Template for 2012 – JA NEX – I immediately became a fan and see the enormous potential this template offers right from the “starting point” get-go – judging not only on it’s web features, but also on the design, aesthetics and general usability of the template.

Now, before some of you succumb to a “first-glance/knee-jerk” reaction of “nothing new/same ‘ole, same’ole,” consider not only the idea First Impressions . . . Can CHANGE . . . but consider the following thoughts and ideas as well . . .

A Genuine Online NEWS Presence, and MORE . . .
In contrast to our highly regarded Teline series of templates, I like the “non-newspaperish” and/or online “magazine” feeling that JA-NEX exudes. It’s significantly different from any other newspaper site. Through integration of such extensions as K2, JA Comments, RSS, etc., JA NEX offers users interactive features such as comments and blogsand looks good while doing it.

Check out some of the “top” news sites out there – CNN, Reuters, BBC, FOX, etc. – and you will see the “basics” of what makes for a popular and high-trafficked online news site. With the myriad of extensions available to the Joomla Community via such resources as the Joomla Extension Directory, the possibilities are virtually limitless with what you can do with a JA NEX based website.

Social Networking. Social Networking. Social Networking . . .
Did I mention that this site offers robust social networking features right out of the box? – with the potential for increased social networking power through both JA’s proprietary Facebook/Twitter extensions (as well as other 3rd party extensions available via the JED. Add to this the robust content-creation and blogging power of the K2 CCK component . . . YES, for both the J1.5 and J1.7 versions . . . if online news and blogging had a love child, JA NEX would be it.

Why not try to make some money while you’re at it? . . .
With a dynamic information/news themed website such as JA NEX, the opportunity to capitalize on user traffic can be potentially rewarding. Content websites typically earn money through one of four ways: Commissions/Affiliate links, Advertising networks, Selling your own ads, Subscription/Paid Content. Again, there is a healthy number of 3rd party extensions available through the aforementioned JED for all of the above-mentioned methods – any one (or all) of which you could very easily integrate into your JA NEX based site to try to generate a little revenue for your hard work and efforts in delivering informative (keyword rich) content to your target audience.

Add to that list the idea of including an online store to your site – and your potential revenue-generating opportunities increases.

[FONT=arial black]In Conclusion . . . . .
[/FONT]I personally find JA NEX to be an exciting way to begin the new year for JoomlArt. It’s enough of a departure from JA’s acclaimed “Teline” series to stand alone as a potentially powerful and robust online news website, while organizing/presenting content in such a way as to make things easy to navigate and find. In addition to the six color theme options that have been integrated as standard within the base JA NEX template, the long list of complimentary extensions – including JA Tabs, JA News Pro, JA Featured News, K2 and Kunena – send JA NEX off and running with an amazing starting point for creating and presenting a truly special content rich/social media empowered website experience.

😎

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1. rocco55
2. Aratype
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4. jersonjunior
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6. coalition

[coalition Friend coalitionJoin date: December 2010Posts: 106Downloads:0Uploads:8 Thanks: 5 Thanked: 18 times in 1 posts]

#435823

Follow up review: Feel free to remove this comment.

I think that Nex has some very nice appearance features, but also could have used some enhancements to Joomla’s core presentation, without hacking core files.

I have been trying Nex for a project I am “considering” and have run into difficulties with the many limitations Joomla 2.5 still has.

If you take a look at http://www.lowellnews.net (just a smaple site) you will see what I am trying to do. I used the ja_newspro module to accomplish what you will see. Category listings, and show all categories, in joomla’s core has been limited to the lazy one column view, since I don’t know how long, and it annoys me.

For products like nex and elastica, I think JA should consider developing a plugin to handle category and show all categories listings. I believe that it would open doors to JA for numerous enterprise level operations. Please take a look at the above link, and you’ll see what I mean. My use of the ja_newspro module, as shown in my nex demo, is the type of listings capabilities Joomla is in dire need of having. If i turn off the “show main component” in nex’s template profile, it presents limitations in other areas of the site that make my efforts here, useless. K2 is capable (almost) of doing what I’ve done at lowellnews.net, but I would like to be able to rely on the core joomla provisions. Multi-column listings for the categories is much needed to enhance JA’s presentational toolbox.

What do you think?

Walt.

1 user says Thank You to coalition for this useful post

1. TomC

[TomC Moderator TomCJoin date: October 2014Posts: 14077Downloads:58Uploads:137 Thanks: 948 Thanked: 3155 times in 2495 posts]

#435824

Walt . . . I have to say, that is some impressive creative customization you’re working on there. You obviously possess a great deal of knowledge and skill – which I am quite confident is growing each and every day.

I, for one, will be very interested to see how you finish things up – in terms of styling and functionality. Perhaps, when you’re finished, you can write a “Tip/Tutorial” for the JoomlArt Community. 🙂

As for a “do it for you” extension or function . . . I wonder if there might be something that performs this kind of display within the Joomla Extension Directory. (Have you checked?)

[coalition Friend coalitionJoin date: December 2010Posts: 106Downloads:0Uploads:8 Thanks: 5 Thanked: 18 times in 1 posts]

#435832

<em>@TomC 297289 wrote:</em><blockquote>Walt . . . I have to say, that is some impressive creative customization you’re working on there. You obviously possess a great deal of knowledge and skill – which I am quite confident is growing each and every day.

I, for one, will be very interested to see how you finish things up – in terms of styling and functionality. Perhaps, when you’re finished, you can write a “Tip/Tutorial” for the JoomlArt Community. 🙂</blockquote>

Yes, I’ve looked… but if you click on the “Local” menu item up top, you will discover the type of problem that arises. I guess what I failed to mention is the fact that a “module” to accomplish this type of functionality, is inappropriate. This type of functionality needs to be attached / added to the “core component” aspect of joomla, or something. Nested multicategory listings like this are big in enterprise level operations, or at least, very much desired. I have searched for an extension to do this, but no luck. And, I am not yet familiar with PHP enough to get this job done.

Walt.

[teutobahiano Friend teutobahianoJoin date: February 2011Posts: 284Downloads:16Uploads:26 Thanks: 109 Thanked: 9 times in 1 posts]

#436238

Hi Global Moderator,

Can you please tell me where K2 users find the AMAZING POTENTIAL of the JA NEX template. I don’t even find the K2 content option in the sidenews module. And my thread is getting older and older but nobody answers.

http://www.joomlart.com/forums/topic/no-k2-content-option-for-ja-sidenews-module/

Who is in charge of the template quality control? We, the “club members”?

[TomC Moderator TomCJoin date: October 2014Posts: 14077Downloads:58Uploads:137 Thanks: 948 Thanked: 3155 times in 2495 posts]

#436240

<em>@teutobahiano 297825 wrote:</em><blockquote>
Who is in charge of the template quality control? We, the “club members”?</blockquote>
Your sarcasm duly noted . . . . . Have you reviewed the JA NEX USER GUIDE and/or, perhaps, employed the DEMO BUILDER option to cross-check your configurations against the demo version?

[n6rej Friend n6rejJoin date: November 2006Posts: 1040Downloads:0Uploads:63 Thanks: 79 Thanked: 145 times in 90 posts]

#436242

Not everyone uses K2, its kinda presumptuous to think ALL extensions MUST work with K2 because k2 is supported in the template don’t you think? I can appreciate wanting to use it but because a extension is built for NON-K2 doesn’t make the template fail.
K2 <> Joomla and our products are first and foremost designed for Joomla.

[teutobahiano Friend teutobahianoJoin date: February 2011Posts: 284Downloads:16Uploads:26 Thanks: 109 Thanked: 9 times in 1 posts]

#436243

<em>@n6rej 297835 wrote:</em><blockquote>Not everyone uses K2, its kinda presumptuous to think ALL extensions MUST work with K2 because k2 is supported in the template don’t you think? I can appreciate wanting to use it but because a extension is built for NON-K2 doesn’t make the template fail.
K2 <> Joomla and our products are first and foremost designed for Joomla.</blockquote>

Dear n6rej,

After one year being a “club member” I am beginning to suspect that nearly NOBODY is able to use Joomlart templates with K2. But what is the K2 tag for? And the ‘K2 component’ in the template? May I guess?

Intended to work with K2.
Quickstart files come with K2, but please don’t change it.
The K2 tag is for marketing purpose only.
Some Joomlart extensions work with K2, others don’t. Sorry!

More suggestions accepted. If somebody has a fully working Joomlart site running K2 please send me a link! Fully working K2 site means: No Joomla articles, no Joomla categories, only K2 items and K2 categories!!! But as a real K2 veteran obviously you know what I am talking about!

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[TomC Moderator TomCJoin date: October 2014Posts: 14077Downloads:58Uploads:137 Thanks: 948 Thanked: 3155 times in 2495 posts]

#436244

<em>@teutobahiano 297841 wrote:</em><blockquote>Dear n6rej,

After one year being a “club member” I am beginning to suspect that nearly NOBODY is able to use Joomlart templates with K2. But what is the K2 tag for? And the ‘K2 component’ in the template? May I guess?

Intended to work with K2.
Quickstart files come with K2, but please don’t change it.
The K2 tag is for marketing purpose only.
Some Joomlart extensions work with K2, others don’t. Sorry!
</blockquote>
Once again, sarcasm duly noted.

The fact of the matter is that MANY members are running JATC based websites utilizing the K2 component. Further fact is that inclusion of the 3rd Party K2 component is done so as a complimentary bonus offering – for those JATC templates in which K2 is, in fact, included and styled for. JoomlArt is not the developer of K2 and, as such, makes no claim as to the 100% infallibility of function of the K2 component for purposes that deviate from that which the K2 component has been integrated and styled for within our respective JATC Templates.

Now, while we can and will certainly provide as much guidance and suggestion as we can with regard to various K2 related issues, K2 remains a 3rd Party external component and, as such, is subject to he individual user’s configuration, modification and customization to suit one’s particular needs.

Appreciate your understanding and consideration of this matter . . . as well as your continued gift of sarcastic humor.

😎

[teutobahiano Friend teutobahianoJoin date: February 2011Posts: 284Downloads:16Uploads:26 Thanks: 109 Thanked: 9 times in 1 posts]

#436249

<em>@TomC 297843 wrote:</em><blockquote>Once again, sarcasm duly noted.

The fact of the matter is that MANY members are running JATC based websites utilizing the K2 component. Further fact is that inclusion of the 3rd Party K2 component is done so as a complimentary bonus offering – for those JATC templates in which K2 is, in fact, included and styled for. JoomlArt is not the developer of K2 and, as such, makes no claim as to the 100% infallibility of function of the K2 component for purposes that deviate from that which the K2 component has been integrated and styled for within our respective JATC Templates.

Now, while we can and will certainly provide as much guidance and suggestion as we can with regard to various K2 related issues, K2 remains a 3rd Party external component and, as such, is subject to he individual user’s configuration, modification and customization to suit one’s particular needs.

Appreciate your understanding and consideration of this matter . . . as well as your continued gift of sarcastic humor.

:cool:</blockquote>

Dear Tom Crawford,

please allow me to explain the reasons for my sarcasm. When the JA NEX template was published in the Template Showcase there wasn’t any hint like “Fully K2 compatibility not guaranteed” or “Not all JA extension may work with K2”. There was only a menu option called “K2 component”. For many (?) people this means: Fully compatible with K2.

So I downloaded the quickstart file, created a new test account in my server, uploaded and extracted the quickstart file and installed the demo site. After this I configured the menus for K2, eliminated the Joomla articles and categories, found some time to report the usual problems like

http://www.joomlart.com/forums/topic/garbage-when-opening-site-based-on-ja-nex-2-3-seconds/
http://www.joomlart.com/forums/topic/ja-newspro-module-text-invading-the-neighborhood/

and changed a lot of module configurations. But when I finally opened the the JA side news module … Guess what?

GAME OVER!

There is no K2 content option. But why nobody told me first before wasting my time???

By the way: What do you mean with “…K2 remains a 3rd Party external component and, as such, is subject to he individual user’s configuration, modification and customization to suit one’s particular needs.” I know how to configure, modify and costumize K2. The problem we are discussing is that Joomlart does not know – or is not interested to know – how to configure, modify and costumize its own sidenews module for K2.

Conclusion: The real costs of Joomlart membership are not only the 70 bucks you have to pay every year. The real costs of membership are also the many hours spent with workarounds, forum researches, bug reports, thread postings and impossible missions like making JA NEX fully work with K2 or finding its “amazing potential”.

For these and other reasons I am getting ‘a little bit’ sarcastic. Am I alone?

[Manos Moderator ManosJoin date: February 2014Posts: 2806Downloads:46Uploads:56 Thanks: 200 Thanked: 633 times in 576 posts]

#436251

<em>@teutobahiano 297841 wrote:</em><blockquote>Dear n6rej,

More suggestions accepted. If somebody has a fully working Joomlart site running K2 please send me a link! Fully working K2 site means: No Joomla articles, no Joomla categories, only K2 items and K2 categories!!! But as a real K2 veteran obviously you know what I am talking about!

</blockquote>

You can see one here….and it’s old enough with no actual modifications i must say -> http://www.istories.gr

1 user says Thank You to Manos for this useful post

1. teutobahiano

[n6rej Friend n6rejJoin date: November 2006Posts: 1040Downloads:0Uploads:63 Thanks: 79 Thanked: 145 times in 90 posts]

#436277

<em>@teutobahiano 297849 wrote:</em><blockquote>
and changed a lot of module configurations. But when I finally opened the the JA side news module … Guess what?

GAME OVER!

There is no K2 content option. But why nobody told me first before wasting my time???

By the way: What do you mean with “…K2 remains a 3rd Party external component and, as such, is subject to he individual user’s configuration, modification and customization to suit one’s particular needs.” I know how to configure, modify and costumize K2. The problem we are discussing is that Joomlart does not know – or is not interested to know – how to configure, modify and costumize its own sidenews module for K2.

Conclusion: The real costs of Joomlart membership are not only the 70 bucks you have to pay every year. The real costs of membership are also the many hours spent with workarounds, forum researches, bug reports, thread postings and impossible missions like making JA NEX fully work with K2 or finding its “amazing potential”.

For these and other reasons I am getting ‘a little bit’ sarcastic. Am I alone?</blockquote>

ok so I want to make sure we fully understand your viewpoint. Since the template is designed to work with k2, then in your statements the following should happen.

1. EVERY extension ja provides with that template MUST work 100% independently of Joomla
2. if k2 releases 6 version this week, we must release 6 version of nex next week

if these are accurate then it would be beneficial for us to NOT style for “extensions” like k2 and instead allow k2 folks to try it and see if it works… course then the complaint would be “your template dont’ look right in k2”
you do realize K2 is a “content creation KIT” notice the kit? that means incomplete NOT turnkey system. its an ENHANCEMENT.

lets look @ the actually nex “info” page statement about K2.. <blockquote>JA Nex has added styles for K2 component and kunena component</blockquote> Please notice the “added styles. that means just that, we added styles to help k2 content LOOK like any other joomla content would in Nex.

I totally fail to see where you were mislead. If our content slider is required to give k2 “its amazing potential” then we must thank you for the huge compliment. Must set a record for an extension making a component be fully usable.

[coalition Friend coalitionJoin date: December 2010Posts: 106Downloads:0Uploads:8 Thanks: 5 Thanked: 18 times in 1 posts]

#436299

Hi teutobahiano,

I am using K2 right now, rather than core joomla categories and articles… this is just atest site, so to speak, but it works fine. HOWEVER, in this demo / test site I made, I installed a fresh Joomla 2.5.0, then installed the ja_nex template, and it works fine.

I began with trying out the core joomla categories and articles. I used com_masscontent for rapid deployment. Then, when I discovered that the categories listings, and list all categories features in the core Joomla were unsatisfactory; because it lacks multi-column options, I installed K2 2.5.4. Worked perfectly for me, and the K2 styling in NEX is in fact there and in tact. sample: http://www.lowellnews.net

Walt.

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1. teutobahiano

[teutobahiano Friend teutobahianoJoin date: February 2011Posts: 284Downloads:16Uploads:26 Thanks: 109 Thanked: 9 times in 1 posts]

#436307

You can see one here….and it’s old enough with no actual modifications i must say -> http://www.istories.gr

Hi pascm,

Confirmed once again: Greeks are special. Pythagoras, Fotis Evangelou (K2), pascm (my moderator for ‘sisyphusean task’).

The site seems to be Joomla 1.5. Correct?

[teutobahiano Friend teutobahianoJoin date: February 2011Posts: 284Downloads:16Uploads:26 Thanks: 109 Thanked: 9 times in 1 posts]

#436318

<blockquote>ok so I want to make sure we fully understand your viewpoint. Since the template is designed to work with k2, then in your statements the following should happen.

EVERY extension ja provides with that template MUST work 100% independently of Joomla
if k2 releases 6 version this week, we must release 6 version of nex next week
if these are accurate then it would be beneficial for us to NOT style for “extensions” like k2 and instead allow k2 folks to try it and see if it works… course then the complaint would be “your template dont’ look right in k2″</blockquote>

n6rej,

why making things so difficult? Obviously the template only has to work with the “current” K2 version. So if a K2 component is included in the quickstart file, the template and its extensions must work only with the included K2 component version. But, please, 100%

Does it make sense to deliver a (K2) template which is only 90% ready for K2 users; some extensions work with K2 content, others don’t? And does it make sense that K2 users have to install the quickstart file in order to discover wether all extensions are working with K2? This is something that Joomlart could and should do.

In my opinion, what happened is that somebody “forgot” to modify the sidenews module in order to accept K2 content. Doesn’t seem to be a highly complicated task. All (?) other extensions work with K2, why not the sidenews module?

The real reason for this kind of problem: Lack of quality control. The templates are launched first and then we, the “club members”, find out and tell Joomlart what works and what does not.

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