Filtering the extensions by version supported?

[FayeC]

It would be nice to have a way to filter the extensions by joomla version so we didn't have to go through so many extensions just to find that very few support Joomla 1.5.
On the same topic....does anybody know of a good list of extensions that have been proven to work on J 1.51?
I am having a hard time installing any extensions on my site.
I tried all that are said to be J! 1.5x native but they won't install properly. I am sure is some issue with my install but so far I have been unable to identify the cause.

FayeC

[herb200mph]

I've asked the Extension Team to put the version icons on the main page of the extensions index and not the per-item page to save time. Been told the matter is being "considered/worked on/will be" or something like that. I hate seeing an extension with nice features that I could use, only to find the red box saying "1.0" when I want "1.5". Glad someone else echos my feelings on the matter.

[thenewbreed]

If you look around this forum, you will realise that the problem may not be with the extension but instead with Joomla 1.5. Right now I cannot get the installer to work for any extension or template, all I get is a message "Error! Could not find a Joomla! XML setup file in the package." for every single extension. You supposedly should be able to use 1.0 extensions if you have Legacy turned on, but even doing this has not worked so far.

[herb200mph]

It isn't the problem of J!1.5, its the extensions having strange stuff in their deliverance and installation, etc. that isn't consistent with the core. If you are using J!1.5 native, you should also have a site policy to use native extensions.

You can always install 1.0.15 and run the old extensions, thusly losing the 1.5 advantages if the extension is that much of an important element of the site operation. In otherwords, the Joomla is revolving around the extension, or the extension is a compliment to Joomla.

Joomla! 1.5 wasn't designed as just an input device for 1.0x extensions. It was designed as a whole new CMS operations - I think the developers were just being nice putting in the "legacy" feature.

But, as we learned with 1.0x, it didn't take long for extensions to erupt. 1.5 will be the same way - at least for those developers with "meaningful and useful" extensions to port up. Some extensions for 1.0x are useless so why strain to "legacyfy" them.

Anyway, that's my view.

[herb200mph]

One added comment to the J!1.5 legacy thing.

When I've purchased new automobiles from the dealer's showroom, my first move wasn't to run to the "junkyard" and start replacing parts with pieces from older models.

I take the same approach to J!1.5. There isn't a website in the world that is so ultra-important that it cannot wait for a Natively compatible extension to be developed and made available.

[SageMan]

I've often wondered about the lack of filtering and sorting on the extensions site.

I'd like to filter by 'version - 1.0.x or 1.5.x'
and I'd like to be able to sort the comments/ratings --- sort - newest, highest rating, lowest rating, most useful

Not a complaint. I love the extension database. I just think it's soooo 2007.

[wshealy]

Y'all aren't alone. The 1.5 designation means might work in legacy mode. To me 1.5 means works with legacy off. I'm so tired of downloading stuff that doesn't work in 1.5 native. It almost feels like a lie when they claim to be 1.5 only to discover they only mean 1.5 pretending to be 1.0.x. I'm sorry they even included a legacy option. The extension folks have rumored a better way find native 1.5 extensions but that should have been finished while 1.5 was still a RC. I wish they would spend less time worrying with the stupid GPL and be more 1.5 friendly after all 1.0.x is obsolete and should be depreciated. The extension db should be only featuring 1.5 native applications. Or maybe a 1.0.x db that was hard to find.

I also find it problematic that some of the commercial developers, who I paid to be on top of things, didn't use the RC period to do what it is for have product ready for release with the golden version of J!. Instead they seem to be in a spitting (cleaned up for public) match over licensing. Frankly, iJoomla was the worst, we are still waiting for their flagship iJoomla magazine to be upgraded to 1.5. Officially it was too much trouble to keep development current with the RCs of J!. They had a fire sale the other day which I skipped because I'm not investing another dime in obsolete stuff.

I give the open source developers a little more leeway but if open source is going to play with the big boys I would have expected a slew of stuff to have been released with 1.5.

[herb200mph]

My hands are sore from applauding your comments wshealy. I think that all 1.5 stuff should be culled out of 1.0x and have a separate website operation. Afterall, they are two different horses, right now sharing the same barn. The "nags" should be separated from the "thoroughbreds" both at the Joomla! Org level and at the extension level. Even the forum, although very well organized, gets muddled with 1.0x'ers posting questions in he 1.5 area. I won't even begin to address THAT "legacy" mode thing. Although I did comment in another post that using "legacy" in 1.5 is like driving to California from New York by going EAST!

With respect to Extensions, value, worth, usefullness, operability, that is one of the things that is planned when I can get the Joomla Society off and running. Go to the url at the signature section of this post and view the .pdf docs for each entity.

My thoughts are to set up a separate Joomla! install and add extensions, test them, give them a good shake-out and review, and allow society members to rate them for all the factors above. We have our own server so doing that wouldn't be much of a problem. Anyway -- likely a summer project in that I'm up to my ears in client work at present.

This is a good thread tho. But, let's be constructive in our discussion, impersonal, and not "bash" anyone lest this topic becomes unwelcome and a moderate squashs it. Let's talk about all the "good stuff" we can do to help each other. I've started with a 'torials series located at joomlaacademy.net/education/ to help new/intermediate users with some stuff. The list for future 'torials in long, so more is on the way.