Joomla! Discussion Forums

I’m mucking my way through this thing and think I’ve got most things working the way I need them to. Many thanks to anyone who’s contributed at all to Joomla!, the FAQ’s, the forum, the extensions… I run into plenty of problems getting all of this working properly but can almost always find an answer somewhere. I would be lost and my site would be lame if it weren’t for Joomla! and all the forum help.

So, here’s my question. I would like to be able to list content items alphabetically BUT ALSO allow users to pull up a list sorted by certain criteria. So, if I’m looking for a vendor, I can find them alphabetically if I know the name. However, if I’m looking for a vendor that sells apples, I’d like to be able to pull that information up on one page. I can’t just make a page listing all the apple vendors because some sell apples, oranges, peaches and bananas while others sell apples, bananas and lemons. (Well I could, but that would be a pain.) Does that make sense?

For example: Somewhere on the site will be an area like: “Find a Vendor” that will list them all alphabetically. Somewhere on the “Find a Vendor” page I would like either a list of each possible product that will take you to a page with all of the vendors that sell those products, or a drop down box or whatever.

Each vendor page will have the vendor name, contact info and products sold. Under that, will be user reviews.

Is there anyway to do this without having to do it manually somehow? I’m hoping there’s an extension.

If you need to know, I currently have Community Builder, xtdRatings, and eventCal installed. (still working on understanding how they work but they seem to be working ok.) I will also be installing SMF with the bridge and will have to figure out something for banners and possibly charging for membership. I think that’s it…

I’d love any suggestions.

THANKS!!

Christy