Sobipro template

[komir]

Is anybody have experiences with sobipro templates?
I want to add extra field separated in template? I try with sobi2 code but it is not working

Code: Select all

<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<xsl:output method="html" encoding="windows-1252"/>
<xsl:template match="/">
<table width="790" border="1">
  <tr>
    <th scope="col">Test</th>
    <th scope="col"><?php echo $fields['field_name']['label']; ?><?php echo $fields['field_name']['field']; ?></th>
  </tr>
</table>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

?

I try to find some tutorial how to make xsl template for sobipro, but I cant find it?
Is there any tutorial?

[Nick Savov]

Hey,

In case you're still looking for an answer or in case someone else finds this thread via Google (or somehow else), here's the documentation:
http://sobipro.sigsiu.net/documentation ... and-design

Kind regards,
Nick

[Visuex]

In case you found this through Google or etc then...

The documentation on SobiPro's website is completely useless because you have to BUY a club membership to even get access to it.

That is a jerk move by Sigsiu.

[Nick Savov]

Yes, looks like they've now made the documentation only available under their club membership.

The documentation on SobiPro's website is completely useless because you have to BUY a club membership to even get access to it.

You should add a conditional to your statement, "...is completely useless if you're not willing to pay for it...".

That is a jerk move by Sigsiu.

No, but that is a jerk statement by you. They have every right to charge for their documentation. It's not a requirement to make things free nor is it a "jerk move" to offer the documentation for a price. The laborer is worthy of his wages.

Kind regards,
Nick

[Visuex]

You should add a conditional to your statement, "...is completely useless if you're not willing to pay for it...".

No, but that is a jerk statement by you. They have every right to charge for their documentation. It's not a requirement to make things free nor is it a "jerk move" to offer the documentation for a price. The laborer is worthy of his wages.

Charging for documentation is a jerk move...charging for addons, extensions, even upgrades...none of that bothers me and is perfectly fine to do. I would be completely fine with them charging for SobiPro entirely...Documentation explaining how to upgrade, how to modify, how to build addons...how to do ANYTHING, should be freely available.

Charging for the component, addons to the component, language files of it, anything else that enhances the original product is perfectly fine to charge for...but to charge for the freaking information on how to use it...that is ridiculous.

Also if you buy a club membership and have proof that you did but were not aware that you would lose access to the documentation so you didn't make a copy...they make you buy it again simply for access to the documentation. That has happened many times and there is even proof of it on their forums of that happening.

I don't mind people charging for stuff...I dont look at open source and free being mutually exclusive but the very basics of a help manual being charged is absurd.

If you are fine with paying for documentation then by all means...but the notice I provided saying that you had to was a valid purpose for commenting...plus it is a jerk move on their part. Would you be fine with Joomla not providing any information on how to use it? lol I doubt it.

[Nick Savov]

Charging for documentation is a jerk move...charging for addons, extensions, even upgrades...none of that bothers me and is perfectly fine to do. I would be completely fine with them charging for SobiPro entirely...Documentation explaining how to upgrade, how to modify, how to build addons...how to do ANYTHING, should be freely available.

No, it shouldn't. It's their time and they can do whatever they want with it. If they want to write documentation and charge for it, go for it. Some developers don't even write any documentation. That's perfectly fine too.

Charging for the component, addons to the component, language files of it, anything else that enhances the original product is perfectly fine to charge for...but to charge for the freaking information on how to use it...that is ridiculous.

No, it isn't ridiculous. What's ridiculous is that you expect people's time and hard work for free. Oh and by the way, documentation enhances the original product. If it didn't, you wouldn't be complaining right now that you don't have it or that you have to pay for it.

I don't mind people charging for stuff...

Really? I wouldn't have guessed that based on your comments so far

If you are fine with paying for documentation then by all means...but the notice I provided saying that you had to was a valid purpose for commenting...

Yes, it was just your last sentence that was over the top though.

Would you be fine with Joomla not providing any information on how to use it? lol I doubt it.

Yes, I'd be fine with that. The software is free and I don't expect them to do anything for me, including provide documentation. If they provide documentation, great! If they don't provide documentation, fine. It's their time and they are NOT required to provide documentation, even if you think otherwise.

[Visuex]

Documentation does not enhance the original product it can enhance your understanding of the product but not the product directly. Open source is outstanding and charging for things using it is great we all need money to survive so I don't have any issue with them charging for their product even when I have to pay extra just because of where I live...not a problem.

Documentation is completely different type of thing to charge for. If joomla charged for documentation practically no one would use it...SobiPro is awesome and I want to use it for a custom client purpose but it uses custom scripting to effect content, but doesn't provide me any answers to doing that. I would be more than happy to pay for something that will make me money but I don't even know for sure that it could because they don't let me see documentation.

It may not be a "jerk move"as I said before but it absolutely is a terrible business model.

Also I never said they are "required" to provide documentation but to hold it back for money is simply a bad idea.

Joomla is so popular for users because it is popular with devs...if documentation to joomla was held back from devs that would be a completely different story. You may not care that they do it and sure they have the right to do it but that doesn't change the fact that it is a mistake to do it.

[Nick Savov]

Documentation does not enhance the original product it can enhance your understanding of the product but not the product directly.

True, but don't you think you're just playing on words now? By that definition, neither do language packs, which you mentioned earlier.

Documentation is completely different type of thing to charge for. If joomla charged for documentation practically no one would use it...

By that reasoning, then practically no one would use SobiPro, yet people are using it, so perhaps you're mistaken.

SobiPro is awesome and I want to use it for a custom client purpose but it uses custom scripting to effect content, but doesn't provide me any answers to doing that. I would be more than happy to pay for something that will make me money but I don't even know for sure that it could because they don't let me see documentation.

Why not just try the extension? You'll get a general idea of what it's capable of doing. If you're a developer, you'll get an excellent idea of what it's capable of doing (even without documentation). By the way, I'm in a similar situation to you right now. We're trying to determine if SobiPro is right for a project, but it's hard to know quickly without checking out their documentation, so now we have to take the time to install and set up the free features that we might need that aren't shown in their demo.

It may not be a "jerk move"as I said before but it absolutely is a terrible business model.

OK, now we're making progress!

Kind regards,
Nick

[Visuex]

True, but don't you think you're just playing on words now? By that definition, neither do language packs, which you mentioned earlier.

No I don't because if you are using a product in a region that uses a language that is not default to a product then the users can't actually use it while a language pack would enhance the product to be usable by those of that language. Sure it is a fine line but mainly it is something that instantly alters the product where as documentation can only alter the product if the reader of it takes the time to do it themselves.

By that reasoning, then practically no one would use SobiPro, yet people are using it, so perhaps you're mistaken.

are people using it? sure and people would use Joomla in that scenario...I never said that no one would use it, but that practically no one would in the sense of comparing to how many use it now...when you go from millions to a couple hundred that is a massive difference. What I am saying is SobiPro purposefully makes their product not user friendly (have you seen their website? it is a navigational nightmare.) They could easily increase the amount of people who use their product by providing something as simple and as basic as documentation. Increase the amount of people who use your free product, get them loyal to it...convert hundreds if not thousands into paying customers. Essentially their current business model is just incredibly misguided.

Why not just try the extension? You'll get a general idea of what it's capable of doing. If you're a developer, you'll get an excellent idea of what it's capable of doing (even without documentation). By the way, I'm in a similar situation to you right now. We're trying to determine if SobiPro is right for a project, but it's hard to know quickly without checking out their documentation, so now we have to take the time to install and set up the free features that we might need that aren't shown in their demo.

Why do you assume I haven't tried it? I have used SobiPro on multiple sites (non-client, free) and it is a great product when it comes to basic directories. I am now at the point of needing a directory that can do something specific for a client, of course SobiPro documentation can't tell me if it specifically can help with what I want but the documentation could allow me to see if it is possible with some modifications or not...as it stands now, I have to purchase the system before ever finding out whether or not it could even do what I need. That is the problem. I don't care that I would have to purchase it for specific features, addons, etc...but the idea of making people purchase it to simply find out if something is possible (via documentation), that is absurd.

OK, now we're making progress!

indeed and on both sides I think.

[sakurahm]

In the last year 2012, we have released this template for sobipro http://demo.smartaddons.com/#sj-resorts
We changed the template from xsl to html.

I hope that it will be easy to custom for you

[peteniemela]

Actually, I agree on some points on both side. But I have to say that I think that sobipro makers would probably make more clients (=money) by providing basic documentation for free. Like said before, if you are thinking if you can make some business project with this or not, it would help to have some manual. If not available, many people might give up with this extension, because you can't know it without paying first. Or atleast it is very hard to find out, because the designers don't provide it. If there is another extension, that do provide basic information about their product, then people will definetly buy it, if it suits their need instead.

[Visuex]

Actually, I agree on some points on both side. But I have to say that I think that sobipro makers would probably make more clients (=money) by providing basic documentation for free. Like said before, if you are thinking if you can make some business project with this or not, it would help to have some manual. If not available, many people might give up with this extension, because you can't know it without paying first. Or atleast it is very hard to find out, because the designers don't provide it. If there is another extension, that do provide basic information about their product, then people will definetly buy it, if it suits their need instead.

That was my point exactly...it is incredibly hard to know if something will do something for you or not if they don't give you any information on how it works.

I was able to find some articles that addressed documentation on sobipro so I was able to find that it could do what I wanted...also some of the community members are VERY knowledgable about the component so that was also helpful but overall to a newbie...they have an insanely stupid model.

I am a decent developer (pro designer) and even I have found myself lost repeatedly where documentation would have helped me so much. I figured it out but it took hours and in some cases days...but I eventually did it.

SobiPro is an awesomely powerful directory component and it can do a LOT of stuff so overall it is great...but the learning curve for using and developing for it is so ridiculously high that even a decent developer like myself had to force myself to give it a chance...an average user or even an average developer wouldn't even consider it because of how overly complicated and how annoying it is to lack documentation.

[peteniemela]

Actually, we are also evaluating it for one project. Do you know can you make the entries in sobipro available only for registered users? I can't find that info about they're ACL system. Like "registered only" would be one extra field?

[stuffdone]

Lot of arguments here about charging etc. I am fine with someone making a profit from their work.

But I do have a complaint about the web site regarding templates. A potential buyer of services should be able to preview the templates they are buying before making a decisions.

I find other developers selling SobiPro templates and you can demo them without buying first. I have no clue what templates Sobi has or what they look like because they expect you to pay first just to see what you are buying.

Yes you can download the actual component and install that free with the default template to see if you like the program and it suits your needs. This is great. But it always warns you to use something other than default template and sends you to their site but I have not been able to find any where to see what other templates are offered.

It is like charging admission just to shop...that part is NOT cool.

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