Moset Tree vs SOBI 2?

[dvilimek]

Hi everyone,

Fairly new to Joomla, but loving the tools and feature so far.  I'm looking at a directory-style listing, and so I've been directed to Moset Tree and SOBI 2.  Besides the fact that SOBI is free and Moset is $130CDN, I would love to hear your thoughts on how the two compare with respect to:

1.  Features -- SOBI 2 looks like it has several features I would love to use (eg. Community Builder, Dreamweaver Extension, Expiration Extension, others...)
2.  Capacity -- Obviously, I'm hoping my database will grow.  What are the capacities/performance limitations of the two?
3.  Support -- I'm going to get stuck -- you can count on it!  What support can I get for each?
4.  Ease of Use -- What kind of learning curve can I expect with each?  I'm a beginner, so simple instructions are key, although I am willing to learn more sophisticated procedures from the layman's perspective.
5.  Trasferrable -- Could I move a database between the two components if I needed to one day?
6.  Examples -- Can anyone point me to successful, high-volume listings using each of these tools?

I'm more open to learning and playing with SOBI, only for the fact that it is free.  But I would happily purchase Moset if I thought it was the better program.

Appreciate your thoughts!
Dino

[joSa]

I've asked for a comparison between the two here. But no replies yet 

[dvilimek]

That sucks...
But I guess this board is all voluntary...the people who respond are doing us the favor.
Definately not as active a board as http://www.mrexcel.com, which I use all the time for Excel questions.  You get much more timely and numerous responses there.
What do you think of the two (SOBI vs Moset)?  I'm leaning towards SOBI because it's free and from what I hear, it's easier to learn.

[joSa]

Currently i'm working on another project, so i didn't have the time to investigate them. But i'll eventually choose one of them for my next site, so i thought i'd save time by asking here first 

[jcisio]

I don't have any experience, and I'll have to choose one, too. The first thing I get is rating/review tools in Moset that isn't available in SOBI2. Besides, I think Moset is section/category structured, but SOBI2 isn't. SOBI2 suppports upto 5 categories per content, but I think it's not a good design.

About performance, I don't have any idea. My site should have a few dozen thousands of items, don't know which one is better.

[joSa]

I was wondering if this could be achieved by modifying the default joomla content component, com_content, by adding some custom fields. In other words, one can think of an entry in a directory as an article w/ some custom fields in the section-category structure of joomla. If this could be achieved, voting, commenting and CB integration would be very easy. Then i came across this thread about the custom fields and later i found myself installing Drupal because of the CCK (content construction kit) thing . Until now i was only considering two options (SOBI and Mtree), but now i see Drupal as a serious alternative with CCK. I'd appreciate if someone familiar with Drupal could comment on this topic.

[rexkramer]

Hello,
though this thread is rather old... i am seeking for a directory style component, maybe with optional payment etc.

read a lot about SOBI and Mtree... but i am not sure what is the best, when it comes to extension and customizing! An appealing visual style and customlayout is one of my goals. I need an easy and controlable user submission, too.
Since there is no real custom layout or building of content types in the J! core... i kept an eye on Joomsuite content... which seems to head in this direction... Drupal is a nice idea, but that would mean a lot of additional learning time.

At the moment i still tend to use J! 1.0x as the base. Cause i use it for quite some time and know about some quirks and how to solve them ;-)

So, how did it work for you? Did you all achieve your goals... ?
Experiences and opinions are very much appreciated!
TIA!

[Radek Suski]

The first thing I get is rating/review tools in Moset that isn't available in SOBI2.

It is not true: http://extensions.joomla.org/component/ ... Itemid,35/
You can see on the demo site how it works:
http://joomla.sigsiu.net/directory.html
http://joomla.sigsiu.net/extensions.html

Besides, I think Moset is section/category structured, but SOBI2 isn't.

AFAIK Mosets has also no sections. Section in Joomla is IMHO an abstract creation because the depth of the categories in Joomla is limited to the first level tehrefore it is necessary to have something over a category.
Both, SOBI2 and Mosets have multimevel categories with unlimited nesting depth so it is not necessary to have a section. Section in SOBI2 and Mosets is simply the first level category.

SOBI2 suppports upto 5 categories per content, but I think it's not a good design.

Not quite sure what kind of design do you mean, the logical structure or layout but why it is wrong design? Where would you add SOBI2 in Joomla Extensions Directory;
in Directory & Documentation -> Directory
or Ads & Affiliates -> Classified Ads ??
SOBI2 can be used for both applications. So why not add it to both categories?
Beside them as you wrote SOBI2 supports up to 5 categories. Means you can allow adding an entry to one category only.

About performance, I don't have any idea. My site should have a few dozen thousands of items, don't know which one is better.

About SOBI2 performance, see here:
My Thoughts - 2000 Categories & ~2,000,000 items!

About Mosets performance; Joomla Extensions Directory use Mosets. There are "only" about 4000 entries but this site has rally big traffic.

Which directory is better is depend on for what you want to use it exactly. I would try to consider first how this directory should looks like, which functionality is needed and then check which component better support your requirements.
If you like to see some SOBI2 implementation examples, Ken has wrote this great document: http://www.sigsiu.net/50-sobi2-sites/

Regards,
Neo

[jcisio]

The first thing I get is rating/review tools in Moset that isn't available in SOBI2.

It is not true: http://extensions.joomla.org/component/ ... Itemid,35/
You can see on the demo site how it works:
http://joomla.sigsiu.net/directory.html
http://joomla.sigsiu.net/extensions.html

Besides, I think Moset is section/category structured, but SOBI2 isn't.

AFAIK Mosets has also no sections. Section in Joomla is IMHO an abstract creation because the depth of the categories in Joomla is limited to the first level tehrefore it is necessary to have something over a category.
Both, SOBI2 and Mosets have multimevel categories with unlimited nesting depth so it is not necessary to have a section. Section in SOBI2 and Mosets is simply the first level category.

SOBI2 suppports upto 5 categories per content, but I think it's not a good design.

Not quite sure what kind of design do you mean, the logical structure or layout but why it is wrong design? Where would you add SOBI2 in Joomla Extensions Directory;
in Directory & Documentation -> Directory
or Ads & Affiliates -> Classified Ads ??
SOBI2 can be used for both applications. So why not add it to both categories?
Beside them as you wrote SOBI2 supports up to 5 categories. Means you can allow adding an entry to one category only.

About performance, I don't have any idea. My site should have a few dozen thousands of items, don't know which one is better.

About SOBI2 performance, see here:
My Thoughts - 2000 Categories & ~2,000,000 items!

About Mosets performance; Joomla Extensions Directory use Mosets. There are "only" about 4000 entries but this site has rally big traffic.

Which directory is better is depend on for what you want to use it exactly. I would try to consider first how this directory should looks like, which functionality is needed and then check which component better support your requirements.
If you like to see some SOBI2 implementation examples, Ken has wrote this great document: http://www.sigsiu.net/50-sobi2-sites/

Regards,
Neo

Hello Neo,

My comments below are for SOBI2 1.8.2 RC and it was written 14 months ago. Things have changed since then. Now I use SOBI2 for a simple directory with about 300 items, so I don't really have other comments. I'm (slowly) moving my website to Drupal.

Anyway thanks for your information.

Regards,

[Radek Suski]

My comments below are for SOBI2 1.8.2 RC and it was written 14 months ago

I feel awful about it. I saw only the month and day but not the year

[micheltorres]

Hello,

Mosets Tree is far far away better than SOBI2.
Somethings on SOBI2 looks like unfinished, like an alpha version.

However, SOBI2 is a great software.

[ajebutta]

As someone who has purchased and used both Mosets Tree and Sobi2, SOBI2 is hands down a much better directory component than Mosets especially if you are trying to build a large and complex directory.

Mosets might have a better looking demo, but at the end of the day its functionalities are useless compared to Sobi2 and I wish I knew that before we spent $119. We started out with Mosets Tree and had to dump it and use Sobi2. Why? Here are the reasons

1) The Add Entry form in Mosets tree is not user friendly at all. Users will have to go to the category page where they want their extension to add listing, what if you had many nested categories, can you imagine how challenging and confusing for the user that would be and listings are sure to be added in the wrong category, which can be frustrating for the administrator. There is an option on the add listing form to change the category, but it is so confusing and the average user will have a difficult time using that function. In Sobi2, the add entry form allows users to select under which categories they would like their listings.

2) No captcha in Mosets tree forms. At a price of $119, that is just nonsense!

3) The Search function of Mosets is just useless, at least with Sobi2, you have a search module for $15 that allows you to create multiple interlinked drop down boxes amongst other things that makes it suitable for directories with lots of nested categories and for location searches.

4) Sobi2 has a built in payment function in which administrators can charge for any fields in the entry form. Mosets has no built in payment function only 3rd party extensions, which require spending more money.

5) Mosets is $119, and Sobi2 is Free with inexpensive commercial add ons


In the end, for the type of directory we were trying to create, Sobi2 was hands down more functional than Mosets tree. Do not get fooled by the demo appearance in Mosets, you have to pay additional $45 for the Kinabalu template. With Sobi2 we were able to easily modify the appearance to meet our needs. Appearance can always be changed by functionality is another ball game.

Word to the wise for those wanting to purchase Mosets Tree, if you want to lose $119, go ahead.

[gwmbox]

Thanks for that post, you saved me $119 by confirming my own thoughts between the two components.

I have been using sobi2 for quite a while, in fact I have 9 clones running and because of that it was suggested to me to take a look at mosets, which I did. On the first few views of the demo front end I was like, hmm ok looks nice but I can do the same in sobi2, so lets look at the back end. So ok I open the backend and have to ask did mosets come before sobi2 or sobi2 before mosets, either way they are very much the same on the backend, with exception of the flashy admin template of mosets it is pretty much the same thing.

I will say that mosets appears to be more complete as the base install, and I guess it should be by paying the $119, but by simply adding a few of the inexpensive components from sobi2 which is still cheaper than mostes then I have to say that sobi2 still is a better end product. Plus it is more versatile as there are parts of mosets I would not want to use, at least with sobi2 I can simple elect not to buy those addons.

I know that mosets have a 1.6 version coming out very soon, but SobiPro also in the final stages of development will certainly make a much bigger leap forward than mosets does. I just hope that the extensions/addons for sobi2 also get updated to sobipro very quickly too as without them sobipro is not usable for us just yet.

So anyway, what you choose is up to you, but why spend money on a component when you could get it free, or better yet donate part of that $119 to Neo and Trinity and help them continue to develop sobipro

Cheers

GW

[amorino]

Hello,
I confirm Sobi2 is much better an FREE

[nirajsingh]

I am a tad disappointed with Mosets tree. The importer function is not very smooth.
Also without the spam control function, the site was inundated with spam. Would vote of Sobipro because for the same functionality, it is free.

[Jarod545]

There is a good explanation of both components here http://www.quantumcritics.com/200903226 ... pages.html