SOBI2

Infobox_Software
name = SOBI2
developer = Sigrid Suski & Radek Suski
latest_release_version = RC 2.9
latest_release_date = release date|2008|10|05
operating_system = Cross-platform
genre = Directory
license = GNU Lesser General Public License
website = [http://www.sigsiu.net/ www.Sigsiu.NET]

Sigsiu Online Business Index 2 (also known as SOBI 2) is an open source directory component for the Mambo or Joomla! content management systems (CMS). SOBI2 is written in PHP and requires the MySQL database environment for storage. It is best suited for low to medium level traffic web-sites.

SOBI 2 has been designed as the follower of the SOBI component but it is not based on SOBI 1. It has been build up new from the bottom. This was necessary because the table structure of SOBI 1 was not suited for the features "sub-categories", "one entry in multi-categories" and "user definable fields". SOBI 2 uses a relational database structure. SOBI 2 is build up almost object oriented, but still runs under PHP4 and MySQL4.

Features

Sigsiu Online Business Index 2 (SOBI 2) is an addon to Joomla that makes it possible to run and manage a directory in your Joomla website. The entries are divided into categories, which can contain subcategories. One entry can be entered in several categories. The companies/clubs/persons enter themselves in the index. Registered users can modify or delete their entries. Entries can be renewed by the user if they expire.

A Fields Manager can be used to configure each field entirely. This concerns the ordering, obligatory fields, fees, field length (width of field and number of characters), field type (textfield, textarea, checkbox, checkbox group, select list, text code or calendar), search methods, in which view a field should be shown (Category View and/or Details View), and much more. An unlimited number of new custom fields can be added.

For each entry two images can be uploaded (besides the linked images in the description). The images will be resized to a predefined size. With the URL field "image" it is possible to add fields for linked images.

An alpha index is available to show only entries starting with a specified letter. Also only the most popular entries and categories, the recently updated entries, the new entries or entries by tags (mata keywords) can be shown.

Plugin manager to install SOBI2 plugins. SOBI2 plugins enhance the functionality of SOBI2. There are plugins available to add an image or media gallery or to use SOBI2 as a download directory. Some of the plugins to SOBI 2 include a rating and review and gallery plugin. They make it possible for you to create and run a complete rating and review directory where people can submit listings, submit reviews and upload photos.

Requirements

As VirtueMart is only a plugin for Joomla! / Mambo, it has the same system requirements, which are currently:

* Joomla! 1.0.x (>=1.0.12) or Mambo (>= 4.6.2) or Joomla! 1.5.x.
* PHP 4.4.x or above - recommended: PHP 5
* MySQL 4.x.x or above -recommended: MySQL 5.0.x
* Apache 1.13.19 or above -recommended: Apache 2.x
* GD library installed
* ECMA standard encoding (ISO/IEC 8859 and UTF-8)
* For Non-UTF-8 sites with special characters: Iconv library or mbstring module installed
* Javascript

References

* [http://www.sigsiu.net/sobi2.html Official homepage]
* [http://extensions.joomla.org/component/option,com_mtree/task,listcats/cat_id,1770/Itemid,35/ SOBI2 in Joomla Extensions Directory]
* [http://www.blog.lgr.ca/2008/01/joomla-directory-component-sobi-2.html Article about SOBI2 in LGR Webmaster Blog]
* [http://www.mycmsblog.com/index.php?option=com_mojo&Itemid=27&p=4 Creating portal with Joomla and SOBI2 in mycmsblog.com]
* [http://www.website-ideas.co.uk/2008/05/12/building-a-website-directory-using-sobi2-and-joomla/ Building A Website Directory Using Sobi2 And Joomla in website-ideas.co.uk]
* [http://www.sparksarts.com/content/view/178/253/ SOBI2 Description in Sparksarts]

See also

* Joomla
* Mambo (CMS)
* MiaCMS
* Open Source Matters
* VirtueMart
* Community builder

External links

* [http://www.sigsiu.net/ Official homepage]
* [http://www.sigsiu.net/forum Community Forum]