Jun 24 2008

Review of Jom comment for Joomla

Written by David Towers

Tuesday, 24 June 2008

As we have mentioned in the past, Jom Comment is our favourite comment plugin for Joomla 1.0.x and Joomla 1.5.

Today we are going to discuss what we consider to be the strengths and weaknesses of the Jom Comment plugin and we will explain why we use it here at Good Web Practices.

Jom Comment is a comment system plugin for Joomla

Jom Comment makes it possible for website visitors and members to add comments to articles in Joomla. Jom Comment can be installed on Joomla 1.0.x and runs natively on Joomla 1.5.

Getting Jom Comment up and running

The installation of Jom Comment is very easy; it's simply a matter of installing the Jom Comment plugin like any other. Once you have installed it, there are lots of settings you can change. Here are 4 screenshots from the Jom Comment general settings control panel:

Customising the look of Jom Comment

You can make Jom Comment look different to other Joomla websites by selecting one of the 8 themes that Jom Comment comes installed with. If one of the templates doesn't fit exactly what you are looking for, you can edit the template files located in /components/com_jomcomment/templates/. Here at Good Web Practices we use the Breeze template and after editing comment.tpl.html, index.tpl.html, comment_style.css and changing some of the image files we got the Jom Comment plugin to look just how we wanted it to!

Updating Jom Comment

When you buy Jom Comment you have access to updates to the plugin from the Azrul for a whole year. To install the update you simply need to uninstall the previous version of Jom Comment and install the new plugin. We have tried this out and it works without any problems - just make sure you backup your customised templates because the templates get deleted in the upgrade.

Jom Comment and page load time

One of the downsides of Jom Comment is that it adds a few seconds to page load times. The image below (taken from the Octagate SiteTimer) shows that the Jom Comment CSS, Javascript and images adds about 2 to 3 seconds to page load times here at Good Web Practices. Click on the image below to see the details:

Strengths of this plugin

Very easy to get the plugin up and running.
Ajax-based so comments are added on the fly without reloading the whole page.
Email alerts when a new comment is added.
Support for importing comments from other comment extensions.
Integrates with Community Builder and Fireboard.
Great anti spam control.
Can take control of the "Read more" button and add a "Comments" button.
Upgrading the Jom Comment plugin when new versions are released is very easy.
Choice of numerous themes helps Jom Comment fit in with your site's template.
With some CSS and HTML editing knowledge, you can customise the look and feel of your Jom Comment extension.
Documentation accompanying the plugin is thorough.
Support from Azrul for Jom Comment is excellent.

Drawbacks of this plugin

Jom Comment costs $30 (some see this low price as a strength - see comments below).
Jom Comment CSS, JavaScript and images increase page load times notably.
When 3rd party component integration is enabled, the Jom Comment CSS and JS is added to every page on the website even pages where Jom Comment doesn't appear - this increases page load time.
Not all the HTML output produced by Jom Comment meets w3c standards.
When users post comments quoting HTML code, the code just disappears - this can be really frustrating on technical articles: see this for an example.
We weren't convinced by usability of the trackback function.

Conclusion

Although Jom Comment will set you back $30 and might add a couple seconds on to page load times, we use it here at Good Web Practices and it is our favourite comment system for Joomla. It is fair to say that the strengths of this plugin heavily outweigh the drawbacks.

We recommend Jom Comment to people looking for an attractive comment system with all the functions you'll need. It's worth noting that we're not alone in recommending Jom Comment, this page shows the extent to which Jom Comment owners are happy!

It's fair to say that Azrul have done a fantastic job with this plugin, and with the 30 days money back guarantee, it's certainly worth trying Jom Comment out!

Buy Jom Comment now from Azrul for $30

What do you think of Jom Comment? Have you used it on your Joomla website?

25 Comments



Jason Boyette June 25, 2008 Votes: +3	Thanks for this review! I am just now adding a comment system to my site so this is great timing. report abuse vote down vote up


David T June 25, 2008 Votes: +3	Glad you have found this useful Jason! Is the URL you are adding Jom Comment to: www.jkboyette.com ? report abuse vote down vote up


Jason Boyette June 25, 2008 Votes: +2	Yes, it is www.jkboyette.com , my personal site. I am also interested in adding it to my church's site. report abuse vote down vote up


David T June 25, 2008 Votes: +0	Cool, well if you have any questions about the plugin and its customisation etc feel free to ask! report abuse vote down vote up


m0nb0f June 26, 2008 Votes: +0	Hi David, Great, thanks. Just one thing I saw on your screen-shot : I use SMF Forum and I saw that we use the avatar forum with Jom Comment ? Without bridge ?! Is it possible ?! Regards report abuse vote down vote up


David T June 28, 2008 Votes: +0	Hi m0nb0f, I haven't actually tried using the SMF Forum Profile avatar... The Azrul support team will be able to answer your question, I'll see what they have to say. report abuse vote down vote up


damo June 28, 2008 Votes: -1	you say one of the drawbacks is that it costs $30 why do you consider that a drawback? report abuse vote down vote up


David T June 28, 2008 Votes: +0	In my opinion it's a drawback to have to pay for the plugin compared to some alternative comment systems for Joomla which are free. I'm not saying I don't understand why users have to pay for it by the way! report abuse vote down vote up


damo June 28, 2008 Votes: -1	So, what you're actually saying is, it's a drawback because you've got to pay for it. Based on what you've written above about the component, I'm very surprised you've not put it as one of the strengths; and it only costs $30! It certainly isn't a drawback and this growing mentality that paying for anything remotely connected to Joomla is a drawback of using the CMS is just not right. Was it a drawback because you had to buy the template for this site too? report abuse vote down vote up


David T June 28, 2008 Votes: +1	Thanks for your input on this. You're right, the price of $30 could be seen as a strength to this plugin because $30 is certainly affordable and a low price for the quality of the plugin. Nevertheless, there are other comment systems which exist and are free, e.g. http://extensions.joomla.org/c...Itemid,35/. So I still think some users considering Jom Comment will see this as a disadvantage. But yeah I really understand what your saying and have added a note about this in the article. report abuse vote down vote up


m0nb0f June 28, 2008 Votes: +0	I'm totaly agree with David T. "Nevertheless, there are other comment systems which exist and are free, e.g. http://extensions.joomla.org/c...Itemid,35/. So I still think some users considering Jom Comment will see this as a disadvantage." There is this too but it's no more supported, for the moment report abuse vote down vote up


m0nb0f June 28, 2008 Votes: +0	Hey, there is a new support for JoomlaComment HERE David T, could you tell me if, with Jom Comment, there is the same problem with the response of comments : as you can see HERE, it can outflank over the template Jom Comment is it more clean ? Thanks Regards report abuse vote down vote up


Kyle Ledbetter June 29, 2008 Votes: +0	I'm in both camps here We use JomComment for joomlapraise.com, bc we never really liked the look of !JoomlaComment. However we were able to make it very attractive in our latest template (shameless plug) SocialPraise I think with better styling, !JoomlaComment is more of a contender w/JomComment @m0nb0f, Great to see there is new support for !JoomlaComment report abuse vote down vote up


David T June 29, 2008 Votes: +0	@m0nb0f! Thanks for input regarding JoomlaComment. Jom Comment is clean in terms of messing up templates. In actual fact, the only time I've seen it mess up a template was with a trackback URL. It's worth noting however that this was a problem with the template rather than Jom Comment. I would encourage you to give Jom Comment a try m0nb0f because the admin backend is great. @Kyle, I checked out SocialPraise and noticed that you the comment system you had setup looked good. You've done some great customisation there - good work! By the way, I really really like the way you have created custom CSS styles for Community Builder, JoomlaComment, Jcal Pro, Frontpage Slideshow, Fireboard and RSGallery 2 to go with your templates. It's a great way to really add value for people buying the templates. Keep up the good work! report abuse vote down vote up


David T June 30, 2008 Votes: +1	@m0nb0f I just wanted to confirm that Azrul have contacted me to inform us that the SMF Forum avatar can be used without a bridge. report abuse vote down vote up


m0nb0f June 30, 2008 Votes: +0	@David T, great ! But I still wonder how it can operate without bridge since Joomla has its own table of users and SMF his own. I doubt that it works without Bridge because at some point we must make the link ... Finally, should I make a test, but why should I provide a trial version of JomComment. report abuse vote down vote up


David T June 30, 2008 Votes: +0	M0nb0f if you want to trial jom comment you need to buy jom comment for $30. If you are not happy with the plugin you can claim a refund within 30 days of paying for the plugin. Here is the official wording: "30 Day 100% Money Back Guarantee - If you’re not satisfied, for any reason, within 30 days we will refund your money, no questions asked." report abuse vote down vote up


magareno June 30, 2008 Votes: +0	I have a question: How to hide the posters ip? Like on this site. Thanks report abuse vote down vote up


magareno June 30, 2008 Votes: +0	I found out, it`s the template that must be modified/changed. report abuse vote down vote up


David T June 30, 2008 Votes: +0	Hi magareno. You need to edit the html template of the jom comment template you are using. You will find the IP entry it in either comment.tpl.html or index.tpl.html. report abuse vote down vote up


m0nb0f June 30, 2008 Votes: +0	@ David T, Maybe I will try but not for the moment, I have some personnal problems to solve before About the question of magareno, I think for a module paid $ 30, this type of setting (hide IP) could be directly configurable via the BackEnd Regards report abuse vote down vote up


eGoDaddy July 04, 2008 Votes: +0	...lest we forget that forum support sucks. You have to submit a trouble ticket if you expect a reponse whatsoever. report abuse vote down vote up


kai July 08, 2008 Votes: +0	you got it all right, you can speed up your jom-comment while deactivating the Akismet spam detection service. report abuse vote down vote up


David T July 08, 2008 Votes: +0	Thanks for the tip Kai! report abuse vote down vote up


Makejo D July 29, 2008 Votes: +1	The best option for me in Comments is Jcoment!! Complete and free http://www.joomlatune.com/ report abuse vote down vote up