Joomla Comparison Chart Comparison

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Monday, 13 October 2008

The other day I stumbled upon several extensions that I had hoped for but did not know they existed, comparison chart and table creation extensions. These extensions alow your to set up and create grids of information.

I found three options: JE Comparison Charts, Elearning Force Comparison Charts, and Event Table Edit. They all to a pretty good job, none of them cover all the requirements I was hoping for, but could be a huge time saver from many.

JE Comparison Charts from Joomla Experts

This comparison chart can be obtained either by puchasing a 3 month membership for $30 or downloading a free version that contains backlinks. The comparison chart is only available in Joomla 1.5 and will run natively. You can see a demo setup at LCD TV Reviews comparison Chart.

The install and setup wat relatively easy and will a little guessing we were able to put togther a pretty good comparison chart. The drawback is that the format is not that flexible. If you have specific display needs this might not be the option for you. If you can be flexible about how your chart is organized, read displayed how they display charts, then this is a very helpful tool to get you on your way. Additionally if you had a non technical person managing the site this would be much easier for them to update than a straight html file. A plugin is provided so that you can inlude your comparison chart directly in your articles or content items.

JE Comparison Chart in the Joomla Extension Directory
JE Comparison Chart at Joomla-Experts.net

Elearning force Comparison Chart

Cost: $59. Sort of a steep price tag for what the component does. This component can be installed in Joomla 1.0 and Joomla 1.5 in legacy mode. I am not sure all that is involved in getting a component to Joomla 1.5 native mode but for a price tag of $59 I would have thought they would have updated the code. This comparison chart is a bit more flexible and comes with 3 modules that help you display the categories of charts created.

One very nice feature is that there is a mambot which allows you to place your chart directly into articles and content items.

ELearning Comparison Chart in the Joomla Extension Directory
Comparison Chart at ELearning Force

Event Table Edit

Another interesting option is Event Table Edit. This is a free extension and is available for joomla 1.0 and joomla 1.5 native. All three options are a big plus. The install was pretty easy, it is a little confusing to create your first table. The only way to create a table is to create a component menu link. The only way to edit your table is through the fron end of the site, again a little different than the way most joomla components work. One negative to this is that there does not appear to have a way to add the table you create to a joomla article. Demo of Event Table Edit Table

I really like the flexibility the component offers with a little more smoothing around the edges this will be a very strong extenstion.

Event Table Edit in the Joomla Extenstion Directory
Event Table Edit Home Page

Summary

It appear that neither of these components are exactly what I was hoping for, but they do have a lot of potential.

JE comparison charts is nice that it runs native in Joomal 1.5 but it could use a little more flexibility
ELearning force is more flexible but doe not run native in Joomla 1.5 and costs $59
Event Table Edit is very flexible and free but does not have a way it can be displayed in an article

Depending on your needs one of these three components could work for you, if not there is always standard html and css which will look exaclty how you want it to.

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