About a month ago there were major problems with the forum of our local newspaper, so I decided to launch an alternative. Once I got into it, I thought it should be more of a complete community portal so I decided to try out Joomla and see what it could do.
I am pleased with what I have found so far. I am currently using the following Components/Modules:
JomComment
jEvents
AdsManager
SMF with Joomlahacks bridge
Google Maps
a custom Movie Listings component
It is still light on content and I am still tweaking the design (based on the Versatility II theme) to better integrate various things, but for the most part it is complete. I do have plans for additional features in the future such as a Reviews section, content specific to all local communities, a gallery, etc.
Let me know not only what you think about the color scheme etc, but also what additional features you might like to see if you were to use a community portal. Thanks.
Thanks Christopher. I think there was definitely a need for this type of site in our area.
Since I am so new to Joomla, could you suggest any good components for dating/games?
As far as AdsManager, obviously I haven't yet gotten much use from it, but I think it has potential and the development is very active and support is quite good.
Great job on your portal! I'm working on one for my community as well. I'm curious about your movie component. Is that a deep link or scrape of their content? I would love to have this information on my site as well. In looking at the licensing information for IMDB however, it states that they don't make this available for others to use. I was hoping to find an rss feed there.
Zoren...the Movie component was custom made based on a commercial script that I bought. It is basically a scrape of their site. As you said, they don't license their Movie listings content, because they themselves license it from Fandango.
If you would like to discuss it further, you can contact me via the contact form on my site or via the email in my profile.