Hi, since I think that most churches that use Joomla also use Sermonspeaker I wanted to drop the following note:
I use the CommunityBuilder for a memberlist as Sermonspeaker for our Sermons since years/decades. I am grateful that I can use the components for free. But I must say that I was never really happy with the range of functions with CB. Also the adjustments to an existing design were always difficult for me with CB.
From my point of view a community component does not need a Joomla chat function, or a gallery where members can post photos. There are better services outside of the Joomla universe.
However, I see a member list as well as the sermons as a central added value for a website of a church.
So I was looking for a solution to get away from the CommunityBuilder since the CustomFields have been around. With Customfields you can also achieve a lot, but two functions were missing for me. One was the possibility to offer vcard for download and the other was the possibility that every user can only change his own contact data.
Last week I found the following component (Trombinoscope Contacts Pro) and I can only recommend it to everyone who runs a community site with member list, even if it costs about 30€ incl. VAT. (I did not even try the free version because of the missing functions)
I was about to switch to Wordpress before, because Buddypress looks much more solid. But now I can stay happy and satisfied with Joomla Sermonspeaker and Trombi.
I know it reads like an advertising brochure but I don't develop the software and I don't earn a cent for the advertising.
I was just really unhappy with Community Builder. If you have the same problem, you should have a look at the component. If you are happy with it, please keep it.
PS: finally I have a solution how parents can create contacts for their children without needing an email address and an own Joomla account.
@Thomas I hope this entry is ok for you, if not please delete it again or I will delete it.
