Is there a demo of this kit?

[quornroast]

Hi,
I am interested in this kit but cautious about paying out almost $100 on it without seeing more.

All I have found on this product is marketing by Media 65; I have seen no reviews of it and nor is there a substantial demo of exactly what is included.

I am keen to know more but am reluctant to trial it after paying - unless there are strict refund arrangements if it proves not to solve the problems I am currently experiencing.

Thanks.

[admin]

Thank you for your input.
You can find reviews on the our Joomla Template Kit at

Joomla! Extensions Directory - Joomla Template kit

As for a trial version Dreamweaver is very difficult to add a serial key trial system to.
So that’s one reason why we do offer a trial demo version.

Secondly our system comes with an hour of video training which is key to developing Joomla templates
there’s no way to have this on a trial basis.

Lastly Refund Policy found at.

By clicking the Footer of any page for terms of service
http://www.m65.net/cms/kb/terms-of-service.html

4.7 OUR REFUND POLICY
Since Media 65 is offering non-tangible irrevocable goods we do not issue refunds after the product is “shipped” / “down key emailed”

If you have any more questions I’ll happy to answer them via our support ticket system.
http://www.m65.net/publicsupport/

Best regards,
Brian Diaz
Media 65

[quornroast]

Thank you for your reply.
I understand about the difficulties in providing a trial although, perhaps, a more detailed or itemised list of content would help.

The reviews at the site you linked to are good - but there are issues raised in some which are issues I have questions about; level of prior experience being one.

Your lack of refund policy is unusual, in my experience. And together with the above I cannot commit myself to spending that amount of money on something which is still a bit of a mystery to me.

Perhaps you could tell me what are the differences between the Mambo and Joomla kits? I guess that from my point of view the Mambo is more affordable considering the lack of info.

Are these, essentially, the same kits but with minor differences due to the names? Is the lower price also due to the fact that there will be no upgrades available? To what extent is the Mambo kit applicable to Joomla?

I am currently testing both platforms and so I am not yet commited in one direction or the other - I guess I came across the Joomla kit first and read your reviews so I was thinking in that direction. Are there any reviews for the Mambo version I could read?

My apologies for so many questions - if you would prefer to email me that is fine; I will watch this thread for your answers.

Thank you for your help.

[admin]

Hi quornroast,

This is going to be long sorry up front.

Q1: The reviews at the site you linked to are good - but there are issues raised in some which are issues I have questions about; level of prior experience being one.

A1: There is one post / review via were I’m waiting for my reply to be posted.
Here is a copy of my reply to that post.

“it works.. by OADesign, June 4, 2006”1
Joomla! Extensions Directory - Joomla Template kit

My reply:
Well I’ll take this with a grain of salt.
This review sounds like a very well plan review for the mention parties below.
Not to mention that both web sites are affiliated. There is some truth to some of the errors
when this video was made I did call JOOM-LAH JOOM-MAL but that does not effect the value
of the video training or outcome of your template.

Now let’s talk a little about the way that its "really done" versus the scope
of our product. “The right tool for the right job” We do not claim that the Joomla Template Kit
will teach you a java script switch of an HTML tag properties. Which is what these "...see how its really done."sites do for tricks”.
For this you can pick up a book at Amazon these tricks where done back in the 90’s.

Secondly this B.S notions about tableless template design and Joomla case and point look into the
com_content component and tell me if there is or is not a lot of table code inside.

So how it’s really done? Is it wrapping tabled content with div wrappers and calling it tableless design?
That’s elite!

This post sounds like a rant or person with a bad attitude I'm just clearing up the facts here.
We being me Brian Diaz / Media 65 M65.net / Howtomambo.com have been with Mambo then Joomla for
over two years a lot of these so called experts have watch our videos and articles. This is not to say
that we don’t learn from each other. My Mambo mentor was Arthur of mamboportal.com.

Which in my opinion was the mentor to most of the Mambo Joomla senior members.
So someone puts up a five minutes to Joomla CSS chart it most likely came from ours.
And that’s fine. But don't tell me that’s how it’s really done.
:End of Reply

Q2: Your lack of refund policy is unusual, in my experience?

A2: If I was Adobe or a large software company the refund policy would be different.
But this is why.

1. I can’t turn Dreamweaver off or the extension once installed.
2. There is a limited market of clients who purchased a specialize extension.
3. Most designers buy a tool for one to two projects and move on to the next
Clients needs. If they can design a project in 30 days and get there money back
a good amount of designers will.

The list goes on but you get the point.

Q3: Joomla V.S Mambo and Price updates?

A3: Mambo is not a bad product but it just does not have a market share it once did.
Joomla is in my opinion the leader.
The Mambo Template Kit extension sales are not meeting sales quotas.
Now that the Joomla and Mambo template system are not similar and the demand is down for mambo
It does not make business sense to develop a product with little demand.


Quornroast here the bottom line is Joomla just has a larger base at this time.
And most likely in the future barring stupid changes in the Joomla cms core code the 1.5 Beta looks
good but still changes are being made daily to the system.

As for our position on the extension we offer a lifetime license
on the standard version of the extension which is soon about to end.
This is not to rush you into buy mode It's better for me if you wait till the new yearly model comes out.

The bottom line is 99 dollar’s sounds like a lot of money. But what do you pay at the gas station for gas
or your bar tab. This tool can make you money not just take it.

Lastly to the level of user skills need.
These are addressed at the system requirements tab of the product.
http://www.m65.net/cms/dreamweaver-j...plate-kit.html

In short we don’t teach you how to use CSS or HTML or Dreamweaver or JavaScript etc..

Any product that over teaches is not going to be good. There are a lot of books that cover these disciplines. We teach you what it takes to make a Joomla Template with our system quick and as easy as possible within the scope of the product.

In our new article system coming soon we will address our client’s demands for such services
products and information.

I hope I have answered your questions.
Cheers,
Brian

[quornroast]

Hello Brian,
thank you for your detailed reply. I appreciate your taking the time to explain so much.

I didn't interpret that first review as negative in any way, it seemed bablanced to me - but there may be some back story I am unaware of as regards motives. But I shouldn't worry, as a newcomer all those reviews sound good.

I am not a developer and don't see any immediate reward, financially, in my sitebuilding activities so I am looking at the expense on the basis of a 'hobby' which is why I am so cautious. And $100 is alot of money to me, and seems alot - but perhaps my inexperience shows in my evaluation.

I was beginning to think that the Mambo kit might be a good alternative, due to its cheaper cost and the fact that I am not committed to either platform yet, but you haven't really recommended that. So perhaps you don't think that's such a good idea?

I have spent the last few days reading all I can find on Mambo and Joomla and, unfortunately, much of what is avaialble is not very coherent - there are a couple of good online tutorials but they are limited in what they instruct. And the bundled 'help' is pretty limited too.

I am currently pulling apart a couple of templates to see how they work but it is a long process and my php is not great.

From my, beginners, point of view there doesn't seem to be too much difference between the Mambo and Joomla templates so I guess I was hoping that the Mambo kit might help me enough to be able to figure out the Joomla stuff by myself after learning Mambo.

Of course, you are the expert and author here so I am sure you would see it differently.

Thanks again.

[admin]

Hi Quornroast

I’m glad that you’re taking your time to make an educated choice on which systems
To pick if this is your new hobby good for you.

As for the review reply I just did not like the format that the person was taking
no one takes that method of writing to leave a review. Of all the reviews I’ve seen for my products and
others. It was a good marketer that wrote that one.

It’s like a person with a good education they insult you then smile. Here's the pattern this product does this good but X.y.z is no good. Smile insult smile insult plug plug. There's one thing about the mention sites plug does guys are very good at marketing.

Now back to your choice if you’re going to get into web design or development services and or run a site that has a lot of articles then Joomla is a good choice.

But if your site is like 10 pages or less don’t waist your time learning any CMS system just make it in Dreamweaver. By the time your finished learning Joomla your site would have been up and running in DW. One thing people get to crazy about this tech stuff. When all you wanted was to put up a site with a few articles.

Well good luck on your hobby.

Cheers,
Brian

[tydust]

I hope you don't mind my jumping in here.

First, I must say, stick with Joomla... it is being actively developed, more working extensions, etc. I've used both, but I now use Joomla exclusively.

I bought the Media 65 template kit AFTER using the free kits, even though at the time Joomla was just a hobby for me. Because of how easy I can turn Dreamweaver/Photoshop designs into working Joomla templates, I have actually started to use Joomla for ALL my web design clients.

I am really, really cheap. Seriously, I hate spending money on things. I always try the free stuff first and muddle through if I can. But if I'm going to pay for something, I buy the best.

I told myself for 6 months that if I ever got an extra $100, I was going to take the plunge with this template kit. And one day after being paid for a project I muddled through without it... I went and paid for it. It is worth it, I promise you.

The one thing free template solutions don't do, that I find incredibly valuable in the M65 kit, is switch back and forth between being able to see your images in Dreamweaver while you're working, and then switched over to proper Joomla code for template images. Until I got the Media 65 kit, I would always fight with the proper syntax for getting the images to show up both while I was working and after publishing to Joomla.

I don't know how much you'll use this if it is just a "hobby" to you because I have no way of knowing how many sites you might make. But I can say if you want to make templates literally minutes after the HTML layout is done, you should get the kit.

I get in and make the design in Photoshop (can do in Fireworks), slice and export to Dreamweaver. I then use the Joomla template kit to create the base files, plug the exported HTML from Photoshop into the index.php... then just tweak the CSS to be the colors and fonts I want. After that I use the kit's wizards to plug in all the code and such (I won't bore you with the steps)... and all this takes as little as 20 minutes to do from when it gets into Dreamweaver till it's ready to upload, if you get good at it.

[admin]

Hi Tydust,

Thanks jump in when you want.
Cheers,
Brian