There are better blog addons for Joomla.
Standard WYSIWYG Editor
If you decide to create your blogs using a web based editor such as JCE, you will miss out on many features offered by easyblog if you create your blogs this way. Blogging with the template based method shown on the right allows much more customisation.
Swapping between both methods can become quite tricky so it's best to stick to one method and if you're using plugins such as sh404sef, its advisable to create your blog posts from the front end to ensure you create a sef url.
Template Based Entry (Blocks)
The template-based system allows the end user to place a "block" in specific locations on the page. Each block can be dragged around the page to position the content accordingly.
These block positions can be saved as a template making new blog entries much easier. If you prefer to design each page differently, however, then you can do that too. We wrote this blog post from a blank template and positioned blocks around the page based on the content you wanted to add.
Mail Chimp Integration
Mail Chimp integration allows you to to create subscription lists and keep your customers informed of your marketing efforts, latest news and promotions. Again, it works like a dream. A few simple configuration steps to grant access to MailChimp and we were up and running. The only problem we found is that if a user tries to enter their email address twice (meaning to subscribe twice) - there was no notification given to the user. Instead it just looked back at us with not much to say. I'm sure the nice people at StackIdeas will look into that.
Feed Importer
The blogging software allows you to import your content (if you have any) from other blog sites such as Wordpress. We imported our content from Wordpress for Joomla which no longer server our purpose. The procedure was simple and worked out of the box!
Social Media
We needed a blogging system that took care of SEO with as little effort as possible. Ensuring each blog post has the option of a friendly URL and a custom title tag was important. EasyBlog allows the author to either enter their own meta tags or the system will automatically generate them for you if you forget.
SEO
EasyBlog can automatically publish your blog post on Facebook, Twitter, and Linked in automatically as soon as you hit the publish button. This saves valuable time and in our opinion is a fantastic feature that takes the hassle out of syndicating content between social media platforms.
Other Features
There are so many more features integrated into this blogging product I would literally be sat at my desk reviewing this product all day. Some of the other features include;
- Location Services
- Password Protection
- Anti Spam
- Commenting Integrations
- Team Blogging
- Notifications
- Media Manager
- Remote Blogging
- ... And there's still more!
Our Verdict - Don't Bother
There are many products available for writing your blog in Joomla. You may decide to simply bypass integrating a blog into Joomla and instead, opt for a free Wordpress account and a simple link from one website to another. We've looked at many products on offer and in terms of features, usability and pricing, there are better, faster options available. Easyblog has way too many options, it's clunky and slows down your website overall.
Of course, no product is perfect and everyone's needs will be different. If you're looking for a simple-to-use, feature-packed product, then EasyBlog for Joomla by StackIdeas is a great Choice.
Technical support is provided by creating a post on the EasyBlog forum. We created a test ticket and we received a response within just a few hours.
SysFix IT Support provides a range of Joomla Support Services and Wordpress Support Services. Contact us for website maintenance services.