Hi,
I am a Joomla! developer and was reading through the posts and saw one asking about iframe elimination. I have a PHPR application running on Joomla! 3.19 in an iframe and normally would be using a native Joomla! extension. I explored the possibility of using PHPR to extend the visual design capabilities of Joomla! extensions that build components. One that appears to be extensible in that area will take quite a bit of time and I have to justify that time with some elementary Proof-of-Concept. Then i saw the Joomla! articles in here plus other CMS so it appears it's not so far-fetched in concept any way. I went with PHPR to avoid yet another extension needing the same capability which was a user-friendly site edit for their JoomDonation EShop order table's shipping instructions fields. The user loves it, and with a little bit of HTML tweaking in PHPR it fits well for what it is doing such as matching the template brand colors.
The primary issue with any CMS, especially one like Joomla! is architecture. Joomla! uses a framework built on the MVC or Model, View. Controller paradigm. It has a specific directory structure and naming conventions (among many other differences) for it to work. I am getting more familiar with PHPR and it has an API I am exploring for integration possibilities with an extension that is designed for developers that I am delving into that creates this structure plus interfaces with the Joomla! framework and does this somewhat visually. The issue with it is it is not nearly as visual as it needs to be for the pages. It is meant for developers after all and it is very complex with a steep learning curve. But I feel it would be incredible with a better UI like PHPR has. I also am using ASPR but it produces VS Solutions and conforms to the standards. The that does the best job for a developer IMHO after a lot of research and hands-on with them is JCB or Joomla Component Builder. It does a great job of allowing you to reuse the Joomla! admin area in the site area but so far it is quite a work in progress as far as the site are appearance goes but it has come a long way.
Meanwhile, I felt the money I spent on both PHPR and ASPR was well worth it. I cranked out this Joomla! menu driven, site area accessible wrapper in record time and feel it will boost my profitability quite a bit. I also completed a rather large ASPR project with the same rapidity converting Cold Fusion and MS Access to C#.NET and MSSQL by migrating the database model, tweaking some primary keys plus establishing PK and FK relationships. ASPR made short work of it once the model was finished and the Designer beat VS Page Viewer by a mile and then some.
I am looking forward to delving more into this and will share my findings. I usually just dive in so the API is next. Great products!
