The change log of released JoomSport minor update 4.1.3 includes bug fixes and minor improvements, among them:

• Native Joomla! CMS updater compatibility
• The feedback widget linked to our new ideas-board added
• Match Generator add-on algorithm improvement - now it flips home/away matches
• Number of fixes for Scroll matches module
• Player on bench - time statistic fixes
• Player can move out without substitution, time counting adjustments
• Language strings and links corrections
• Matches search filter fix
• Facebook share button fix
• Moderator cannot delete matches via Front End

 Please download the new 4.1.3 version from your Members Area.

Each JoomSport major release brings very special feeling to our team - emotion of celebration and proud of achievements. In fact it is the feeling that something important is changing again in our company and in our products and even more - that we actually leave a mark in history.

We're also glad to note that current release is not a trivial code update with some bug fixes but it includes some new WOW features inside. It was very hard to deliver this time - the team had so many discussions, disputes and emotions. Each member of our team hopes that EVERY customer who updates his local instances to the latest 4.1 release will also have this WOW feeling.

Let's go through the list of the changes together:

Improved Player statistic

We have delivered two optional blocks for Player profile page. Played minutes, Lineups, Substitutes, Goals and other Events can be displayed in Career block with flexible columns. This block allows comparing Player performance in different Seasons. Match Statistics block displays Player events by matches.

Matrix add-on

Effective way to display Round Robin fixtures and played matches. There is ability either display Matrix button on Season table or show a separate layout by adding the new Menu item. It is Delivered free of additional charge with the main product package as Matrix doesn't really bring new functionality but combines the way how the current data is presented.

Match timeline

Now match statistics is more useful than ever. Colorful timeline is a perfect visual display of Player events in their sequence. Match duration is used as base scale and event images are stringed on it.

New Calendar Layout

In JoomSport all matches are organized by Matchday and now there is ability to display Calendar by Matchday as well. Matches of separate Matchday on each page. Handy navigation allows getting to the required Matchday without any difficulties. By default Matchday with the most recent match is displayed first. Moreover new module with the same functionality is available in public version.

Mobile App API

Included mobile API will allow each client to purchase and use our future Mobile application product so this is the first step to get mobile application for your club or league.

Languages updates

Updated translation to Spanish (special thanks to Pasionporelrayo project), Slovak, Chinese, Portuguese, Czech, Slovenian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, French and Russian. Many thanks to all the translators who supported us on product localization!

Number of minor improvements and bug fixes

Predictions integration with Knockouts matches, Venue Google API fix, check version algorithm improvement, Match layout order by Player Extra field (Squad tab) doesn't work, unable to delete match custom status, improve knockout layout when branding removed, Today matches edit results are not added to the Season table, Scroll module alignment, fixed CSS for tooltip on calendar, big number inside the score fix, add all teams to the season fix.

Please download the new 4.1.2 version from your Members Area and install it on your website.

Check documentation and demo and if any questions appear feel free to contact our friendly support team any possible way: Chat, HelpDesk, Forum.

We would be glad to hear your feedback.

Today there is variety of entertainments and it’s not so easy to attract new website visitors and what even more difficult is to keep visitors on the website. This is particularly true for sport web portals, intense rivalry makes owners to implement new solutions. One of the sure-fire solutions is Gambling. Gambling has been staying popular since pre-historic times of Ancient India, it lures people in all corners of the world at all times. By references to this fact BearDev team decided to develop almost indispensable functionality for entertaining Sport website visitors!

Let us to introduce tool for Joomla based websites – JoomSport add-on, Joomla Sports Predictions that has been just released and is already available in our WebShop.

The add-on allows creating prediction leagues and adding matches from JoomSport seasons. Once JoomSport matches are marked as played, users will gain their points depending on league settings and predictions submissions.

JoomSport Predictions add-on Features

• Enable predictions option for chosen JoomSport leagues;
• Set up point system for each league separately;
• Allows any registered Joomla user to make predictions;
• Display Users Leaderboard according to prediction results;
• Individually stats for each user;
• Provides simple and intuitive configuration.

Check how the features work on predictions add-on demo or read the documentation available.

The change log of released JoomSport minor update 4.0.17 includes minor bug fixes and improvements, among them:

• Season standings layout - by group filtering fix
• Player images thumbs display improvement on Team layout (players tab, option with player photos)
• Season table module by group filtering fix

 Please download new 4.0.17 version from your Members Area and install on your website. Pay your attention that Season table module need to be updated as well.

We are pleased to announce that new version of Match Generator add-on is already available. Based on customers’ requests we have done the following implementations:

• Group Dividing. Now matches can be generated as between participants of one group as for all participants of the season (regardless of the group)
• Participant order. Check user friendly drag and drop feature for sorting participants before generate matches
• Minor improvements: Interface updates, language fixes, design issues etc.

Please buy the add-on in our web shop or download your copy from members area.

Soon, our whole team will celebrate a new global update of our flagship product JoomSport.

The updated product was inspired by our customers and created for them entirely. We’ve made a lot in order to meet most of your voiced needs and allow you to enjoy the new look and feel of the extension. 

This update, intended for both JoomSport admins and fans, drastically rebuilds the product’s back end and front end. And today we are going to unveil the main features that are going to make JoomSport greatly a new extension.

Latest JoomSport Features

Bootstrap Based Layout

Most importantly, the updated extension has a new advanced tech stack with Bootstrap 3 as the central element. It delivers consistent look for many standard web items, makes the layout of the product fully-responsive and provides you with great user experience on all mobile devices.

Responsive Add-on is included 

As far as the front end of the extension is based on Bootstrap that doesn’t require developing a stand-alone product for mobile devices, we’ve included Responsive Add-on into the package by default and for free.

Back end Usability

The update improves almost all the sides of our product since the front end and back end improvements go together just hand in hand.

Among other things, the new backed includes a streamlined navigation, convenient and clear configuration, and user-friendly design. The new logical organization of options and their improved appearance flat-out saves your time and efforts.

JoomSport back end menu

Easy Learning Process

While creating the new back end design and new level of usability we considered the entire process of the extension configuration both as a daily routine and learning. Every-day routines are just about experience, while learning requires passion. So, our idea was to make our back end more usable and involving simultaneously.

As a result, now even beginning users will quickly embrace the logic of particular operations and the overall workflow of the JoomSport extension. The whole back end contains numerous notifications, information links, and explanations. The provided documentation contains step-by-step guides linking to even more detailed tutorials, if necessary.

Most fans have their favorite kinds of sports or sports leagues and naturally want to follow them online, among other things. Consequently, web site owners need to provide them with a smooth transition from off-line mass media to online sport leagues and vice versa. 

However, online league user experience should give them even more opportunities to get plentiful and detailed information regarding their favorites (players, teams or championships), to socialize, comment and discuss current and past results, to feel in the thick of things, events and people.

It is certainly a complicated task requiring professional sports software. For Joomla web site owners below we present 15 hints to ease this burden and fine-tune league web sites to get plentiful grateful feedback from visitors.

To this purpose you can take advantage of the dedicated software products by BearDev including Joomla! CMS sport extension, JoomSport add-ons and dedicated Joomla templates able to provide you with all necessary features and beyond.

1. Responsive Layout

Nowadays, responsive interface is a mandatory component of great user experience enabling visitors to stay in touch with their hobby or professional activity on the 24/7 basis. Responsive design also makes your Google desktop and mobile rankings more successful.  

JoomSport hint: In order to correspond to the best examples of UI you have to implement responsive Joomla CMS templates, e.g. Joomla responsive sport template Kodiak. You should also make sure that all the extensions used on your site are also responsive. For that you can utilize the JoomSport responsive add-on making all your sport pages mobile friendly.

2. Teams Branding

Team logos added to their names makes content perception more convenient allowing fans to find their teams in seconds within the crowded calendars and Standings.

JoomSport hint: The smallest acceptable size of logo images is 30x30 px. The recommended size of logos in the new coming JoomSport release will be 100x100 px.

3. Photos in Web Site Style

Already known, that users perceive visuals much better than texts and often abandon too long descriptions. You should add multiple photos to players, teams, matches, and venues setting the tone of your professional league in this way.

JoomSport hint: The optimal size of illustrative pictures should be between 200 and 800 px width that is enough for both great  picture quality and site performance. The consistency of photo dimensions within a gallery is also very important since different sizes and aspect ratios of photos make them looking sloppy and unattractive.

Now, when spring starts in the north and Australia meets autumn, comes a truly busy period for national sport leagues worldwide since many of them start their seasons in 2016. And, whatever is the tournament you’d like to start building online, you will likely find this task pretty embarrassing and awkward.

For example, the Australian Football League season, starting in March usually, consisted of 206 games in 2015, including 23 rounds and 18 final matches. Or, the 2015 Major League Soccer season took 340 matches to figure out the winner. So, it really doesn’t seem to be an easy walk to create manually that overwhelming number of matches, different match days, and seasons on you web site.

But, if you utilize the JoomSport extension you can take advantage of the JoomSport Match Generator add-on recently released and cataloged in our store.

The add-on allows streamlining the process above and enables you to generate matches in several clicks. This functionality saves tons of your time and keeps you from manual mistakes.

JoomSport Match Generator Features

• Generates matchdays and matches automatically;
• Supports Group, Knockout, and Double elimination matchday types;
• Fully integrated into JoomSport;
• Provides simple and intuitive configuration.

Future Development Roadmap

After collecting our first customers' reviews we decided to further enhance the product. First of all the improved sorting function will be added so it becomes easier to sort teams during the Matches generation process. Also, it is planned to develop the ability to generate matches of a selected Season Group only. The changes above will be delivered within the next JoomSport major release scheduled for the second quarter of 2016.

Add-on Installation

During the installation process you need to fulfill two actions. For a start, you should follow the BE -> Components -> JoomSport -> Add-ons path, choose the Match Generator add-on file and press the Install button.

Next, you need to publish the add-on to activate its functionality that completes the installation process.