I bought both resource manager and showcase. Now I would like to allow my users to show extracts of books (cover + HTML text + PDF).
As far as I can see I can realize this with both addons and I really don't know which one I should choose. What would you say is the advantage of showcase in my special case or in general vs. RM?
Thank you, rhodes
Showcase only allows image file types to be uploaded for use in its own image gallery, so you'd need to use the RM if you need/want to upload PDF's. If you are just linking to PDF's, then both addons will work.
Both addons have a lot of similar base functionalities like Nested Set Categories with full category permissions, Rating/Reviews, Custom Fields, Prefixes, List Sorting/Filtering etc, however, where it starts to differ is that Showcase has enhanced/expanded functionality to all of those base functionalities (and more features & functionality that the RM doesn't have). For example, the RM has one layout for everything. Showcase has multiple layouts (List, Grid, Article, Modular Sliders) that can be set for every page. You can have Category A using list view layout and Category B using Article layout and Category C using Grid View while Showcase home is Using Modular Sliders. There are 100's of different configurations that you can do with showcase out of the box with nothing more than setting showcase options and showcase category options.
The biggest difference is that Showcase can do things out of the box that would take A LOT of time and effort to pull off with the RM (and I am not talking about CSS/template tweaks, I am talking 100's of hours of programming). Its really up to you to decide what features you
need and how much customization you can and are willing to put into it yourself or hire someone else to do it for you.