BuddyZone vs. PHPFox vs. Handshakes, which is better for a college social community?

Uhhm, no. I just see no need to chatter on and on when the only folks responding are obviously what you have accused me of being, except of course JSD. There is no point in discussing my options with folks only interested in pushing their own poop.

PHPIzabi sucks, period. It's not ready for prime-time, and has a LONG way to go before I would consider it as a serious option. I would rather sit down and write my own from scratch.

Take their "New Video Mod" for example. It's a joke. It only accepts flash files, lol. That's not a Video Mod, that's a file store with a player on the front end.

Now look at their "chat". It's an IRC server. Welcome to the new millennium Alicia, IRC is ancient.

Profiles. Yes, maybe you can buy some mods (but who knows if they work) to allow users to effectively customize, but in reality it should be doing that "out of the box".

Blog function? Puhhhlease.

The bottom line is, excluding some Linux distros and maybe a few apps, you usually get what you pay for.

...and again, for the record, I have no affiliation with ANY social networking script developers.

All I did was WASTE my time with one piece of garbage after another, and I wanted to share my experience with the poor souls going through the same.

Rather than stomp your feet about how bad BZ is, the CURRENT VERSION, please be of some use and tell us what exactly you're talking about.

As it stands now, it rocks from a functionality perspective. Maybe you know something SPECIFIC about the CURRENT VERSION that I don't?

...and save the "sloppy code" comments. Let's hear some....

-Specific Code Problems/Function failures
-Security Issues
-Performance Issues
-Usability Issues

If you can do that, you'll get my attention. Otherwise, this is not pre-school.

~C

P.S. - Keep the change

 

I would recommend phpFoX !!

 

Well ChrisX, I apology if i offended you in any way, but you know that there have been some post on this forum from people with 1 record that are obviously from the phpFOX team. and since your post and that other guy one were one after the other, it was too much coincidence. Welcome to the DP community.

Now back to the point.
Why i said that phpFOX suck, simple, because they promise a big change with the release of v1.5 wish is the base for 2.0 and all i can see is bugs and bugs even after the release of 1.5 patch 7.
The script is even slower than what it was with 1.1, thing that we were expecting to change with 1.5. I have a php site since more than a year now and I know what im talking about. Just go to the forum and check how many people are crying because they upgraded their site to 1.5 and now can't go back to the old version.

Now one thing is true, and if i say something different from that i would be a "Big Fat Lier" phpFOX support guys/girls rock, they are doing a great job and if it wasn't for then that community would be death now. Im my experience with then, they have worked with me for days, one after the other to keep my site running and trying to solve bugs let behind by the developers, so if it wasnt for guys like Purefan, and some others i can't remember the name, we all phpFOX owner would have expended a good amount of money. So the truth is the truth.

Now when it come to the script it self, believe me it's getting worth with every new version.

Now Im not saying phpIZABI is the best, what im saying is that as an open source script it's doing very well, and is work in progress, it's true; there are a lot of mods that should be already integrated on the scripts, but come on, most of this mods prices are from $1 to $10 so it's not that big deal, also for $15 bucks you could get a great Templates from the lots of then available.

And that's my point for saying that we should give and opportunity to phpIZABI.
Oh and the Video gallery you said is a module that was actually done so you could use their video hosting service that by the way is really cheep, if you rent a server with then and host the videos remotely, you could use various videos format including wmv, mpg, flv, etc. But there are already a couple of Mods that will allow you to mod the video gallery to do that in your own server and also to embed codes from sites like youtube and show then on the same video gallery.

Now like I said and Im talking from my own experience. If you are going to go for the Pay script, in my opinions this are your options.

#1. AbleSpace (good but a little expensive)
#2 HandsShakes
#3. phpFOX
#4. BuddyZone
# and like number 1000 is that other Friends script from alstrasoft, that i wouldn't lose my time testing, i saw some others that look a lot of better than that one just don't remember now.

 

Oh and by the way, 1.5 still have bugs and they are already testing 1.6, so that will come double buggy!
I do believe this will be a great option in lest say like 1.5 years but for now, it's just to buggy and missing a lot of functionalities that are basic on a SN script, like a simple Artist Profiles.
Also don't go with lest than 100-150$ if you want a descent mods on that forum. I even saw an guy selling a "Open Source" gallery that is available for FREE on the net $400, wish is even more than what the core phpFOX script cost, and when all he is doing is integrating the two scripts, that's just crazy. You know who im talking about!
For me, the only real good mod in there is the FOX Videos by FOFO user. I believe that's his screen name.

 

Oddly enough my list would almost be in the exact opposite order.

Alstrasoft? Noooooooooo.

AbleSpace is an "empty suit" in my opinion, and I'm not sure where it comes from. It does not accept MS layouts, a deal-breaker.

Handshakes I read issues about, but regardless of that it also has issues with profile customization. If it did accept MS layouts, this would definitely give BZ some competition with me.

PHPFox is questionable to say the least. The only people you can get on the phone are absolutely clueless. Aside from that, I have seen people moving away from it in droves. True, I don't know the script that well. I've never installed it. I do know that it also has issues with ms layouts, so again, a dealbreaker.

BuddyZone, well that does everything I need it to do, right out of the box. You can drop-in MySpace layouts, which is a HUGE plus to me, and it's something the other options don't do very well if at all. I have also talked to the lead developer. That goes a long way IMO. The company sells a whole bunch of other scripts too, so BZ is not their only product. They also do a lot of other work.
i.e. they didn't just build a script and start selling it. This is a real business for them, and it looks like they will be around a while. The only problem I've seen with them so far is they absolutely suck when it comes to marketing. I think they've got a great product, and they could do so much more to promote it.


It all boils down to the profile thing for me. If you don't allow your users to COMPLETELY and EASILY customize their profiles, then it's not really "theirs". I must say that if Handshakes did that well, it would be a strong contender if not my choice.

So with my priorities, Buddy Zone wins hands down.

I do have my eye on PHPIzabi though. We'll see what happens in 2008 with them, but I don't expect miracles to happen in the short term. ...and why would anyone looking to run a serious site use a video hosting service? That's another thing with them. If they're going to allow folks to sell mods, they should screen them better, and require that they provide serious demos. I'm not paying a red cent to someone simply because they tell me they have what I want. Categorizing the mods would also make some sense, instead of the laundry list they have there now. (See Joomla.org)
I have it installed right now. I fooled around with it for a few hours and I'm sorry, they aint' ready For starters, they need to get the login box to disappear when you're logged in, lol. That's just stupid. Add a zillion other issues, and at the end of the day the price is right.

~C

 

I do agree with you in the profile thing. Users should have total control over their profile. When a member feel that he/she is doing something by his own, they feel like a piece of the community belong to then!

 

You got me really thinking about this guys no showing their whole features so i emailed then and this is what i got.
Who wanna test the video chat and VOIP with me please?

===============================================
> 1. Whit all this features like video chat, VOIP, 3D Chat, doesn\'t
> it consume to much system resource? I guess it does since you
> doesn\'t even have it on your demonstration page!!!

No it does not influence your resources. Please login as Mike 1234567
Go here http://ablespace.abk-soft.com/users_new.php?offset=4&display=profile
And let your friend login as Liky 1234567 BUT from another computer.
So you will be able to invite each other.

> 2. are all the mentioned features include on Able Space or this is
> only for Able Dating?
Both.

> 3. Can I see a working demo of the Video Chat, VOIP and Greeting
> recording? sorry but i can\'t buy something i haven\'t even saw!!!
Please login as Mike 1234567
Go here http://ablespace.abk-soft.com/users_new.php?offset=4&display=profile
And let your friend login as Liky 1234567 BUT from another computer.
So you will be able to invite each other.
Thank you for interest in AbleDating and AbleSpace software, looking
forward to
hearing from you soon!

 

phpRaven, getting closer to Beta testing.

 

That is not exactly correct. Phpizabi Alicia is not script encoded, meaning that you can open any file and modify the code as needed. However, I think you're refering to some of the DAT Files that store information. These files are not human readable. The information in many of the questionaires and other sections of Alicia are stored in serialized Arrays within the database, instead of separate tables. There is a mod available that allows those files to be edited.

 

I second that...Alicia is open source...and any of the files can be edited, i don't have a Alicia site at the moment but im an insider member of that community (yeah i love open source projects) and i've been testing alisia since it started as phpIZABI on the beginning the index and admin files were encode but not anymore.

 

I tried Alicia, God knows I did and spent some good amount of money on it just to realize that its shortcomings do not come from the lack of plug-ins but from the core itself.

You can see what I started but never finished due to frustration at http://www.milatinspace.com I'm, going to develop that site with phpRaven later this year instead.

 

hi there.

am i the only one that is slowly getting annoyed with the agressive advertisement for phpRaven? anyway, i pretty much do need a script soon - not in half a year. my favourites by now are e-friends , dolphin, phpfox and alicia. which one would you see as technically most developed? which of their design can most easily be changed? are there any definite NOs which would eliminate the usage of one of them?

looking forward to all replies.

;-)

thanks, martin

 

For a commercial website, none of the one you mention.
Try BuddyZone

 

Hello all, thanks for the comments. DJuse - to address your assumption; no I am not affiliated with any of these companies, nor am i affiliated with any script making company. I have been looking for a script to run my Christian social networking site. I First downloaded Dolphin but could not get it to work, i then found PhPizabi and installed it but soon got rid of it for multiple reasons, i then purchased Our Space from 2 cool code. Once installed i found several issues that they have not corrected to this day (money waisted). So, I am back out there looking for a new script. I have played around with the demos of BZ, PhpFox, Ablespace, Handshakes, Datacomm, Web Scrible, and more. As i stated in my first post i am looking for a script that mimics My Space's Functions. The only one i have found that does this well is BZ however, i have been following some of these posts and i noticed the owner got a little petty with some disgruntled customers; this obviously has raised some concerns. I do not want to flush any more money down the toilet. I only have one post because this is the only time i have needed to ask a question.

God bless
jsd219

 

but didn´t YOU say "phpIZABI is FREE and most of the mods are under 10$ I wish i could found that one before my site get to over 13.000 members!"???

so what is the technically most developed script out of my choice? which one is the most adaptable as far as design is concerned?

thanks, martin

 

For a free script phpIZABI is the best on it class but also you need to understand that it's a software that is still in evolution. yeah most of the phpIZABI mods are under $10. With some work you could get a great community, check it out http://www.paranoid.gr/
Now I recommended you BZ because from all the payed ones out there, that's the one i found a little descent.

 

all right. so i just (again) had a look at BZ...

sorry, but it looks like a livetimejob to get BZ´s visual appearance only somewhere near 'nice'. even though it says "CSS Based Templates to easily change the layout." in their feature list, all BZ sites look pretty horrible to me. one of my requirements is an adaptable design. i do believe, that one can only have success, if (besides technical features) it has gotta look good. well, i got to say this, earning my money making ugly things look good ;-) )...

 

LOL, actually the guy send to me some exaples once i emailed him asking for information about this. One of the site he emailed to me was this Christian based one http://www.dittytalk.com/
I still can't believe this is BZ!

 

hi there. if this is as good as it can get - i wont even give it a try! this just looks like a cheaply bought theme. even though it´s far better than the default theme BZ comes with.

sorry, but i do need something that i can play around with using css and templates. i´m selling DESIGN! thanks for your effort, though!

 

You can get a pretty script like AbleSpace if you wish. I doubt you'll get much user adoption, but hey the front page will look good

With SN scripts it all comes down to the profiles. That's why MySpace has 180million users, and Friendster doesn't

BZ has all the features I want, and the ability for users to easily change the layout of their profile. I'd rather that with a little more work to be done to make it pretty.

The other script makers are afraid of this script. It performs well, and has everything anyone would want. This is why their SMF forum got hacked last week. vBulletin guys, vBulletin. If not that, then at least PHPbb with the CrackerTracker mod. 240 attempts on one of my sites and my PHPbb w/CT hasn't been hacked yet. (I say this because I know Vastal reads this forum)

If you honestly think you can point, click, and have a dynamite site, you're better off getting into another profession. Show me one mega-successful site that was made with a few hundred clicks in Dreamweaver, and I'll show you a group of lying developers. Anything worthwhile takes a little work.

What WOULD be nice is if Vastal included documentation that told folks where exactly to make changes. It would save a lot of time.

As for these other folks claiming to have scripts that are so easy to work with, and easy to modify. Well, that's just like those "get rich from placing tiny little ads" infomercials. They prey on folks looking for an easy way out, when in reality, there is none.

~C