The Perfect Social Networking Solution

Hello everyone,

You know me from these forums social networking script, blog and CMS threads, as I try to offer my help and give advice to the best of my abilities to people trying to start their own social networking websites.

Well, we as a web developer team were so frustrated about a year ago with current social networking software, when we had about 10 clients looking to create a social networking website.

We needed a solution that was inexpensive and high quality, but there wasn't one available at that time, so here you get to tell me, what features you want on your social networking software...

Well write a description, please let us know what your COMPLETE SOCIAL NETWORKING SOFTWARE PRODUCT would be and what features it would need to have for you to buy it?

I will post some of the most common ones, but please post ALL of your ideas because as we build our own software platform (name in my sig) we would like to hear straight from the webmasters that will be using this product what they want and how they want it built.

Here is a generic list, please expand on them.

Profiles: ajax based, boxes able to be moved around, able to use myspace layouts, rss support, widget/gadget support

Gallery: multiple albums, privacy settings to multiple groups and levels, easy to upload, easy to edit, comment system

Browse: complex search

Blogs: wordpress style, easy to manage, wordpress-widgets-style boxes, myspace layouts

Polls: multiple poll questions support, able to integrate with profiles

Groups: invites, easy to manage, own self-created forum

Classified:

Events:

Videos: youtube style

Forums:

Chat rooms:

Widgets:

Ajax Based:

Integration: wordpress, joomla, IPB, vB, SMF etc.

 

if you can make a social network script like deviantart.com, I won't mind to pay few hundreds to purchase that script

 

Hi,

My own preference is minimalistic, reliable, secure with basic features that work with the least amount of maintenance. It is very difficult to administer and kind of site that has outside participation. Even blog and forum comments can be a pain given the amount of spam.

What I am looking for is stability, security and control. I do not need any lawsuits in my life because of what someone posted. It is not worth it.

For me, this means a basic HTML/CSS site with very strong PHP scripting and mechanisms to secure the system. Anything even close to Ajax would be problematic for me - as would any other fancy stuff. My primary aim is to begin small and build. It is the content and idea that will drive the site, not technology, since there is no way I am going to be able to compete withthe technology of the big guns. But if I get bogged down with flakey, unreliable technology, then it is a non-starter.

Hope this gives you some insights into what I am looking for.

Rich

 

i would like to review your script for social networking on ma blog(obviously free).....but need more info for that....

see here i reviewed a online tool of snapp....for same purpose
http://targetlife.wordpress.com/200...-website-like-orkut-myspace-using-snapp-tool/

 

I agree 100%. It has to be reliable and secure and easy to manage. I downloaded phpBizabi and that was a nightmare trying to go through all of their junk code and what seemed like endless templates. The product doesn't have to have all the bells and whistles e.g ajax, it just needs to work and work like it's suppose to. Having an ajax interface and all the fancy stuff is nothing if your cms is junk.

I have a social network niche site in mind but haven't been able to start it as there is no software I've found that I want to use. With that said, here are some basic features I require:

1. Easy registration process

2. Good advanced search feature where you can search by name, location, etc.

3. Easy to manage template system. I don't want to dig through tons of crap html for hours trying to make something that change something that should be very basic. Content should be separate from presentation and should have web standards in mind with regards to design.

4. Minimalistic profiles that can be added to if need be.

5. Blog for each user's profile

6. Comments for the blog entries and profiles

7. Image Gallery

 

I think many developers would be much more successful if they stayed away from the latest wizz-bang and just produced stable, easy-to-use products that provide some minimal functionality - as opposed to being the be-all-end-all. Wordpress, as an example, is minimalistic and as a result it works and as such is widely adopted. KISS (keep it simple stupid).

Rich

 

Yep. To many times people try to release the next latest greatest thing and try to throw every new technology into it and it ends up failing. Just build something simple that works (as you said, wordpress for example) and if it is easy to use and robust, a community of followers will build around it and start developing add ons, modules, etc. To bad a lot of developers don't realize this. I only wish I was a developer and could develop my own solutions such as this social networking script I've been searching for. I'm a designer and know zero PHP or anything so I have to sit back and hope a good product comes out that suits my needs and is affordable because I just don't have thousands laying around right now to throw into a custom solution.

 

We are in the same boat. I am a designer with about 30 years of system design and database background. I'm slowly learning HTML, CSS, and PHP, but I have not real desire to become proficient in programming. That is all behind me. But it seems like you and I have some shared objectives. The site I am working on building is in my signature. Let's keep in touch so that we can share some of our experiences. We may be able to help each other out, since it appears that we look at things pretty much the same way.

Rich

 

The reason I ask is because we are in the production phase of our anticipated software solution phpRaven, which is based more or less on Wordpress' simplicity and functionality.

As an internet web solution developer we are taking every comment and suggestion very seriously because after all, YOU are our customers and we want to listen to what YOU WANT.

We want to work with our clients to ensure the finished product fully encompasses their need and vision, rather than interpose their vision to fit our product.

 

Yeah definitely. My site is http://www.randomjabber.com. Just never got around to adding it to my sig here as I'm not on DP much. I try to stay away from forums as it greatly inhibits my ability to get work done, but I seem to always end up at one forum or another. Do you have google talk? I use it also and could add you if you use it.

Sounds good! I've wanted an application such as this for so long you don't even know! I just hope it is as good as sounds.

Will this application run on it's own, or would a person need to install wordpress, VB, etc and then use PHPRaven as an addon to that CMS?

 

phpRaven can run on its own as a full social networking website, it comes already integrated with a forum software and a Wordpress-on-steroids CMS/Blog system.

Ultimately, phpRaven is an open source social networking platform for which we want to build a developer and user base community where new add-ons, plug-ins and applications are shared, sold and distributed.

Please keep your suggestions coming, we are taking note of every comment.

Btw, if you are an investor who is interested in this project and invest in our company, we would like to talk to you pronto.

 

Thank you. Sounds great! I can't wait to see it in action!

 

Hi,

I took a look at your site. Nice site and I notice it was done in ExpressionEngine. I like this CMS, albeit it would require more CSS/HTML design knowledge than I have at present. I don't go on chat, but I do frequent this forum, so you can always PM me and I will do likewise if something interesting comes up in the SN market. I'm still trying to figure out what direction I want to take links.com (in fact I have that question now posted in the Marketing forum). Let's keep in touch, since we have parallel goals.

Rich

 

Links.com would be a perfect social network of any kind.

 

Yes, I think so, which is I am looking at the possibility. The tough part is finding an idea that would provide real incremental traffic and value, without creating too many administration problems. Currently I get about 500,000 uniques a year (it is growing), so I have to have an idea that would create some retention. I do not think it is easy competing against the name recognition and technology of MySpace and FaceBook (and all other big competitors who are entering the market), unless I have some unique idea. But I am working on this problem full-time and hopefully I will come up with something interesting to build in the near, or distant future, whatever comes first.

Looking forward to seeing your product in action.

Rich

 

Hello, newbie here but I'm interested in the script also. A few things I'm also looking for are ...

1. I would like to be able to post news and events
2. Be able to incorporate RSS feeds from other sites
3. Events Calendar
4. Weather module
5. Classifieds postings
6. Give acces to others the ability to post news, events and classifieds.

Just some stuff I'm looking for. I look forward to seeing the script.

Thanks!

 

hi there it would be great if you could make multi-website scripts for social networking same as Snapp, i wont mind paying you for that even monthly 500$, but i would only go for such type of script that actually Snapp tool has it.

 

in fact, you have a great list of features on the thread.

in my opinion, the most impornant think is integration part .

most of us have a current web site and people will want to use your script with the current web site.

 

Yeah, that's a big one but not necessary from my standpoint to have to integrate with my current CMS/website. From the other scripts like this that I've seen, as long as Raven has the presentation separated from content in that the HTML/CSS are separate and it's not a mess of tables for a design, I can make it look like my current site enough to 'seem' integrated.