Any recommendations for Social Networking Scripts (a la MySpace)?

[slinky]

Kat is the local Drupal junkie. No question the resource for everything Drupal and also has put up a few nice sites if you haven't yet peeked.

I've decided to go a completely different route. Here's my take. I've had it with PHPFox. Supposedly the new 1.5.1 version is going to be released last Monday (did that make sense? lol) and even with those versions it isn't compelling. I haven't yet looked at the themes section but the 20 new free themes all suffer from the same horrific instantly recognizable look and feel that the prior version did.

Drupal - lots of promise and some superb features that make it the best pure publishing solution out there. Unfortunately IMHO to get to the level you see in the lists above it requires a significant outlay of cash. There also aren't a ton of resources out there to get what you want done quickly, e.g. high quality plugins.

I'm using a bunch of different scripts that integrate with each other to some degree and putting together my own. Total cost of the scripts (vbulletin and others) and added plugins comes out to roughly $500, which I find acceptable. That's a lot of functionality and a nice look in one package. Some of the other stuff will cost me in development but at least I'm going somewhere and not waiting for a mediocre package to continue to move forward slowly. Honestly, I haven't seen many active PHPFox sites - those with many memberships yes, but not active members. I think it may say something about the software too. But that is just IMHO.

[Kat]

Kat is the local Drupal junkie. No question the resource for everything Drupal and also has put up a few nice sites if you haven't yet peeked.

One of these days, maybe i'll get a drupal site of my very own, but as you've pointed out, the cost is quite high.

Too bad about phpfox. I was about to take another look at it, but never mind.

I'll just keep plotting my Drupal site, and playing the lottery

[nameslot]

Opensource scripts list: http://www.nameslot.com/Opensource-S...pts-t-889.html

one member posted it on my forum.

[ezguy]

I have a script made by my friend you can check it is on www.itfriend.com which iam planning to sell because i dont have money to advertise

[slinky]

One of these days, maybe i'll get a drupal site of my very own, but as you've pointed out, the cost is quite high.

Too bad about phpfox. I was about to take another look at it, but never mind.

I'll just keep plotting my Drupal site, and playing the lottery

Kat, the phpfox forums have been virtually down for the past 3 days due to "unforeseen maintenance on the server." It doesn't say much for a company that has problems like that and the latest release already has 1 patch and few can install it properly. I want to say great things about it but a stable version that I think is a worthwhile venture (beyond 1.1) is several months away at best unfortunately. I've also heard that it was sold and purchased by a new company that will be getting rid of the current dev team and putting in a new one. Mixed blessing but it will take time for them to figure out what is going on. Just don't expect to invest in something that works well right out of the box. It will be a while...

[jamestflynn]

Nice thread, took me about an hour to read all the way through.

Kat, I really like the Drupal community sites list. I see a couple people mention the cost associated with a Drupal community. Where is the additional cost involved (third party commercial modules?) ? I especially like the http://share.triangle.com/ site. If you could guess what would you guess of that site was made from existing modules and which were made custom?

Just my two cents I spent the money for the phpFox license and go the 1.5 and have yet to be able to get it installed successfully. I went to there forums (well before they were down) and it was nothign but users posting to users. No actual staff postings to help and they have not returned any of my emails.

james

[slinky]

Nice thread, took me about an hour to read all the way through.

Kat, I really like the Drupal community sites list. I see a couple people mention the cost associated with a Drupal community. Where is the additional cost involved (third party commercial modules?) ? I especially like the http://share.triangle.com/ site. If you could guess what would you guess of that site was made from existing modules and which were made custom?

Just my two cents I spent the money for the phpFox license and go the 1.5 and have yet to be able to get it installed successfully. I went to there forums (well before they were down) and it was nothign but users posting to users. No actual staff postings to help and they have not returned any of my emails.

Here is my advice - download drupal and install it yourself. You'll get a better feel for what it looks like and how it plays. What surprised me was how mediocre most of the "free" styles/templates were with the exception of 1 or 2 really super nice ones. I was also very unimpressed with the forums/commenting for user support. It's a beast to use and pales in comparison with what I've seen at other communities that use a vbulletin or phpbb like forum.

It reminds me of Wordpress in a way although WP is functional for basic stuff. But if you want to go beyond a regular blog then WP can be a real challenge to work with unless you spend hours evaluating all the tools, many of which are just half done hacks.

I should have my site up by the end of the week, with the integrated dating component up this month as well. It's pretty exciting although I'm anticipating integration challenges... but at least it will be done once and worth it.

[jamestflynn]

Yeah I gave Drupal a shot once but I quickly gave it up as I had used Joomla before and Joomla seemed easier to use. I don't mind spending the time to learn Drupal it if it will accomplish what I need in the end. I guess it was just a little intimidating at first because it's not as "out of the box" as Joomla.

I'm re-installing it now to give it a second chance.

[jamestflynn]

I found this pretty interesting I don't know if anyone else will but the http://share.triangle.com the Author listed the modules used here:
http://drupal.org/node/115058

[Kat]

I found this pretty interesting I don't know if anyone else will but the http://share.triangle.com the Author listed the modules used here:
http://drupal.org/node/115058

I'm glad you found that...I was just about ot grab it for you

To answer your question about cost, most of it seems to be linked to configuring it to work (the way I would need it to work - not too much custom programming), and the design (which as Slinky posted is critical, since the free templates are beyond ugly.)

[soul-matcher]

The other stuff just doesn't seem to be there yet. I'm disappointed that DZOIC Handshakes is encoded and I can't bring myself to go in that direction for the cost with a small foreign company and limited community. It too seems a little lacking on the admin side. Been burned too often and once you invest the time in your script, it's a beast to move away.

Greetings! I found these forums and had to register and put my 2 cents in. I hope I am not out of line or off topic. If so you can stone me after you read hehe. I have DZOIC Handshakes installed and running. I have tried most of the demos from the other packages, and even installed the free ones and I too was "burned" a few times for hundreds of dollars. I expected this, however and budgeted for it. Buying anything online has some risk, and if it is software, the risk is 10 fold.

That being said, One of the scripts I bought was Handshakes. Now I have to say that the support is good! Is it instant, or perfect? no. But they really are there, and they seem to care about their product. All that aside, The code it's self is amazing! I read in this thread where someone thought it was "clunky". ??? I have to say, I am very hard to please and cannot stand "clunky" software, but HS (HandShakes V3.2) seems to be very slick in the way it is made!

Ok, reality check: When/If you do buy HS, you will install it (super duper elementary easy (if you can read the 10 lines of instructions )). Then you log in. looks good. you go to the admin panel... okay, it is standard, all the features you want (Except stats which I will get to later). So thats all cool! you drop in some ads or maybe a banner or 2, and stand back and marvel at your work.

Whoops! Lets change that from X to Y. (Maybe a color or a box or whatever). Now this is where you will hate me if you buy it based on this post (lol). You go to the support forums and knowledge base on the dzoic site (and you will find ALOT of good people and info there). There you will be able to get started editing page layouts and you will (trust me) get frustrated. "Smarties" and CSS and PHP, OH MY!

BUT! Once you get a few things customized, you will come to realize that all of that complicated stuff you just went thru is a GOOD thing! Why? Well, most of the software I have seen does not even offer this level of customization, unless you know alot about php etc. If you do happen to know how to code, you will also be pleased to find that 1 (yes ONE) file is "encrypted" (with zend) and it is a license protection file. ALL the rest is totally open to editing! The smarty templates and all of that suddenly become your friends, and you find that you have a site that is not only smooth running, fast, and well coded - but TOTALLY customizable!

The Bad: There is a lack of actual documentation that comes with the release. However, the online forums and knowledge base has given me (novice level, or maybe a little higher) all I need to come up with new code, designs, and functionality. This of course does not replace good docs, and thus it is a "bad" point.

The bottom line: It is, for $350, a really good script! However, if you are looking for something that is going to be perfect out of the box, and never have any issues, I am afraid you have a long road ahead. (But if you find it, let me know! I will switch). You can visit my site, or go to the dzoic forums and find a site with heavy use to see how it runs. I will also be glad to help anyone that needs it if you decide on (or already have) handshakes.

Sorry for the long post, and thanks for reading! Best of luck

[Kat]

Hi SoulMatcher!

Thanks for the review. To be honest, I don't recall why none of us cared for Handshakes...(can someone refresh my memory, because after looking at SoulMatcher's site, it looks kind of interesting.)

Ok...off to research. (Does it integrate with vBulletin?)

[slinky]

Hi SoulMatcher!

Thanks for the review. To be honest, I don't recall why none of us cared for Handshakes...(can someone refresh my memory, because after looking at SoulMatcher's site, it looks kind of interesting.)

Ok...off to research. (Does it integrate with vBulletin?)

I looked at this script and there is no question it looks nice. Kudos to them for doing a nice job.

1) It is encoded. Given experiences here with budding scripts I decided that this was a serious issue. I inquired about an unencoded version or source code escrow and the answer was a definite no.

2) The small number of members in the community didn't further entice me to buy encoded software. Posts like the following didn't help either: "Dzoic support really isn't on these forums as this is mainly for webmasters to help each other."

3) It is not US-based and does not have a telephone number to speak to someone.

4) I have read that it is server intensive and that it can get slow very quickly.

Certainly I understand their piracy concerns. This is an old problem and you have to be smart about how to handle it. Many of us aren't going to spend a lot of money to develop a site whose software is encoded and run by an unknown shop in a foreign store that can't be easily contacted on a timely basis. There is a need to establish relationship with a few early adopters and run with it. Perhaps getting the software out there and locking things later might have been a better idea but they are going forward this way. Not so simple. Imagine where phpfox would have been if it wasn't open source (or free as it was earlier.)

[Netlady]

Hi - New member here! And dismayed to find that there are people here having the same issues with recent phpfox installs that I am having! I actually paid to have it installed on their "recommended" hosting company - and it simply is not working.

Seems to be an issue with any email going through the phpfox system - such as the confirmation emails! They simply don't arrive - although I can send emails from the domain using horde, and they arrive immediately to any of the email addresses we used for the test accounts. I won't go into all of the details here - but trust me - we have done everything that you can think of to pinpoint where the "hangup" is and it is definitely something in the phpfox system that is holding up the emails.

I had it installed the weekend before their mysterious "unplanned server maintenance" so lost almost 4 days waiting for a response there - and now they have decided that it must be with the hosting company, since there is nothing wrong with their software -

Thank goodness I only bought the monthly program, since the plan was to try it for a couple of months and then buy if it worked well.

Will NOT be buying - Dzoic is the other one that I liked - but having been burned by encoded software in the past as well - not real thrilled with that option either.

The problem is that I have a fairly large site that I need to move to something that is robust and reliable (unlike my current "custom" software which turned out to be nothing more than a Alstra soft clone - awful!!!)

So - back in the market again...........

[xcel]

yeah I have phpfox also and cant say im thrilled with them.

I got it when it was 1.09 and in on thier site and forums they stated that it had phpbb integration, which was the main reason I went with them and not some other software. A couple of weeks after I purchased they released 1.1 and the phpbb intergration no longer worked. So everyone using phpbb with thier site was screwed .

Thought they would fix it up but instead they seem to have shelved phpbb in favour of vbulletin which everyone still seems to have problems with anyway.

So im still stuck with 1.09 because I cant upgrade without scrapping my forum and other phpbb mods that are part of the site.

I like others are constantly looking for other options and am suprised that no company has come out with a product that meets the requirements most people seem to be after.

The dating scripts seem to have the best features but lack the customising of profiles and "friend" features as opposed to romance etc.

what i want is:

easy to change the look & feel of the site
intergration of forums etc . Phpbb, vbulletin
Chat and IM
User profiles designed with myspace in mind so css codes from pimp myspace sites can be used.

Ability to have different profiles for Bands, Artists, Film makers etc


All the scripts seem to have SOME of these features but none have all


another script you can add to the list maybe is http://www.enterthelovezone.com/

the guy was selling thew site here last week and reckons the script is his and will sell for around $300 . more dating orientated but could be changed. He reckons is has games that users can play against each other, VOIP chatting and some other cool stuff.

[bboy]

Glad to see this thread is still going strong. Can any Drupal experts around here give a somewhat confident answer as to whether a site like iFreelance.com could be created with Drupal? If not, what would be a recommended alternative? Thanks.

[Kat]

Glad to see this thread is still going strong. Can any Drupal experts around here give a somewhat confident answer as to whether a site like iFreelance.com could be created with Drupal? If not, what would be a recommended alternative? Thanks.

Have you tried asking over at Drupal.org?

Also search through some of the current and past projects at hireacoder.com and scriptlance.com

I think I've seem some people looking to build iFreelance clones. You might find some programmers there, and ask what platform they used.

[Kat]

More Drupalicious goodness:

http://www.trellon.com/projects
(It's an entire list of VERY impressive drupal sites)

[bboy]

More Drupalicious goodness:

http://www.trellon.com/projects
(It's an entire list of VERY impressive drupal sites)

Interesting. Definitely like seeing example sites showing what Drupal is capable of. It has certainly opened my eyes. Then comes the task of finding a Drupal development house to work on a project for me that won't leave me homeless and shirtless.

[headbobs]

do you know any dating which has meetme feature??
demo meetme.hotornot.com

thanks

[Kat]

Then comes the task of finding a Drupal development house to work on a project for me that won't leave me homeless and shirtless.

Tell me about it!

[photodesign]

Well, I haven't seen this mentioned yet here:

http://www.ning.com

[AJKock]

I was just about to post the same thing Photodesign.

NING
for creating your own social networks. Our passion is putting new social networks in the hands of anyone with a good idea. With Ning, your social network can be anything and anyone you want it to be.

You choose a combination of features (videos, blogs, photos, forums, etc.) from an ever growing list of options, you choose how it looks, you decide if it is public or private, you add your brand if you have one, and you enable the people on your network to create their own custom personal profile pages all in one great social network.

[strawberries]

looks to me as if Ning runs off *your* servers.

am I mistaken?

Update - at the present time, and after going through a lot of scripts, and taking guidance from a fair few people, and reading views in a thousand threads/posts, there are two front runners in my choice of scripts. OsDate and Datemill.

Both have new versions coming out. Osdate's new version is already being tested and can be seen in demo mode already. It will probably be out in a few weeks in it's final version. Dan is also beevering away on the new datemill script.

My search is finally reaching a conclusion.

[photodesign]

Ning runs on ning's servers.

Unless you are implying that I'm with Ning, which, while vaguely flattering, is not true.