Dick Montage Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 I'm looking to build a small social site for my local community. It needs to support the following: * Social features (eg, a profile, adding friends, a wall, posting pictures, etc) kinda like a facebook (very) lite * Events * Forums (more for asking/answering questions - recommendations on finding a cleaner, etc) I've looked at OxWall because it looks pretty simple, but there seems to be very little developer support. It is free however. Anyone got any other suggestions? Please don't say "google it", I am looking for suggestions from people with first-hand experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Chasethebase Reporter Posted April 8, 2013 Reporter Share Posted April 8, 2013 I know that IPB is a very extensive forum software (Which is what we use, albeit heavily modified), but that might not be what you want. Maybe something like Vanilla? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Dick Montage Posted April 8, 2013 Author Share Posted April 8, 2013 Vanilla was certainly on my list of considerations. IPB was a bit TOO forum and not enough social for me. Thanks :) garwin 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Dick Montage Posted April 8, 2013 Author Share Posted April 8, 2013 Also looking very much at http://www.jomsocial.com/ Realised it's a paid product. This is non-profit so am looking at free... BuddyPress looks ok possibly... The more I look, the more OxWall seems to suit my needs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Jub Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 I know you wanted recommendations based on first-hand experience, and I apologise, I have none with this software. However, you might want to have a look at Social Engine, http://www.socialengine.com/ (http://demo.socialengine.com/). It sounds very good on paper, and seems to do all you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Dick Montage Posted April 8, 2013 Author Share Posted April 8, 2013 Cheers, but $299 for a license to use on a non-commercial, non-profit site is not going to happen :( Jub 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Max Norris Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Also looking very much at http://www.jomsocial.com/ I've worked with JomSocial a bit, it's pretty decent for a FB-like Joomla based site, if you don't mind paying for it, lots of bells and whistles. BuddyPress isn't (in my opinion) quite as good but it's not bad either, and that's a freebie for WordPress if it's a factor. Both can be integrated with forums. Experimented with Elgg a bit, another freebie, didn't suit the project's needs but seemed capable enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Jub Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Cheers, but $299 for a license to use on a non-commercial, non-profit site is not going to happen :( Damn, here I was thinking it's cheap. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Dick Montage Posted April 8, 2013 Author Share Posted April 8, 2013 Cheap/expensive being relative terms. If this were "for me" or "for a paid project" then sure, $299 could easily be absorbed into a cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Lingwo Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 I used BuddyPress a few years back and got on with it ok for being free and if you're up to speed with Wordpress then you can qucikly get it up and running. Then alongside it you can run bbPress as the forum. For a free option then i'd recommend BuddyPress. For a paid option might be worth having a look athttp://www.phpfox.com/ - never used it, but it looks robust. Maybe throw a few ads on the site to bring some money in to pay for the licence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 MikeChipshop Member Posted April 8, 2013 Member Share Posted April 8, 2013 WordPress/BuddyPress/BBPress combo all the way. BBPress does lack quite a few features of normal forum software but the plugin list is growing and you can add in quite a few features now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Dick Montage Posted April 8, 2013 Author Share Posted April 8, 2013 I'm very comfortable with WordPress, been using it for years, so that combo looks good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Lingwo Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 That would probably be the best way to go. As Mikeffer said, bbPress isn't as powerful as some forum software but reading what you want the forum for. This would be more than enough. Plus with all the plugins and themes. You can get it up and running quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Dick Montage Posted April 8, 2013 Author Share Posted April 8, 2013 I'll have a play later, cheers :) If it all works out well, I really need to donate something to Wordpress, I get so much from that platform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Question
Dick Montage
I'm looking to build a small social site for my local community. It needs to support the following:
* Social features (eg, a profile, adding friends, a wall, posting pictures, etc) kinda like a facebook (very) lite
* Events
* Forums (more for asking/answering questions - recommendations on finding a cleaner, etc)
I've looked at OxWall because it looks pretty simple, but there seems to be very little developer support. It is free however.
Anyone got any other suggestions?
Please don't say "google it", I am looking for suggestions from people with first-hand experience.
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