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Resource Name: [AH23] Socialiser v2.0.0
Resource Author: Alex
IP.Board Version: 2.2.x and 2.3.x
Download Link: --EDIT IN--
[AH23] Socialiser is a revolutionary social-networking component for your IP.Board profiling system which extends the functionality of the standard profiles. It allows members to drag and drop widgets around their profiles dynamically, style their profile how they want with their own custom CSS, make a dynamic banner to show when people visit their profile, and much more!
Why should you use it?
Generic profiles, although functional, do not allow users to express themselves in the way that people would associate with a forum. Forums are about the freedom of speech, and a way to create a community which can interact and show who they truly are. All profiles look the same, contain the same blocks in the same places, and all feel identical. This is where modifications are needed - people are unique and their profiles need to be able to show that. Once this was recognised, it was clear that it needed to be changed, and Socialiser is the product to do it. Socialiser respects that people are different and may like things with a different layout, different colour, or maybe they don't want it at all. Socialiser also allows people to move their content around, choose what content they want, and give them more powerful tools to make their profile their own, ultimately expressing themselves a lot better than they can with a regular profile.
What can it do?
Socialiser2 can do so many things, its extremely hard to write them down. Socialiser has a really powerful framework, which allows third-party developers to hook into the code, make their own widgets, applications and tabs, and much more! All of the resources that Socialiser has functionality for can unlock whole new areas to your profiles, from YouTube widgets, to a Christmas wish list, you can make whatever you want!
Here are the most popular, and noticeable features within Socialiser2.
What are the benefits of using it?
Easy to use Administration Panel
Socialiser has a neat, easy-to-use Administration Panel where administrators can edit parts of the system. For example, you can manage widgets, alter group restrictions, and change profile settings. The administration panel has an extremely simple layout, it doesn't bog you down with annoying graphics, it simply provides you with the information you need, when you need it.
Easy to develop
Socialiser gives developers the ability to create widgets, tabs, and applications with minimal fuss. Socialiser2 is written in a PHP5 framework, with a registry at its core. This allows developers to spend more time creating their resources without having to worry about what data is parsed, because all classes are put in the registry, you have access to every class 'on the fly'!
Easy to install
With only one file edit needed, installation couldn't be any simpler. Just visit the installer in your browser, and your ready to go! Socialiser will install everything for you that is needed for the core to work, and you can sort the rest out from the Admin CP!
Multilingual boards will also benefit from Socialiser as every piece of text can be translated via the language files!
Easy to have fun
With the great profiling system, you're guaranteed to have fun! From the smooth animations in the javascript framework, to the fact you can make your profile your own. Colour it in, add custom widgets, restrict it so only your friends and administrators can view it! Whilst having the comfort of knowing that Socialiser is about you!
Screenshots
Interview with Alex
Hello there Alex, for the benefit of people who are not familiar with you and/or your work, please could you give us a few details about yourself and why you started coding for IP.Board.
Hello, my name is Alex (obviously), and I am 20 years old. I started coding for IP.Board back in 2005, for IP.Board 2.0 (I think that was the release at the time). I had been a member at a lot of vBulletin forums, and a moderator at one. I soon started to dislike the whole look and feel of the product, and noticed that a friend of mine was using IP.Board 2.0.4, I had a peek, decided to be an administrator there, and found the product to be miles better. I think I had made the right choice, because look where I am now
That's very true, now a lot of people know you for work such as [AH23] Reputation System and obviously [AH23] Socialiser, what inspired you to start coding for IP.Board, and move onto such great components?
I remember that my first ever modifications were tweaks to the search system, we needed a way to show all topics which members had not read, and all topics with zero replies. Because I had a bit of experience with PHP (not much at that time, but a little), the task was assigned to me. To be honest, at that time, I was completely lost within the code because $this->ipsclass-> did not exist at that time, however, it got the job done and I went on from there. I started releasing modifications when 2.1 was released, as the code was extremely easy to follow, and I started to learn all the inner workings of IP.Board!
As for why I created those modifications, Reputation was a takeover and was not originally ours. We had a lot of requests for us to take it over because people liked our (AH Modding) other modifications. We took it over and started making bug fixes, and adding a few small features. Reputation System really helped us get out there, whereas we didn't like the code or the modification at all, it was obvious a lot of people did, and it helped our popularity grow!
Not going to go into too much detail of Socialiser, because it's being featured above and has a lot of information on it! All I will say is that it started out as a Gallery component, with a lot of the stuff you see in Socialiser (drag-n-drop for example). Half way through development, I stopped and thought it would be better to make a modular profile system, where applications such as the Gallery could plug in. From that day, Socialiser was born.
As you know, IP.Board3 is progressing extremely well, with the customer preview a few weeks ago. What are your plans for modifications within IP.Board3?
I cannot wait! The PHP5 framework is probably the main area that I love about IP.Board3, and I cannot wait to get started using it! In terms of modifications, we will be revisiting our 2.2 and 2.3 line, porting them to IP.Board3 where appropiate, we will then upgrade Socialiser and Report Manager. After that, we will then probably work on the next major versions of both (Socialiser3 and Report Manager2).
Sounds great! Why do you think your modifications have benefitted the community?
That's quite a hard question to answer, obviously it benefits different people in different ways. I think the main reason is the actual modifications, we've always been fairly good at finding gaps within the market, and filling those gaps. Maybe that is why a lot of people use our modifications.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Just that I am glad Socialiser has been so well received. Socialiser2 has been a great eight months of hard work, it seems to have pulled off. Obviously we have to give Simon (co-developer of Socialiser) a huge pat on the back as well. Without him, I feel it could have been fairly different, as I do tend to over-complicate things quite a bit!
Thank you Alex for your time to take part in this interview, and best of luck in the future.
Interview conducted by AndyF.
Resource Author: Alex
IP.Board Version: 2.2.x and 2.3.x
Download Link: --EDIT IN--
[AH23] Socialiser is a revolutionary social-networking component for your IP.Board profiling system which extends the functionality of the standard profiles. It allows members to drag and drop widgets around their profiles dynamically, style their profile how they want with their own custom CSS, make a dynamic banner to show when people visit their profile, and much more!
Why should you use it?
Generic profiles, although functional, do not allow users to express themselves in the way that people would associate with a forum. Forums are about the freedom of speech, and a way to create a community which can interact and show who they truly are. All profiles look the same, contain the same blocks in the same places, and all feel identical. This is where modifications are needed - people are unique and their profiles need to be able to show that. Once this was recognised, it was clear that it needed to be changed, and Socialiser is the product to do it. Socialiser respects that people are different and may like things with a different layout, different colour, or maybe they don't want it at all. Socialiser also allows people to move their content around, choose what content they want, and give them more powerful tools to make their profile their own, ultimately expressing themselves a lot better than they can with a regular profile.
What can it do?
Socialiser2 can do so many things, its extremely hard to write them down. Socialiser has a really powerful framework, which allows third-party developers to hook into the code, make their own widgets, applications and tabs, and much more! All of the resources that Socialiser has functionality for can unlock whole new areas to your profiles, from YouTube widgets, to a Christmas wish list, you can make whatever you want!
Here are the most popular, and noticeable features within Socialiser2.
- Drag-n-Drop Widgets
- Customizable Profile tabs with right-click context menus
- Ability for developers to create feature-rich applications
- Dynamic Images - Similar to IP.Blog, members can create their own image which is displayed in the board header
- Custom CSS - If their group permissions allow it, members can add their own custom CSS to the page. Socialiser2 will only allow this CSS if it is not classed as harmful.
- Ships with numerous widgets
- Completely customizable, administrators can turn certain areas on and off at any time.
- Extremely extensible, with a hooks system, widgets, tabs, applications and 'extensions', this is one of the most extensible components around!
- Group permissions - Each group has their own section within the Socialiser Administration Panel, administrators can limit certain sections to certain groups, allow administrators to have 10 more widgets than members, and much more! (Applications can also hook into this group permission area)
- Utilizes the prototype and scriptaculous javascript libraries to give you a truly amazing experience!
- Socialiser2 LITE - For websites with large traffic, LITE turns all features, that are not required by Socialiser, off. Such as the drag and drop functionality, which is replaced with a static page.
- Individual members can choose to turn Socialiser2 off for their profile, and revert back to their IP.Board profile at any time!
- Friendly URLs - http://yourforums.co...p/member/1-Alex for example
- Easy to install/upgrade - Only one index.php edit is needed, and the rest is done for you!
- Toggle back at any time - If you turn Socialiser off, the standard IP.Board profiles turn back on, you do not even need to undo any of the edits to switch back!
What are the benefits of using it?
Easy to use Administration Panel
Socialiser has a neat, easy-to-use Administration Panel where administrators can edit parts of the system. For example, you can manage widgets, alter group restrictions, and change profile settings. The administration panel has an extremely simple layout, it doesn't bog you down with annoying graphics, it simply provides you with the information you need, when you need it.
Easy to develop
Socialiser gives developers the ability to create widgets, tabs, and applications with minimal fuss. Socialiser2 is written in a PHP5 framework, with a registry at its core. This allows developers to spend more time creating their resources without having to worry about what data is parsed, because all classes are put in the registry, you have access to every class 'on the fly'!
Easy to install
With only one file edit needed, installation couldn't be any simpler. Just visit the installer in your browser, and your ready to go! Socialiser will install everything for you that is needed for the core to work, and you can sort the rest out from the Admin CP!
Multilingual boards will also benefit from Socialiser as every piece of text can be translated via the language files!
Easy to have fun
With the great profiling system, you're guaranteed to have fun! From the smooth animations in the javascript framework, to the fact you can make your profile your own. Colour it in, add custom widgets, restrict it so only your friends and administrators can view it! Whilst having the comfort of knowing that Socialiser is about you!
Screenshots
Interview with Alex
Hello there Alex, for the benefit of people who are not familiar with you and/or your work, please could you give us a few details about yourself and why you started coding for IP.Board.
Hello, my name is Alex (obviously), and I am 20 years old. I started coding for IP.Board back in 2005, for IP.Board 2.0 (I think that was the release at the time). I had been a member at a lot of vBulletin forums, and a moderator at one. I soon started to dislike the whole look and feel of the product, and noticed that a friend of mine was using IP.Board 2.0.4, I had a peek, decided to be an administrator there, and found the product to be miles better. I think I had made the right choice, because look where I am now
That's very true, now a lot of people know you for work such as [AH23] Reputation System and obviously [AH23] Socialiser, what inspired you to start coding for IP.Board, and move onto such great components?
I remember that my first ever modifications were tweaks to the search system, we needed a way to show all topics which members had not read, and all topics with zero replies. Because I had a bit of experience with PHP (not much at that time, but a little), the task was assigned to me. To be honest, at that time, I was completely lost within the code because $this->ipsclass-> did not exist at that time, however, it got the job done and I went on from there. I started releasing modifications when 2.1 was released, as the code was extremely easy to follow, and I started to learn all the inner workings of IP.Board!
As for why I created those modifications, Reputation was a takeover and was not originally ours. We had a lot of requests for us to take it over because people liked our (AH Modding) other modifications. We took it over and started making bug fixes, and adding a few small features. Reputation System really helped us get out there, whereas we didn't like the code or the modification at all, it was obvious a lot of people did, and it helped our popularity grow!
Not going to go into too much detail of Socialiser, because it's being featured above and has a lot of information on it! All I will say is that it started out as a Gallery component, with a lot of the stuff you see in Socialiser (drag-n-drop for example). Half way through development, I stopped and thought it would be better to make a modular profile system, where applications such as the Gallery could plug in. From that day, Socialiser was born.
As you know, IP.Board3 is progressing extremely well, with the customer preview a few weeks ago. What are your plans for modifications within IP.Board3?
I cannot wait! The PHP5 framework is probably the main area that I love about IP.Board3, and I cannot wait to get started using it! In terms of modifications, we will be revisiting our 2.2 and 2.3 line, porting them to IP.Board3 where appropiate, we will then upgrade Socialiser and Report Manager. After that, we will then probably work on the next major versions of both (Socialiser3 and Report Manager2).
Sounds great! Why do you think your modifications have benefitted the community?
That's quite a hard question to answer, obviously it benefits different people in different ways. I think the main reason is the actual modifications, we've always been fairly good at finding gaps within the market, and filling those gaps. Maybe that is why a lot of people use our modifications.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Just that I am glad Socialiser has been so well received. Socialiser2 has been a great eight months of hard work, it seems to have pulled off. Obviously we have to give Simon (co-developer of Socialiser) a huge pat on the back as well. Without him, I feel it could have been fairly different, as I do tend to over-complicate things quite a bit!
Thank you Alex for your time to take part in this interview, and best of luck in the future.
Interview conducted by AndyF.
