Ask YC: Open source platform for a social network with lots of UGC(structured)
8 comments
Unless you aren't interested in using Ruby on Rails, you might want to check out LovdByLess:
http://lovdbyless.com
http://lovdbyless.com
thanks for the link. Seems to have a bunch of features I am interested in. I see that it has had close to 17K downloads and a quick search didn't result in many reviews or fan following.
How mature is this? Would you have a first hand experience using this platform by any chance ?
How mature is this? Would you have a first hand experience using this platform by any chance ?
It's only about 6 months old. My only experience was getting it up and running locally and testing out the functionality. It took a couple of hours to get going (mostly due to updating gem versions). From my standpoint I was happy with how it looked. I had considered Wordpress and Drupal, but I liked the smaller, more manageable codebase - even if it meant I may be fixing bugs in the project code as I went.
I hadn't checked in on the project in awhile. I'm surprised it's not more active. FYI it looks like there was a fork recently and Luvfoo is being more actively developed (but no existing community)
http://www.justinball.com/projects/
I hadn't checked in on the project in awhile. I'm surprised it's not more active. FYI it looks like there was a fork recently and Luvfoo is being more actively developed (but no existing community)
http://www.justinball.com/projects/
Nice find with luvdfoo . . . somehow, I missed this before!
We're currently working on building a community around Luvfoo. So far we have a few guys from around the world helping us out. I estimate that we are about a month away from having something that is easy for 3rd parties to deploy. Right now the project is centered around Teachers Without Borders as they are providing funding for the project. However, there is a need to make it easy to deploy the same system for other groups and so that is a focus. Now to be fair I have met the guys behind Elgg. Both of them are very smart and great guys. I think that project is still in development. Wordpress is working on a social networking project called buddypress which looks very promising. If you want something fast it is hard to beat Ning (but it is a hosted service). In the Rails world Acts as Community looks like a great project. Best of luck in your choice. There is a lot of really great open source software out there.
You guys are doing an outstanding job -- kudos on the steady stream of solid commits.
On a related note, I've actually documented a few of the steps I took in order to deploy . . . I'll send over a pull request for my README.
On a related note, I've actually documented a few of the steps I took in order to deploy . . . I'll send over a pull request for my README.
May I ask why you need an open source solution? My company does exactly what you are looking for, but it is a hosted solution.
Email me if you're interested in discussing further.
[email protected]
Email me if you're interested in discussing further.
[email protected]
You also might check out www.elgg.org as they just released version 1. I played with it but the project never took off so I don't have a great deal of experience with it.
http://wiki.ringsidenetworks.org/ is a reverse engineered Facebook with an application platform.
I hope you know that there is nothing that Drupal can't do.
To an extent I agree. Drupal is probably the most matured platform with tons of templates and plugins.
But I felt its a bit too heavy and it is php. Last resort I would use that. Just wondering if there is anything new more suitable and lighter.
But I felt its a bit too heavy and it is php. Last resort I would use that. Just wondering if there is anything new more suitable and lighter.
Wordpress? It's really extensible. And you'd get a lot of help from the open source community for any plugins that you might write.
Ah python. I am more comfortable with php, ruby, java and perl. But can hack anyway if its going to be a huge plus using pinax in terms of features etc.
But what I infer from the video and James Tauber blog is that it is far from being mature and not ahead of drupal either. Your thoughts ?
But what I infer from the video and James Tauber blog is that it is far from being mature and not ahead of drupal either. Your thoughts ?
I mean the advantage to other options mentioned here is building on top would be easier than a CMS. But if you're more comfortable with ruby, go with something on rails, not Django. I'm sure there's an equivalent project.
I need an open source solution rather than a hosted platform.
I am considering Insoshi - http://portal.insoshi.com/. Drupal with specific templates might work too.
Anything more robust and cleanly designed ?
PS: I would essentially build on top of the platform. I expect to have lot of changes in layout and interactions. As long as I cut down the development effort on the common things - sign up, profile page, connections, feeds etc i am good.