Alright, where IS there a demonstration site for Elgg? A real community site.

OK, I have read the "Note: this is not a demonstration site for Elgg."  Fine.  But is there one?   More than one?  Surely there must be some site where Elgg users, people with Elgg sites, and Elgg administrators of all kinds can get together as a Social Network, a real Social Network, as Elgg seems intended for.   I would like to be able to use all the people-finding features of Elgg to communicate with people who share my interests.  Where would I go to do that?

    dpw

  • @ Malaga J - Never a truer word(s) spoken ;)

    As I say thought provoking conversations can actually yield great results... If only this particular Elgg Community could "Sticky" certain informative discussions...

    Whilst I am sure we could make our own Elgg Sites do it don't get me wrong *ahem* lol ;)

    I think for anybody who comes to Elgg after DPW, this article would serve as a great benefit for them to read through the posts and take the next step if they needed a little more confirmation before "Jumping out of the frying pan and in to the Elgg" :p

     

  • A good thread, good comments.   I am afraid that I came off as a complainer, which is not what I ever wanted.   I do find Elgg irresistably attractive, and it does go a long way towards what I wanted -- I very much wanted Social Networking software and couldn't find anything I wanted to pay money for.   (I finely found it in the Wikipedia, in a comment added recently, which lead me to a regretably short article).

    Carlos apparently tried to buy his way out of his own need for such software, but I don't like to do that,  in this industry you so often don't get what you pay for.   It is still, after many years, a surprise to me that free software can be worth a lot more than you pay for it -- Elgg certainly is.  I would still prefer it to come up with the most likely options already set, but at least they are there to set.

    I'd like to help, actually, but I don't know what to do.  My own strengths are systems analysis and design, but Elgg seems past that.  I have written a lot of documentation over the years, so maybe that is the answer, though I don't know enough about Elgg to write anything -- yet.  As I struggle with it, I'll see what I can write.   Documenting something is a good way to find out what it should be like, by the way, you know, "run this installer then answer the questions, then ...", oh, now what?  What do you tell a beginner, what is the next step?   I am still a beginner, but when I can answer that question I'd be glad to write it up.

                      dpw

     

  • @dpw

    Good for you - I hope you'll make some contributions to 'The Idiots Guide to changing Elgg'

    http://community.elgg.org/pg/groups/58806/the-idiots-guide-to-changing-elgg/

    Speaking of which there will be a fair bit added to it this week.

  • @ Drup

    Yes, I was afraid of that.   Dhrup, you already know everything, have exactly the right interests and abilities for those docs.  If there was someone exactly like you who just needed the Elgg info you have, then those docs would be ideal.   But for the rest of us?   I dunno, but I feel more in line with jededitor, who seems to grasp that there is something missing.  By the way, now that I have seen Eduspaces.net (which took a bit of doing) I have a more specific point to make.  Why, when you first install Elgg, doesn't it look a lot like Eduspaces?  Then the adminstrator could make all the fine hacks and tweaks that jededitor can tell us about, with a nice working system.  Preferably with a "save changes" button, a "restore from saved changes" and a "restore to defaults" button.  This me in my analyst mode, something I would have suggested upfront if I had been here, but surely it could be done now.   Then the amount of "idiot's" documentation needed would be much less.

                dpw

     

  • @dpw,

    Firstly, I never thought you complained, rather I could see that you are frustrated with some issues. This is something we both have in common as I too am frustrated with a few issues. And I know that you'll eventually get your project done because you are taking the time to analyse things.. That's all it takes.

    Now, I know you directed the above comment to Dhrup, but I hope you don't mind me giving some input on that.. and by no means am I claiming to be an expert, because I am not. When you look at the 'plugin/theme' integration and management system in Elgg, you'll find that the 'save changes' and 'restore' features do in fact exist. Once you enable a plugin, it is deployed, once you disable it, the default alternative is restored. This is a little different to the traditional 'modify' and restore functions which commonly affect the same file (ie, modify file.php, then, restore the same file.php). Despite this, the outcome is the same. My take on the benefits of using the elgg method are:

    1. It allows flexibility in design (modify different plugins independently so that you are able to use themes and features unique to each portion of you SN.
    2. It preserves the integrity of the core code which remains untouched (unless of course you are a hack freak like myself and some others.. and if you do hack, keep a log as many of those hacks will vanish when you upgrade).
    3. Build you SN in blocks without cluttering your core code. That way, your code remains relatively short and controllable.
    4. And of course, and perhaps most importantly, retain the open source nature which allows contributors to go in and submit themes, plugins and all other kind of applications without having to tamper with the core.
    I gues the real question here is: why not have the plugins themselves have the 'restore to default' function..?! Some might think this would be an overkill because if you screw up your plugin, just re-load a fresh one to the server. Either way, it's workable.
    I think you, and the many others who raise the documentation issue are justified in your frustration, and I do believe that it needs to be more explanatory to say the least. Having said that, I cannot be taken as an expert on this because I am basing this only on what I read in posts.. Me personally??? I'll have to be honest and say I have not read any documentation.
    The way I see it is there's a will, there's a way... and if you have someone or something to show you that way, then that would be a blessing.
    - Carlos
  • Thank you all very much, this has helped me a lot.  I see that I will have to learn a lot more about plugins.  I am glad to see that Dhrup and Jededitor have just started groups or topics about plugins -- perhaps a bit too developer-oriented for me, but I will follow along and see what they say.   What has made the greatest difference to my understanding of Elgg is getting into a good active site -- Eduspaces, one that answered my original question about where there might be a fully operational site.  (By the way they have no registration button -- I only got in through the kindness of Tami, who agreed to invite me).    Anyway, I greatly enjoy the site, which does what I wanted -- it lets you find people on the basis of interests, and does other things I hoped for too.   I wonder how they did it?  I don't know enough to emulate them yet, but I am getting very optimistic now.  Thanks again to all of you.