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Friday, 27 November 2009

Top Social Network Platforms

If you are hoping to create a social network and you are in a rush, then you should visit a internet site like Ning. Ning is the first larger hosted social networking site that comes to mind. If you are one of those who expect more control of their web site, that is, having your own personal domain name, controlling the design and of course, the brandmark, then the logical thing to do is to run one of the off the shelf networking scripts available.

There are quite a few social networking scripts on the market these days, both free and paid for. The truth of the matter is that only a handful are worth the money.
Here we have handpicked four of the best open-source social networking platforms for you to choose from.

DZOIC Handshakes serves up one of the optimal php based open source community scripts for this year, so there is little uncertainty about the credibility of this software. Overall, Dzoic Handshakes is a potent piece of software that dishes up blog, instant messaging, community, video, music plus tons more. In fact, it is one of the more complete pieces of software that provides almost everything you need to start a social site right out of the box.

Dzoic Handshakes operates on a runs on a Linux, Apache, MySql and Php environment is easy to upload, install and get going. Using a little php knowledge, you can get your social networking site up and functional in very little time.

Before you take the plung and run out and purchase dzoic, see what others are saying and vist their dzoic demo site HERE

PhpFox is possibly Dzoic Handshakes strongest contender and designed with similar functionality. It is great platform perfect for just about any niche. With PhpFox, you can tap into a large community of adept PhpFox webmasters and utilize their talents. Features in the script include live chat, Videos, Advanced profile editing, video and image tagging, RSS feeds plus a whole lot more. You do just about anything with this software and like Handshakes, there is no encryption.

PhpFox works on a runs on a Apache, Linux, Php and MySql environment like handshakes.
Check out what people have to say about PhpFox and then visit the demo site.

Social Engine, is 100% open source, plugin type, social networking software that runs on the Linux, Apache, Php and MySql environment. Social Engine is simple to customize and the social engine coders have gone to remarkable lengths to get SocialEngine incredibly simple to work with and customize. The entire source code is unencrypted and thoroughly annotated with remarks about what's happening throughout the PHP code. They also provide fully annotated HTML templates for every page of your social network, including global header/footer templates and an organized CSS stylesheet.

The only major downside to using the Social Engine is that it can get expensive. If you were to simply purchase the bare bone script you would not have enough to make a sound social network. You would have to purchse additional modules which can get expensive.

{Get more reviews on the Social Engine Networking script here.|See what other people are saying

Dolphin 6 - Smart Community Builder is a flexible community management software that touts itself as being free. All though they might say free, there is always a catch. Boonex has licensing features that permit you to slowly get away from their control at a cost. The fees are dependent upon the duration of the licensing. Boonex comes with plenty of plugins and features. Bells and whistles include 100% AJAX Forums, Photo Sharing, Video Sharing, Music Sharing, Blogs, Polls, Search Events, Groups, Mailbox, Friends, Customizable Profiles, Powerful Admin Panel, Design Templates and Languages!

Dolphin - Smart Community Builder is based on php and untilizes the Linux, Apache, MySql and Php environment

Top Social Networking Software Scripts
What you MUST know before building a social networking site

Wednesday, 25 November 2009

starting a social site

If you are new to the social networking business, you'll need a lot of internet time under your hat to get your head wrapped around all the stuff essential to getting started. Hopefully these five points aid you in getting off on the right foot.

1. Explore your niche.
2. Identify the right social networking software for your needs
3. Recognize your limitations
4. Develop a timeline
5. Know exactly what you need.

Study your niche

The very first item on the list is critical and that is discovering your niche. Your socialnetwork will fail if you pick the wrong niche.

If you think you have a niche in mind then good, you can begin researching your market, if not, then pick up a notepad and head on down to the local bookstore

THE BOOKSTORE

Jot this stuff down; observe people and the books they are reading. Also, make note of keywords found in book titles that leap out and grab you. These are all likely untapped niches dying for a social network.

Now return to your computer and start identifying your competition. Now that you have a list, begin searching the web for your competition. Incorporate your phrases with keyword phrases like "social network" or "community portal".. If you run across any social networking sites this means you have competition. Sighn up and begin observing.

Spend a minimum of 1 week on your competitors community site. Patience is a huge factor. You need to remain patient and thoroughly research your competition so that you do not make the same mistake. 2 hours is not adequate.

Now back to your competitions website. You must learn what's great and what's poor. You must decide whether or not they are pushing traffic to their site or if the site is a ghost town.

Again, have a pad and pen close and write down everything you hate about your competitions social site. Perhaps the sign up is complex or perhaps you find it too difficult to post comments ect…Anything you dislike will be a goal to improve upon on your social site. Remember to be thorough and take no short cuts.

You will see that most of the time members are rarely active. For most social networking sites having 5% of your members active is a godsend. To increase your odds of having interested members you must make things as easily as possible. Little effort is the key..

The essential things to remember when beginning a community site is good preparation, scores of research and patience. Take your time; Rome wasn't developed in a day.

The more data you have on your competition, the better chance of surpassing them.

If you would like more information I suggest you visit this page to get more information:

creating a social network site
social networking how to
social networking how to