PeopleAggregator: Features and Modules
What is PeopleAggregator?
PeopleAggregator has a number of different purposes:
- It is a social networking applicationthat runs at http://www.peopleaggregator.net.
- It is also a do-it-yourself social networking system. You can create your own community at the click of a button - no coding required.
- It is a development platform - the entire source code is available for download (free for charities and non-profits). You can also modify the code, for example to extend the functionality or create a new user interface.
- PeopleAggregator exposes open APIs and supports open standards. So all web applications that support these APIs can seamlessly share data between themselves. We also support open standards like microformats and OpenID.
How can you use PeopleAggregator?
Depending on what role you are filling, PeopleAggregator meets many needs:
- For Developers:
- PeopleAggregator is a sophisticated, yet easy to program to, application development platform. It utilizes two kinds of API calls; traditional mashup calls, which are REST and XML-RPC APIs (via http) and weve developed faster, more optimized internal API calls, which talk directly to our php5 code. These calls are more for commercial grade quality results.
- It is built using php5 and MySQL, so it is easy and inexpensive to deploy.
- It supports easy UI customizations. The entire user interface you see at PeopleAggregator.net has been built utilizing our internal php5 APIs. One simply needs to modify the user interface themes, and not touch any of the core engine.
- Built-in automatic upgrades are available!
- For Web Service and Site developers:
- PeopleAggregator exposes all of the data and functionality of a social network through open APIs, which means that you can build compelling mashups that mesh with your existing application. For example, a photo-sharing site can connect its member base to member accounts in the PeopleAggregator, using the granular levels of relationships between members to control public access over their photos.
- PeopleAggregator can extend the functionality of your site, without having to build your own social network. Groups are now available to any member based site, providing group blogs, message boards, media galleries and any other kind of grouping feature.
- If your software also exposes APIs, then that allows us to integrate with it. That provides a better experience to users, plus it drives traffic and visibility both ways.
- For End-Users:
- PeopleAggregator is a full fledged social network, with a wide range of features and customization controls.
- PeopleAggregator is a Digital Identity Hub - for example, you could use your flickr ID to sign up or participate in a single sign-on experience with other OpenID applications and services.
- Import/Export you can export your profile data and content, and move it to another application. So you are not locked down and you dont lose your data.
- Exposing APIs - we allow you to use your data outside of PeopleAggregator as well. Note that this requires other applications to allow consumption of that data.
See also: User Guide For Network Operators
Key Features
Meta Network functionality: the ability to create social networks on-the-fly provides potential social network operators a cheap and easy way to set up their own social networks.
User profiles
- Wide range of end-user profile data and attributes
- Customizable user profile fields and desktop image
- Access control (show my date of birth only to my immediate friends)
- Basic/Professional/Personal Info
Privacy settings: control who has access over what based upon your relationship to that person.
Structured Blogging: a microcontent publishing platform which allows the user to create a wide range of content and blog posts.
- These blog posts types include:
- Blog
- Audio - podcasting
- Image
- Video - vlogging
- Event
- Review
- People
- Group
- All of these posts are encoded with microformats tags, so that new kinds of applications and services can leverage the rich structured data of these posts.
Personal, Community and Group blogs: any blog post can get sent to the overall Community Network Home page blog or to any Group blog (in addition to your own Personal blog.)
- Route these blog posts to your external blog
- Send a blog post into PeopleAggregator utilizing the Metaweblog or Atom APIs
- WYSIWYG blog editor
Private Page: where you have access to all your system tools and settings, including control over what modules are displayed and where theyre displayed.
- Settings controls
- Wide range of modules
- Private view of your personal blog
Public Page: your customizable personal homepage that everyone can see.
- Public view of your personal blog
- Wide range of modules
- Desktop image
Theme system
- Template-based themeing system easily customizable via available source code
- End-user CSS customization coming!
Networks
- Join or Create your own completely autonomous social network
- End-users profile accounts work across any number of networks. Ones media uploads and blog posts are kept separate on a network by network basis.
- A Network directory enables Network discoverability
Groups: traditional social networking Groups can be created by any network member. These Groups are usually based upon members common interests, but can also be based upon events, places, entities, topics or memes.
- Each group has the following features: Group Blog, Media Gallery, Message Boards, Member list
- Directory of Groups
- Create, delete and moderate groups
- Public, moderated and private groups
Home Page: displays the main networks content.
- Home Page blog
- Announcements
- Wide range of modules, including presence ping modules displaying members and groups status
Media Gallery: a repository for storage of images, audio or video. For individuals and groups.
- Albums can be created for organizing ones media
- Sharing between individuals and groups
Manage Content:
- Delete any blog post or media item
Messaging
- Private messages to other users
- Folders for organizing messages
People (Relationships)
- Establish relationships between network members
- List relationships that one has
- Display status of Members
- Newest Members
- Latest login
- Search Users
Message boards
- Hierarchical topic based message board
- Threaded discussions
Invites
- Mechanism for inviting users into system and groups using email invites
- Track status of invites
Tags
- Everything can be tagged
- Users
- Groups
- User generated content
- Browse and pivot on Tags
Comments
- Post comments to content
Search
- Text search
Links:
- Manage Link Lists via a simple Link editor
- Display these links on your Public and private pages
Modules: internal and third party plug-in services (see list below)Modules
- Recent Media: display of the most recently uploaded media
- Recent Posts: list of all recent blog posts throughout the network
- Most popular tags: list of the most used tags in the system
- Relations: list of people youre connected with in PeopleAggregator
- Gallery: list of media items
- My Groups: the groups you belong to
- My Links: list of your links
- My Networks: list of networks you belong to
- Photo: your profile photo
- Added as a friend by: list of members who added you as a friend
- Messages: recent private email messages and any message pending
- My Recent Comments: comments made on your blog (person or group)
- Flickr: displays latest pictures from a specified Flickr account
- Delicious Links: list of links from a specified del.icio.us account