Joomla! Social Networking

David Taiaroa writes "I was pleased to recieve a review copy of Joomla! Social Networking with JomSocial – Enhance your social networking with JomSocial by Beatrice A. Boateng and Kwasi Boateng. I've worked with many Joomla! extensions, but not with any of the social network options, so I was able to approach this book as someone learning about the topic for the first time." Keep reading for the rest of David's review

Joomla! Social Networking with JomSocial
author	Beatrice A. Boateng, Kwasi Boateng
pages	184
publisher	Packt Publishing
rating	9/10
reviewer	David Taiaroa
ISBN	1847199569
summary	Provides step-by-step instructions for building your social networking system using the Joomla! content management system.

The book is a well rounded and practical look at how to create a social network website using Joomla! and the JoomSocial extension, covering everything from installing Joomla! itself, to installing and configuring JoomSocial and other complementary extensions, some discussion of what makes a social networking site successful, and even an introduction to customizing Joomla! templates.

The book starts with thorough instructions on how to install XAMPP on a local computer, then Joomla! itself. I thought these detailed instructions on creating a development environment on a local computer were well done, and could easily be followed by someone new to Joomla!

Installing the JoomSocial component follows the same procedure as for any other Joomla! extension. The real work begins configuring the component and it's many plugins and modules. I think even experienced Joomla! professionals will find time saving suggestions in this section of the book. JoomSocial is a complex component, and without a good road map of where you are going and an overview of how everything fits together, you could have a lot of trial and error. This was one area of the book in particular which I think will be of interest to experienced and novice Joomla! users alike.

Clear instructions are given on how to migrate this draft site from our local development computer to an online server using Akeeba Backup. This is one of many examples in the book where novice users will learn not just about JoomSocial itself, but additional good Joomla! practices that they can take with them to other Joomla! projects. I think this will be an added bonus for many readers.

Once the site has been installed and is active on a remote web server, we can check that the process of adding user accounts and editing profiles within JoomSocial is working correctly.

A social network site needs users to be successful, and the book discusses some of the broader details a site administrator will have to think about – is the interface easy to use, how do users invite others to join, how do you encourage users to make connections within the network, and how will users add content to the site? Obviously important details if the site is to grow.

As part of the chapter on how to encourage users to submit content, the book covers in detail the task of installing SOBI2 and some of its associated modules. SOBI2 is a third party Joomla! component that allows for the creation of directory and review systems for Joomla! sites. I thought this section was another nice bonus in the book, since it gives good information on how to install and configure a component which has applications in many Joomla! websites.

Customizing a Joomla! template isn't a topic I was expecting to find covered, and I thought it was interesting that the authors decided to include this. Throughout the book, the authors use a GPL template from RocketTheme. In latter sections of the book they touch on how to customize this template, with the intention of modifying the template design, and improving the interface for site users. Some of this may be outside the comfort zone of novice readers, and the book doesn't pretend to offer a full guidelines on how to create or customize Joomla! Templates. But for anyone who has had some exposure to HTML and PHP, this introduction to templates, how they work, and how to change them will be enough to get them off to a good start.

No book about social networks would be complete without a mention of Facebook and Twitter. JoomSocial lets users integrate these other networks into their profiles. It's a relatively easy process and the necessary steps are clearly described.

The final chapter of the book discusses some of the other social networking extensions for Joomla!, especially Community Builder. All extensions have their strengths, and so I liked that the authors gave a brief overview of the other options available, how to install them, and how they compare to JoomSocial. Developing a social networking website is a large undertaking, and you want to be confident at the start that you've chosen the right software package, and that your site will come together at the end the way you picture it at the start.

Overall, what I enjoyed most about this book is that it looks at the big picture of what's involved in making a successful social networking website with JoomSocial and Joomla! Installing and configuring the component, its extensions and plugins is one thing. The book reminds us that to be successful, the website administrator also needs to think about the site design, its interface, and how users will will use, contribute and share the content on the site. Along the way, the book also discusses many 3rd party Joomla! extensions and good practice techniques which I think a lot readers will find valuable. The text gives thorough step by step instructions with screenshots throughout, and almost any reader will save time configuring the multitude of settings within JoomSocial by following the suggestions.

David Taiaroa is an experienced Joomla! and website designer with Panchroma Website Development.

You can purchase Joomla! Social Networking with JomSocial from amazon.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

I thought I'd want it

[microbee]

I've always wanted a book about social networking so I could learn to use it and feel modern again. I don't have a computer degree, but it doesn't mean I can't use computers like those kids! I've bought books for dummies about email, WWW (Or is it AOL?), Windows, Photoshop...but those techniques became obsolete so fast! Now everyone is talking about freaking Social Networks!

Sadly upon reading TFS, this book is apparently not for me. Time to contact the Video Professor for an updated DVD on this very topic. That dude taught me a lot of stuff!

Re:

[Yvan256]

The real question is: how many people are actually willing to pay 35 bucks for a book about a Joomla extension?

Re:

[Draders]

If this extension is anything like 99% of the other extensions I have used, the book is required so that you can find the part of the code you need to fix in order for the extensions to at least be somewhat usable.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder if the book covers how to hack JomSocial? ;)

http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/15164/

Re:

[micheas]

I wonder if the book covers how to hack JomSocial? ;)

http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/15164/

Having sifted through Joomla extension exploit reports, and found a lot of false reports, I will say that this report looks real [exploit-db.com] http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/15164/ [exploit-db.com]

I would also suspect that on various versions of php, it should be possible to guess the file name of the upload, even if the display index feature is disabled n the webserver, so the workaround may not be as useful as it is suggested.

I have not looked at the code, but I suspect that one could make an educated guess about the file name i

Re:

[BitHive]

I don't understand why the fuck these articles keep getting posted since nobody gives a shit about Joomla! in the first place.

Re:

[Aquina]

Hey this is not true. Actually the article is one of the logest one I've read on ./ for some time. Whish more authors would write their articles in such a way. I also think there is a motivation behind this article which doesn't necessarily have to be money.

I used JomSocial briefly,

[asdfington]

A couple years ago. It was pretty well polished (tho I didn't attempt too much customization), but it should be at (don't quote me) $150 a site license. The client wanted a social network for their conference and... My main question for those clients who want social networks is not how, but WHY. Why do you think someone should join your social net, which not only requires an up front time investment from the user, but which is worthless if a critical mass of users is not reached? The extension itself loo

Does the book at least get the name right?

[Sinistar2k]

How can I take seriously a review that constantly misstates the name of the extension? JOMsocial. Not JOOMsocial.

Re:

[hedleyroos]

How about the summary that contains "recieve" instead of receive? Geez, the Joomla guys aren't doing themselves any favours.

Joomla. For all your phishing.

[Fuzzums]

Over the course of the last two months I get a lot of mails from *cough* my bank telling me to download *cough* an upgrade for home banking.
I'm a late adopter, so I decided to wait until the very last moment with giving my day of birth, ssn and so on.

Anyway. What I can tell you is that *cough* my bank uses (many!) Joomla sites for hosting these most important updates.