User Created Groups

[Reclaimer]

It would be nice if someone would make a mod where any user could create a group. Groups much like on Ning. This would be usefull on for clubs or social groups within a forum. I think that many people would use this mod and find it very useful.

Feature List (that I would like)

• Group Creator: A fairly easy way to start a group.
• Group Admin Approval: Where the admin of the forum could choose wether or not new groups require admin approval before becoming active.
• Group Home-page: Each group would have their own home-page, including a blog, custom Html or BBC, a news area, a certain amount of private message boards boards (depicted by the forum admin) which depending on the group leader (the guy that started the group) could be public or private.
• Group E-mails: A simple and easy way for the group leader to send group newsletters
• Group Member List: A list of all group members and a way to ban certain members from a group.
• Joining a Group: An easy way of joining a group. If the group is an invitation only group there could be a form for the user to fill in explaining why he or she should be able to join the group, sending an e-mail to the group leader including the form so that the leader can choose wether to let the user into the group, and a way for group leaders to send invites to other users.
• Group Moderation: A way for admins or moderators to moderate all groups.

[Eliana Tamerin]

Like Myspace/Facebook? Might be interesting.

[Reclaimer]

Is this possible beacause I think many smf users would like to have such a mod.

[arihantjain]

yeah.. me tooooo...

[writerrobert680]

So what you are saying is that any one of my members, regardless of current member group or staff position, can create their own "group(s)" and send newsletters, be admin over it, ect?

What would be the point of that? I just don't understand why you'd want a random member being admin of a group of people.

[Reclaimer]

Well just as a social group not as actual administration but for choosing who's in and who's out and whether it is by invitation or anyone can join, creating updates and their own page for the group and being able to send group e-mails. My website is a youth forum for my town so user created groups would be usefull for example if a leader of a club wanted to have a club group he could have a club page and club members could be part of this group. this is only one way theis mod would be useful.

[erlend_sh]

Like Myspace/Facebook? Might be interesting.

- That's probably the easiest way of describing it, yeah. But how it really turns out is up to the mod-maker plus the SMF community. If you ask me this could be an outstanding mod for chat-communities and the likes, so if someone decides to create a mod for this I hope it will be someone who is ready to provide proper support for the mod for a long time, not to mention make a first class mod out of the idea in the first place.

[nitins60]

This s something interesting! I love it too...

Just like Yahoo Groups, where users can join in private/public groups etc...

[Reclaimer]

So would any one be willing to make such a mod?

[snakeplissken]

I have been working on such a mod for a while now, well, I haven't touched it in a bit but I do aim to finish it.

You can check it out on my test site. You will have to register though as I still need to put permission checks in some areas for guests.

http://www.johncarpenterforum.com/snake

[perplexed]

thanks Snake, I am really looking forward to this one

[Reclaimer]

Ooh very nice...but you cant put any thing in the text boxes. I would like to suggest a more customizable page, like being able to move items around and being a bit more space in-between 'blocks'  beacuase it felt a little claustrophobic, and have the discussion board within the group page.

like so axept with the feature I suggested in past posts:

But I think that your mod is quite impressive!

[snakeplissken]

Don't worry about the look too much at the moment, the mod is still in an alpha stage. It will undergo a facelift before it is released. I still have bugs to fix and some features to add before it is close to public release.

[Reclaimer]

Cool can't wait!

[perplexed]

Cool can't wait!

I keep getting notices saying there are new replies here but when I check, it is still the same one with a different time on it.   

[perplexed]

does anyone know what's happening to this mod?  I would really like to test it

[perplexed]

*bump*  anyone?

[Eliana Tamerin]

Snake's testing forum was removed, so there's nothing on this now. He hasn't responded to the PM I sent him ages ago, so I don't know.

[perplexed]

he didn't reply to mine either but this topic was started by someone who didnt know about Snake's mod at the time, so the mod idea is still required if someone else could put one together.  I was going to start a fresh request with more details so as not to confuse the situation.

[hash899]

i was just wondering is this still possible since member clubs sounds really awesome and I'm really in need of it.

[excon]

this is tha mod that i am looking for. nobogo's social group mod is not free. anyone have the same mod, please?

[Arantor]

Sure, it's not free, but it is very reasonably priced given the amount of work that went into it.

[hash899]

Sure, it's not free, but it is very reasonably priced given the amount of work that went into it.

smf is free to begin with but charging $25 for a mod is kinda over priced to be honest. if the creator of the mod really wanted to earn money he could have just made the mod for vbulletin or ipb.

and $25 is a bit much for a mod like that. in my opinion it should have been charged around $10.

thats just my 2 cents.

[Arantor]

and $25 is a bit much for a mod like that. in my opinion it should have been charged around $10.

thats just my 2 cents.

So, for a mod with thousands of lines of code, $25 is overpriced? This is why I don't write paid mods.

SMF is free because its creators wanted it to be free. But when someone comes along and puts hundreds of hours of development into something and wants a little recompense for that time, they get shot down.

If I may be utterly blunt: unless you could write it yourself, you may not be best placed to say how complex it is and whether that price is fair for what it does. It does an awful lot. I wouldn't sell it for under $50, and I know that NIBOGO already lowered the price once.

Remember: it isn't just the mod itself, it's also the time to support it.

[hash899]

well if u think why people r using smf for is because its free and usually they cant afford to pay for the expensive solutions like vbulletin or ipb. i dont mind if he is asking a little money but £25 is a lot for some of us. If he wanted money to compensate him for his time and effort then im sure people using vbulletin or ipb will be more than willing to do so since they can afford to.

Look at other mods like the media gallery mod, arcade mod or the ultimate profile mod and more. I'm sure they took as much time and effort or maybe even more to code then the social group mod but i dont see them askin g to be recompensated. anyways i'm just saying what i think not trying to argue or start a fight with the mod creator.

[Arantor]

It's not £25 - it's $25, which is quite a bit less.

I use SMF because I believe it is the best, not because it's free. If vBulletin were the best I'd use that, but it isn't.

I would also note that SMF Gallery actually has a paid-for upgraded version.

If I may be blunt - before I stop arguing - I am somewhat biased. I recently suggested that I'd write a mod for $25 with an extra $15 for custom installations (where I'd personally do it). I received over 200 PMs including some that *demanded* I release it for free, even given the hours I'd have to put in to develop, test and release it.

Many people write mods because they want to, but I know people are being put off writing mods because there is this mentality that everything has to be free. It's actually stifling development of larger mods, because people are increasingly feeling like they have to make it free.


If you were to put hundreds of hours into something, wouldn't you feel like you deserved a little in return?