XenForo is great as it is, but I think one of the Core-Features which are still missing are some sort of "Groups" so that users can associate themselves to certain Groups.
Maybe also having Group-Forums for each of those Groups ?
For example, XING.com is using Group-Forums (public or invitation-based), which can be applied for by moderators to "run" a certain Group, so people can set-up their own Group-Forum based on their interest and they can invite already existing members or people who are not yet members of your website to join this specific Group.
So this would be free viral-marketing for your very own Forum.
Social groups for local community discussion and activities would be great for competing against Facebook Groups. Now that Audentio/Themehouse has released a great mobile app making social groups as a core feature would be really important. Audentio could then add support for groups into their mobile app.
Social groups for local community discussion and activities would be great for competing against Facebook Groups. Now that Audentio/Themehouse has released a great mobile app making social groups as a core feature would be really important. Audentio could then add support for groups into their mobile app.
Social groups for local community discussion and activities would be great for competing against Facebook Groups. Now that Audentio/Themehouse has released a great mobile app making social groups as a core feature would be really important. Audentio could then add support for groups into their mobile app.
I also totally agree. The forums of general and varied topics, focused on debate and exchange of ideas and opinions, (at least in the Spanish scene, which is the one I know), are dead. They have become something that is neither opinion nor debate. Only forums on specific topics such as computer science, videogames, ecology, etc., remain within the parameters of rationality and sanity.
Well, if only discussion forums dedicated to a specific topic are worthwhile, then the only way out I see is that of clubs or social groups gathered around common interests on the basis of a certain affinity among its participants.
I think the XenForo management team is not very interested in implementing this feature as part of the core, in the short term. I don't know the reasons, but I think it shouldn't be too complicated, since a club or social group is basically a sub-forum within a forum, uses the same tools and shares the same core code as the forums.
It is a pity, but I have already tried to develop the idea of clubs recently, through one of the best third party add-ons for social groups, and although they have worked very well, it is not the same a third party add-on that an integral part of the XenForo core itself, or an add-on developed and maintained by the same XenForo development team, such as the Extras that already exist for XenForo, and that can be added to the license. For example "XenForo Resource Manager" or "XenForo Media Gallery".
XenForo since its inception has evolved a lot, and always to improve, it has never taken a wrong step, it has always been to improve the previous. It needs to take a step further, like adding other modules for blogs, CMS, ecommerce, etc. In the case of clubs, I think this feature should not be an Extra, but part of the core, something like an extension of the forum system.
NOTE: I apologize for any possible errors in the English translation.
I offer in the spoiler the original text in Spanish:
Yo también estoy totalmente de acuerdo. Los foros de temática general y variada, enfocados al debate y al intercambio de ideas y opiniones, (al menos en el panorama español, que es el que yo conozco), están tocados de muerte. Han derivado en algo que ni es opinión ni es debate. Solo se mantienen dentro de unos parámetros de racionalidad y cordura los foros sobre temas específicos como informática, videojuegos, ecología, etc.
Pues si solo los foros de debate dedicados a un tema específico merecen la pena, pues la única salida que veo es la de los clubs o grupos sociales reunidos en torno a unos intereses comunes sobre la base de cierta afinidad entre sus participantes.
Creo que el equipo de gestión de XenForo no tiene mucho interés en implementar esta característica como parte del núcleo, a corto plazo. Desconozco los motivos, pero pienso que no debe ser muy complicado, pues un club o grupo social es en en fondo un subforo dentro de un foro, utiliza las mismas herramientas y comparte el mismo núcleo de código que los foros.
Es una lástima, pero yo ya he intentado desarrollar la idea de los clubs recientemente, a través de uno de los mejores complementos de terceros para grupos sociales, y a pasar de que han funcionado muy bien, no es lo mismo un complemento de terceros que una parte integrante del propio núcleo de XenForo, o un complemento desarrollado y mantenido y mantenido por el mismo equipo de desarrollo de XenForo, como por ejemplo los Extras que ya existen para XenForo, y que se pueden añadir a la licencia. Por ejemplo "XenForo Resource Manage" o "XenForo Media Gallery".
XenForo desde sus inicios a evolucionado mucho, y siempre para mejorar, nunca ha dado un paso en falso, siempre ha sido para mejorar lo anterior. Necesita dar un paso más como seria añadir otros módulos para blog, CMS, ecommerce, etc. En el caso de los clubs, creo que sea característica no debería ser un Extra, sino parte del núclo, algo así como una ampliación del sistema de foros.
I feel one of the facets that is not mentioned in talk of “Social Groups/Clubs” fracturing forums is that it can also be used to go in the other direction and bring isolated groups together to reduce redundancy.
I am building a forum for a hobby that has IRL clubs but also has need and use of a ton of universal knowledge base.
So by offering a members only space for a local groups to operate on my forum for things that are specific to their club (discus meet ups, recommend local resources, host calendar), I get a automatic influx of folks for the shared spaces (general forum knowledge base, how tos, galleries, etc). By giving them a controled space of their own for their paid members and a customizable landing page, i allow them to get off FB or needing to have a site of their own, increasing the user base of my shared areas, making it more useful to all.
So for me, its not a large group splintering off, is a way of gathering up a large number of location specific groups so that they can consolidate and collaborate in the areas universal to all their groups, thus having more available to them.
I feel one of the facets that is not mentioned in talk of “Social Groups/Clubs” fracturing forums is that it can also be used to go in the other direction and bring isolated groups together to reduce redundancy.
I am building a forum for a hobby that has IRL clubs but also has need and use of a ton of universal knowledge base.
So by offering a members only space for a local groups to operate on my forum for things that are specific to their club (discus meet ups, recommend local resources, host calendar), I get a automatic influx of folks for the shared spaces (general forum knowledge base, how tos, galleries, etc). By giving them a controled space of their own for their paid members and a customizable landing page, i allow them to get off FB or needing to have a site of their own, increasing the user base of my shared areas, making it more useful to all.
So for me, its not a large group splintering off, is a way of gathering up a large number of location specific groups so that they can consolidate and collaborate in the areas universal to all their groups, thus having more available to them.
Back when I used vbulletin, the social group function actually increased traffic to my site. You’re basically allowing people to run their clubs on your site. I ensured they were in line with the site subject matter, but those people made it a purpose to log in everyday and upload content/initiate discussions to keep their groups alive and active.
Back when I used vbulletin, the social group function actually increased traffic to my site. You’re basically allowing people to run their clubs on your site. I ensured they were in line with the site subject matter, but those people made it a purpose to log in everyday and upload content/initiate discussions to keep their groups alive and active.
yeah you get a built in user base that can not easily move to a similar site, and if you manage it corectly, you desplinter information and conversations that are often replicated over and over on smaller group sites.
IF (and this is a BIG if) they do implement social groups, hopefully it will have a calendar... but not the limitation that the currently available add-on has with calendar functions. The calendar actually needs to be available for ALL members to use, with the ability of social groups to add their entries into it, but those entries able to be set to only be viewed by members or that group or by the public at large at time of entry creation.
