I am looking into using Drupal for a new social network aimed at professional and collegiate athletes (NBA, NFL, NCAA, etc.) which will allow them to connect with their fanbase which will also have access to the site membership. The requirements (whick my first platform choice, Elgg, did not adequately meet -- which, in turn, led me to Drupal by recommendation) are to have several different user types related to the industry including fans, teams, universities and career managers (or athlete agents, if you will). As such, I would like information on the best configuration of Drupal (modules, layout, etc.) for a social network as well as help with the setup process (since I'm new to Drupal and need guided help on the subject as I go along with the deployment procedures).
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
EDIT: I would also like to use a mixture of elements from two general use social communities you may have already heard of in one way or another. One set of features is from MySpace; the other set of features is from Facebook. The combined feature mashup required for the project would be a combination of features unique in connection to each individual social platform that would not generally be associated with the other (such as applications or in-profile music player widgets). More details on the feature mashup I need will be provided upon verification of the exact details needed (I only learned the requirements yesterday despite having two months notice before then, and my mind is not as sharp as I would like it to be -- so I'm simply stating my requirements to the extent that I recall them. However, if anybody knows what I am describing as far as the feature mashup I have in mind goes then feel free to post your theory as it may help me remember the remaining details.)
Jeffrey Davis
jeff@athtalk.com
Comments
Moving to the top
Just moving my post to the top so that I can keep this idea in the forefront. I am still looking for assistance from people who have experience in setting up social communities with Drupal for my project and would gladly credit any and all contributors for their assistance in getting this up and running.
I also thought I would add a few ideas into the mix as far as what I want. First, the hosting provider I am using is through Yahoo Small Business for the time being, and I was wondering if anyone has set up sites that way using Drupal. Second, I would like to have sports-oriented profile theme songs or user-contributed independent music in lieu of traditionally-published big-name tracks (due to legal issues, of course). Third, I am suggesting an in-profile "wassup" tracker so athletes' upcoming events, games etc. are displayed on their profile pages (sorta like the newsfeed in Facebook that tracks what your friends are up to). Fourth, I would like a blog for each athlete participating in the AthTalk system. Fifth, I would also like profile categories for colleges and universities, athlete agents, and franchised sports teams in addition to the athletes themselves. Groups and community features for athletes to connect with the fans are also an idea worth considering, and I would also like to consider including social applications that relate to the sports industry as the site matures (which could incude STATS industry tracking services related to sports teams; game categories such as basketball, hockey, and baseball; leagues such as the NFL, NBA and NHL; and even the athletes themselves -- as welll as league and team franchise schedules.)
That's all I can think of for now, so if anyone can think of strategies to pull it off (preferrably within a month's time from April 12, 2008 as that is the schedule I am currently working with). I would like as many tips and techniques to set up such a site (as well as the creation of any Drupal plugins if required, whose links can be posted as comments within this thread to simplify the ability for me to locate them when ready). Again, any and all contributions and suggestions (including new and preexisting plugins) will be credited to the person(s) who suggested what and which plugin(s) to use for this project, and will also be greatly appreciated.
Jeffrey S Davis
jeff@athtalk.com
Jeffrey S Davis
jeff@athtalk.com
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This is a really wide open question. You're talking about a huge project that will take research into the best modules for you. Have you spent any time in the module download section? Have you read other posts in this group? There are lots of posts about building social networking sites and suggestions for modules.
This post is a lot like "I've downloaded Word and would like assistance writing a novel". In order for us to help you, you need to do some research and come up with more concrete questions about things you don't understand. Doing this in a month is a tall order. Sure, you can slap together a bunch of modules in several hours like I did with socnet but to get a customized, fully functional site takes a lot of work.
Michelle
See my Drupal articles and tutorials or come check out the Coulee Region
Honestly...
...you need to become more familiar with Drupal.
I see you had been a Drupal Groups member for less than a day when you wrote your post. If you're serious about being able...
...I think you're going to need to hire someone.
However, because I want to help you, here are a few helpful links that will give you an idea of some of the more popular modules for your site:
http://groups.drupal.org/node/10531
http://groups.drupal.org/node/7968
It takes folks a while to learn Drupal and then to be able to put together a site to the magnitude that you're describing. You may possess stellar coding skills, but you're basically asking others to do a bit of analysis and I doubt anyone is going to do it for free. Your post sounds very much like a Request for Proposal (RFP) to me vs. a normal request for some help. Your post is simply too broad and requires quite a bit of work to provide adequate answers, including probably needing to consult with you in order to select the proper modules.
The Drupal community is very helpful, but usually it wants to see that someone in your position has made an honest effort at becoming familiar with Drupal, has tried to learn and test the different modules, and has actually reviewed a bit of the knowledge base as found in the many Drupal Groups and drupal.org handbook section. Have you done any of that?
I suggest you attempt some familiarization with Drupal and then break up your voluminous request into bite-sized requests so that people can more easily respond.
Good luck!
Walt Esquivel, MBA; MA; President, Wellness Corps; Captain, USMC (Veteran)
$50 Hosting Discount Helps Projects Needing Financing
Walt Esquivel, MBA; MA; President, Wellness Corps; Captain, USMC (Veteran)
$50 Hosting Discount Helps Projects Needing Financing
Thanks for following up
Thanks so much for responding. Yes it's a big project, and yes I am willing to divide it up into portions if necessary. I'll look into everything provided already and ask questions about each specific piece as I go along.
Jeffrey S Davis
jeff@athtalk.com
Jeffrey S Davis
jeff@athtalk.com
How did you get on with that
How did you get on with that Jeffery?
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