Follow Me Groups Module Support

Forgive me for being a total newbie at JR, but if someone familiar with the Follow Me Groups Module could please join this discussion it would be much appreciated. I've been looking for an alternative to Meetup and the pickings are limited, so wondered how easy it would be to simply start one. I have some website development experience with basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, plus a little PERL and PHP, but but am certainly no expert, a hacker at best, and my experience with CMS platforms is extremely limited.

That being said, I'm pretty good at figuring this stuff out and already have server space, so when I ran across the JR Follow Me Groups product when browsing the Softalicious menu in my CPanel, I decided to take a closer look. It looks like something that might work out okay, but before I get all mired down in a download, and install, I'd like to get some further information about it, and have the following questions:

BASIC QUESTIONS ( correct me if I'm wrong on these - forgive my terminology if it's not precise )

The JR platform is a free download for those who want to install it themselves on their own server space, but it doesn't include any of the modules, and therefore cannot perform any functions until a module is installed. Right?

After installation the modules must be acquired through the JR interface and unless the JR package installed is premium or above, there will a charge for the module. Right?

- Is Groups available as its own module or does it require Follow Me ( $49 ) first?

http://demo.jamroom.net/jrFollowMe/groups

_ Please clarify what is required to get to this point in the link above.
- Can anyone point me to a site other than the demo site where it is being used?
- Is this module still actively maintained and supported?
- Can it be monetized without adding the Stores module?
- Or is the Forum, Bloggers, Stores, Groups, and Galleries, all included in the Follow Me package ( $49 )

That's all for now. Once I have the above in context, I'll probably need some more pointers, especially from anyone with experience using the Groups module ( or feature or whatever it is ). Hope someone can help. JR sales and support people are more than welcome to help out with this too.
updated by @pagemakers: 08/13/21 03:47:27AM

Basic concepts of jamroom:
* There are USERS who are the people looking at the screen
* There are PROFILES which are the pages where the users info is displayed.

In a normal jamroom setup one user will have one profile. Jamroom can be made to allow one user to have many profiles ( say one person is in multiple bands ) or one profile to have many users (like say a bands profile page which may have many members in it)

Jamroom approaches the concept of "Content" from the position of: Content is something that is added to a profile.

Jamroom progressed from being a developer oriented system to having features that allowed non-developers to also customize it. If you approach it from the developers angle you will be able to do a lot more than if you never want to look at code.

There is a system called the "Quotas system" that allows there to be different types of profiles. So if you had 2 quotas then profiles in one of those quotas could have a completely different set of features available to them than profiles in the other quota. (A profile can only ever be in one quota at a time.)

MeetUp as a system contains:
* Events that users can join
* Profiles
* Users

So you probably do not need the "Groups" module but instead use the "Events" module. It already has the "Attending" feature built into it.

If you use Jamroom Hosting then you get access to all the modules and skins that The Jamroom Network Team has built included in the price. (That's most of the modules. There are a few others that are created by 3rd party developers that are not included.)

That would probably be enough to get some of the main structure in place, from there the next steps would be to customize it to fit what your site is about.

--edit--

There are a bunch of free modules that come with the package and a bunch more free in the marketplace.
updated by @michael: 04/18/21 09:37:41PM

I think the reason you're interested in https://demo.jamroom.net/jrFollowMe/groups is because the layout is very much like meetup, but that's not because of the groups module itself but because of the design the skin has given that page.

There's a function in jamroom called {jrCore_list ....} which grabs a list of things from the database and outputs them to a skin.

So in a skin you would run a call like this:
and would return the data for the next 10 events output that data into the 'my_events_list.tpl' file.

Then you would create the 'my_events_list.tpl' file in your skin and tell it how you want to display that data eg:

Something like that. So the concept is: Users add any event of their own to their own profile, then in the skin you suck from all of the data that each of the profiles have and display it as a list. When the site visitor clicks on the link in the list they will be taken to that items detail page on the profile of the person who created it.

Thanks for the reply & suggestion.

It isn't clear if the Events module facilitates numerous groups. I need the software to allow for the creation of independent groups, each of which may have independent events. The events module looks more like it facilitates numerous events for numerous members of a single group, whereas the Groups module looks like it facilitates numerous groups, each with numerous members, but I didn't notice any per-group calendar or event management features.

Events need to be totally easy for those who create their own group to create. ( no coding involved ). It's even fine if they just have a place to announce them. An "I'm going" feature would be nice, but mainly it just needs to make it easy for different groups to create their own presence without any intervention from me. Maybe I'm asking for too much.
updated by @pagemakers: 04/18/21 09:55:57PM

You're right, the events module is just events. The events module allows any profile to list an event on a date.

On the details page of the event (on the profile that created it) comments can be left which allow for attachments and stuff. It would not be private though, anyone using the site could read the comments. The event details page could be adjusted to only show comments to users who are attending the event but this is not a setting it would need to be coded.

Maybe it is the groups module you need. But groups do not have dates when they happen so possibly a combination of both perhaps.

These are the groups related modules:
https://www.jamroom.net/the-jamroom-network/networkmarket/ss=group

As far as I can remember nobody has created (or asked for) a "Group Events" module. Maybe someone has, they might chime in here.

It also depends on who is doing the creating too. If at the site there was a central set of co-ordinators that was creating the groups then you could create a profile for each meetup and use the profile in place of the events module. If the concept was: "A user joins the site then that use is able to create the groups and add events" then this concept wouldn't work and you would nee the groups module.

Thanks again. So the intent is to have a site that:

- Allows visitors to sign-up on their own
- Create a group of their own
- Manage their own group content
- Manage their own members

Pluses:

- Include per-group event calendars
- Include per group event notification and RSVPs
updated by @pagemakers: 04/18/21 10:08:17PM

Jamroom currently has the first part but not the "Pluses" section.

It most likely would need to be built. We do have a "Sponsor a Module" system:
https://www.jamroom.net/the-jamroom-network/documentation/module-developer-guide/4931/sponsor-a-module

Someone may have built one, give it a day or so see if anyone has.

Hey thanks for the feedback. The modular element of JR could be a real plus if it would allow me to get started with something basic like Groups, and then if it attracts any users, scale it up. Do you happen to know if the Groups module facilitates the sending of group emails for each group?

The "Group Mailer" module does that:

Modules: Group Mailer
https://www.jamroom.net/the-jamroom-network/networkmarket/336/group-mailer

Hey thanks!

Again, I'm not clear if the group owners that it's referring to are those who operate individual groups within the Groups module or those who operate the Group module's overall site? Or both?

Everything belongs on a profile. So if you have Jim, Sarah, Bob, William who have joined your site and William makes a group called "Knitting Circle" then that will be found at:
YOUR SITE -> WILLIAMS PROFILE -> GROUPS -> KNITTING CIRCLE

Thanks, I get that. But to be clear let's try it this way ( and super thanks for your patience on this ). Let's use a model similar to the one you made above that looks like this ( these caps are not yelling! ).

PARENT SITE & PARENT SITE ADMIN ( PROFILE ) -> GROUPS & GROUP ADMINS ( PROFILES ) -> GROUP MEMBERS

- Is the Mailer module for the PARENT SITE & PARENT SITE ADMIN ( PROFILE ) only?
- Or can it also be used for multiple GROUPS & GROUP ADMINS ( PROFILES ) independent of each other within the PARENT SITE?
- IF it can be used for both, is a separate module install required for each GROUP ADMIN ( PROFILE )?
- IF it can be used with each GROUP ADMIN ( PROFILE ), can the PARENT SITE be setup to automatically create and install the module for each new GROUP ADMIN ( PROFILE ) as it is created without any additional assistance from the PARENT SITE ADMIN ( PROFILE ) or the GROUP ADMIN ( PROFILE )?

Essentially we're sort of talking about a bunch of child sites within a parent site, so sorting out these issues is really important if everything is to work as it is imagined, and what I'm imagining here is a random visitor to the PARENT SITE signing up, and in the process of creating a GROUP, then becomes a GROUP ADMIN ( PROFILE ) with exclusive access within that GROUP to an option for sending emails to that GROUP'S ( and only that group's ) MEMBERS who have chosen to be on the GROUP'S mailing list?
updated by @pagemakers: 04/19/21 11:24:38AM

You certainly can create specific profiles that will hold all the groups.

Example: Here on jamroom.net you are currently on THE JAMROOM NETWORK profile (see the url /the-jamroom-network/) and you are currently in the FORUM module on THE JAMROOM NETWORK profile, so we're at:
JAMROOM SITE -> THE JAMROOM NETWORK -> FORUM -> (this thread in the fourm)

You could create
YOUR SITE -> a profile called COMMUNITY

Then add any number of existing users to that profile. Example, here on THE JAMROOM NETWORK profile there are 5 users connected to this profile, they are:
* Michael
* Brian
* Nate
* Paul
* Douglas

and each of those users can treat THE JAMROOM NETWORK profile as their own profile and add new stuff to it. The groups module is not turned on on this profile because the quota doesn't allow it (and the modules probably not installed on this site anyhow because we don't use it.)

Here on jamroom.net we have 2 main quotas, they are 'regular' and 'developer'. This is what a regular users profile looks like:
https://www.jamroom.net/michael/blog
It has access to these modules:
* TIMELINE
* DOCUMENTATION
* BLOG
* FOLLOWERS

A 'developer' profile looks like this:
https://www.jamroom.net/ultrajam/forum
It has the same modules the regular profile has but it also has:
* FORUM
* MARKETPLACE

The system that determines which profile gets what resources is called the QUOTA SYSTEM. A module only needs to be installed once into the system then it gets turned on or off via the quota system.

@strumelia You've got a great example of a site that uses the groups modules, ok to point @pagemakers to your site to have a look?

Both. As Michael says, the user/profile that created the group has control over it and can send messages to group members etc. Also, the site admin has full control over all profile items and can intervene if necessary, or perform actions on behalf of the user.
hth


--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Thanks you guys. The fog is starting to lift here in my brain. I'm going to set the features discussion aside for a moment and ask about :

System Requirements:

At present my hosting package includes unlimited space, but I don't know how many users at a time it can handle without being overloaded. What sort of questions should I be asking my hosting provider in order to determine if I can run the GROUPS software, without stability issues when the following numbers are online accessing it at the same time:

- 50 users
- 100 users
- 500 users
- 1000 users
- 5000 users

Yes go have a look at my site which has 60 + Groups (most of which were created by and are controlled by me the master admin):
https://fotmd.com/
It has about 3000 members. I don't send out many mass emailings to my members, though of course they do get site notifications for various things which they can also turn off if they choose.
BTW you can have Private Groups as well, where only the group members can see any group content. I use one private group for me and my site moderators to discuss site issues or problems with members.


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 04/20/21 04:35:28PM

Friends Of The Mountain Dulcimer! Now doesn't that just evoke imagery of dogwood and pepperoni rolls ( ). Thanks! I'll check it out. I play a little guitar and dabble in home recording myself.
updated by @pagemakers: 04/20/21 05:40:13PM

Pepperoni rolls? Um, ok. Better than dogwood and road kill I guess. LOL


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Apparently pepperoni rolls were nominated as one of Virginia's official state foods: https://www.today.com/food/pepperoni-rolls-could-become-state-food-west-virginia-t214381

For your GROUPS site. I still haven't found the module listed here or the price ( if it has one ) for non-premium versions of Jamroom. Or what I should be asking my hosting provider regarding the system I'm on and its compatibility. This is a slow process, but I appreciate all your answers.
updated by @pagemakers: 04/20/21 06:22:00PM

Just load it up on your server to begin with, you said it could be installed with a button, probably via Sofaculious i suspect.

Then create the first account, that becomes your admin account and has access to the ACP (Admin Control Panel) from there go to
ACP -> MODULES -> TOOLS -> SYSTEM CHECK

That will tell you if your server is missing anything jamroom needs. Then go to

ACP -> MODULES -> TOOLS -> PERFORMANCE CHECK

and that will tell you how well you can expect jamroom to run on your server.

Screenshot of performance and system check attached.

The modules are here the prices are in the top right:
https://www.jamroom.net/the-jamroom-network/networkmarket/ss=group

Better than buying them immediately is to spin up a Jamroom Hosting server there is a 7 day free trial
https://www.jamroom.net/products

On there you will have access to install any module or skin you like. That will save buying things you may not want.

Jamroom development has a steep learning curve. It may frustrate you enough to leave. best to be sure before spending money.

I wouldn't know, I'm from New York. Bagels maybe. ;D


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015