Hello, I'm just starting to look at social networking packages out there and came across Community Server and Graffiti, which both look quite promising (I like all the videos on the blog by the way, makes it a lot easier to get a feel for the product). I'm having a hard time however figuring out wether any of them would really do what I need and would appreciate some guidance here. What I'm after is a package that would allow me to build a community-driven site. Not unlike Facebook and the like actually. Ultimately (but this will probably will rolled out bit-by-bit), features would include a blog (single blog for the company), ability for registered users to have their own profile, add friends, upload pictures, audio and video for others to see and would also include discussion forum as well as live text (and ideally audio) chat. Would either Graffiti or Community Server be fit for this purpose? After having looked at a few videos by Scott and Adonis, it looks like Graffiti isn't really about communities but more about publishing content (blog posts, images, etc with maybe a basic discussion forum). On the other side, the main problem with Community Server is that its pricing puts it out of reach of anybody trying to start a business. Would it be possible to start very simple with Graffiti and "upgrade" later on to Community Server? Has such a migration path been considered by Telligent?? Thanks for your help. EDIT: new lines (br, \n call them whatever you like) do not show in my post. Is this normal?

Hello,

Yes, it sounds like Community Server is much more what you are after.

There will be an upgrade story for going from Graffiti to Community Server. This will primarily be based on the new Community Server web service API and should include forums once Graffiti supports forums.

Thanks,
Scott

P.S. As for line breaks, my guess is you are using Safari. The current WYSIWG editor we are using on these forums does not work with Safari, but that should be chaning soon (and Graffiti already uses the new editor). 

 Thanks for your answer Scott.

 You were right about the line breaks, was using Safari. In Firefox now. 

Just to follow up on what you were saying:

1) You mentioned that Graffiti doesn't support forums yet. When is this feature planned to be released?

2) Does any of your product include a live text and / or audio chat feature?

3)  How easy would it be for a .NET developer to add new features to either Graffiti or Community Server. Example of a new feature would be, for example, this live chat feature I'm talking about which would allow members to see who's online and talk to each other.

4) Do both Graffiti and Community Server support the same "plugin" interface (i.e. would a custom feature implemented for Graffiti still work if it is later upgraded to Community Server)?

5) Is there a time frame for the support of Graffiti to Community Server migration?

 

Thanks for your time. 

1. Version 2. ETA late spring to early summer (US)

2. No, but it should be farily easy to ingrate an existing product.

3. That is a loaded question. Depends on your end goal and the quality of developer. You will find adding things to Graffiti is probably easier, but there are many more possibilities with Community Server.

4. No. Graffiti generally prefers to write strings/text back out to the browser. Community Server on the other hand has a rich control based framework.

5. It should be available around the release of Community Server 2008 (it will rely on the new web services which are part of 2008).

Thanks,
Scott

I would be interested to knowing what the roadmap is for forums and Graffiti.

Still interested in forums? What is the plan with those now that we're approaching fall?

 We are still finalizing the v.Next release feature set, but as fo today the goal is to include forums in a spring 2009 release.

Thansk,
Scot

Scott Watermasysk:

spring 2009

Could you repeat that, please

:(((

Scott Watermasysk:

the goal is to include forums in a spring 2009 release

Are you serious?! Is this a joke? Ok, taking a deep breath and talking it very seriously, Graffity CMS 2.0 is scheduled for spring 2009? Is it a possible public user login functionality not expected until spring 2009? What about localization?

After this kind of posts I really need a roadmap or something that shows a serious commitment from Telligent with Graffiti CMS before I keep recomending Graffiti CMS as an alternative to my clients, and still considering it for my own use.