Introduction

Thank you for choosing NetworX Social Networking Platform!

You have made a great choice by selecting one of the most powerful and versatile Open Source Social Networking Platforms available!

The NetworX package is designed to be relatively easy to install, even for nonprogrammers. Most people have no trouble getting our software up and running, and there is plenty of support available via the NetworX forum at forum.

Once NetworX is installed and running, it is simple for even non-technical users to add or edit content, upload and add images, and to manage the critical data that makes your company or organization go. Anybody with basic word processing skills can easily learn to manage a NetworX web site.

NetworX Users

This Chapter deals with:

The different types of NetworX Users

User Registration

Recovering a lost password

Logging in to the Front-end

User’s Account Details

User Protection

Types of Users and Access Permissions

Users of NetworX web sites can be broken down into two broad categories:

Guests

Registered Users

Guests are simply visitors to your NetworX web site. Depending on how the Super Administrator has configured the site, some content can only be viewed by Registered users while visitors can only browse a limited amount of it.

Registered Users have registered with your site to obtain a username and password. This username and password allows Registered Users to log into your site, receiving special privileges not available to guests. Registered Users are broken down into two groups:

Front-end Users

Back-end Users

Front-end Users get additional rights over guests, which may include the ability to create/manage their groups and publish content on the web site. We will generally refer to these users as content providers since their primary goal is to provide content on the web site (blogs, forums, news, personal info), not to administer the site.

Back-end users – Administrators – are typically thought of as the site administrators, but they also have access to the Front-end interface. Administrators have unrestricted abilities to perform all administrative functions inside of NetworX to monitor and manage the site and services.

Only Super Administrators have the ability to create new users with Administrator permissions or to assign Administrator permissions to existing users.

The only user that exists after a NetworX installation is the Super Administrator. This is the ‘admin’ account created during the installation process.

Registration

Other than the Super Administrator’s (admin) account that is created by default when NetworX is installed, there are two ways that guests have of becoming registered members on a NetworX web site.

First, they may register themselves using the register link in the login form. Second, the Super Administrator, or Administrator if there is one, may enter them directly using the Administrator panel (Back-end).

The process of opening a NetworX account is fairly simple and takes place almost instantly. Members who wish to join the online community only have to provide some basic information and agree to the terms of service to be granted membership. The basic information which is required to request membership is a full name, a valid email address and a password containing alpha and numeric characters. After supplying this information the application process is complete.

Recovering a Lost Password

If you are like most people these days, you have too many passwords and it is inevitable that you are going to forget one eventually. NetworX, like most systems today, allows you to automatically reset your password should you forget it.

The Forgotten Password form appears when you click on the “Forgot your password” link in the Login Form. When you fill in your e-mail address, NetworX will e-mail you a new password that you can use to access the system.

The reason that NetworX cannot send your old password to you is that passwords are stored using an encryption format that is not reversible. This means that even Super Administrators cannot view your password!
This is proper practice in web site design these days, so do not be upset that you cannot use your old password, be happy that passwords are protected!

Logging In and Out

Once you have registered with the web site and, you simply enter your username and password in the Login Form and click the Sign In button to login to the web site.

To end the current session, click on the Sign Out button on the top right corner of the screen.

To login to the back-end, you need to have administrator privileges.

User’s Account Details

To view your account details you can click on the My Profile link on the top right corner of the screen, which will present you with the following options screen:

My Account

My Profile

Server Usage

Into “My Account” you can change Your Name, e-mail address, User Name and Password.

The “My Profile” section is the one which allows members to add the bulk of the content to their profile. This section is broken down into subcategories such as interests & personality, name, basic info, background & lifestyle, schools, companies.

“Server Usage” provides statistics related to server usage.

Making Profiles Private

NetworX does have some features which can give members an increased amount of protection. The ability to make a profile private is one of these features. Most NetworX profiles are public and are viewable by both members of the community and non-members. However, those who wish to keep their website private can make it only available to those on their friends list. Members of NetworX also have the ability to remove members from their friends list or block other members from sending them emails or instant messages.

Main Menu

Once you’ve logged in, you would be presented with NetworX main menu:

Home

The homepage for your NetworX account is the place where you can manage your connections, photo/video/file uploads, and preferences (select forms of communication you are accepting).

It features the following links:

Update your online status. You may enter a custom status into the text box provided.

Add your events.

Add/Edit Photos.

Add/Change Videos.

Add/Change Files.

“My Statistics” section shows the information on updates for friends, blog posts, files uploaded, discussion board posts, photos/videos uploads, and comments.

Uploading Files to NetworX…

One of the most important things to remember when uploading files to NetworX is that these files may be seen by many people. This is especially important for those who are uploading pictures of themselves to place on their NetworX website. Members are not required to place a photo of themselves on their profile but many users do include a photo so those who visit their website have a visual image of the member. Users may place an embarrassing photo of themselves thinking only their friends will see this photo but in reality many other members and non-members may view this photo as well. When posting a picture of an object or character care should be taken to ensure posting the photo is not a violation of copyrights associated with the photo.

Uploading Photos and Videos to NetworX

Uploading photos to your NetworX account is fairly simple. You must click on the links that says, “Add/edit photos.” You are also given the option of making photos public (visible to everyone) or private (visible to people from your connections). You can then browse through your hard drive to find the desired photo. Photos uploaded to NetworX must be .gif or .jpg format and must be smaller than 1500kb. Once you find an appropriate photo, click upload and the photo will be added to your account. Once a photo is added you can create a caption for this photo.

You can also upload your own videos for use on the website and for others to share.

My World

This section allows you to manage entities you are connected to: send them a message, add to block list, or remove from your connections.

Calendar

Through NetworX Calendar, you can manage your events and register for the other’s events.

NetworX Calendar features the following view options:

Day by hour

Week by day and hour

Month by day

You may navigate to the Next or Previous calendar period using narrows or jump to a period using drop down control.

Basic Calendar functions:

Add member/group event (Event name, date/time, description, set reminder: XX min before and reminder type)

Edit event

Delete event

Send event invites to other individuals or groups from your Contacts

Entire member calendar may be visible to the public (all NetworX members), selected connections, or private.

Group Events

If you are group administrator, you may add/manage Group Events.

When adding group event, you need to follow the instructions as described below:

1. Create Event Profile including description, instructions (optional), location, start and end dates and times, and availability (public/invitation only).
2. Create (optional) reservation slots (Date/time/duration/location/owner (member)/# openings per slot, member names currently reserved). After that Event is placed on the group Calendar
3. Send event invites to the group (optional).

Members or authorized invitees can view event profile and calendar, and reserve open slots or cancel the reservations they have made at anytime.

News

News section provides a way for group administrators and members to update all of their contacts on the latest news and events and view news from other groups/members.

News creation tool features the following functions:

Save and submit

Save draft

Revert to previous version (last 10 versions available by version date/time).

Upload and remove photos (Insert photos within body of text or link to photo

Upload and remove videos (Embed video within the document or link

Tag news

Set keywords

You also may set privacy for viewing – make news Private (only group members may view) or Public (any NetworX user may view)

Mailbox

All NetworX entities are assigned a mailbox for incoming and outgoing NetworX messages. A Functions are performed based on the message type.A The basic types of NetworX Messages and functions are:

User Messaging: individual/group messages to other individuals and groups (reply, forward, or create a new message).

Invitations to join to groups (accept or reject)

Requests to join to groups (accept or reject)

Acceptances / rejections of Invitations and Requests

Invitations to Members for calendar events (accept, reject, reply/alternate request)

Requests for Events (accept or reject)

Event and Calendar Reminders

Promotions

NetworX message (official NetworX message from NetworX staff)

NetworX mailbox indicates number of unread messages by type, pending and un-read messages.

NetworX messaging accounts are not usable as normal email accounts; they are for use for NetworX purposes only – no external email is supported.

‘My Connections’ for each user represents the address book for the NetworX Messaging function. Contacts are automatically added to the address book based on the My Connections list.

Files

The section allows individuals and groups to upload and share files with their connections.

You may view/download files the other users have shared as well as add, tag, or remove your own files.

The following file types are supported: Microsoft Office and general Mac file types, MP3, Wav, Jpeg, GIF, Adobe related file types, PDF, major video related file types.

Blog

Blog is the place where you can manage your own blogs and view/subscribe to blogs of other NetworX members.

NetworX allows its members to subscribe to individual blogs on their homepage.

You may subscribe to a blog using “Subscribe to blog” link or unsubscribe via “Unsubscribe from blog” link.

NetworX Blog publishing tool features the following functions:

Save and submit;

WYSIWYG text editor;

Upload and remove photos;

Insert photos within body of text or link to photo;

Upload and remove videos;

Embed video within the document or link;

Tag blog;

Support hyperlinks;

Blog keywords.

You can make your blog private (only selected connections may view your posts) or public (anyone can view your blog).

Albums

The section allows individuals and groups to upload and share photos and videos with their connections

NOTE: Photos may be submitted or added by a member to a group photo album but the administrator of that group must approve the photo before it is published to the album.

Add photo album management feature to individual, group, and organization account types (like facebook):

• Manage albums
  • Add/edit/delete albums
• Manage Photos
  • Multiple photo uploads from PC
  • Remove photos
  • Set photo as album cover (one photo per album)
  • Write captions for more than one photo at a time (like facebook)
  • System must automatically resize the photo to fit within main view frame and thumbnail view frame
  • Note: photo limitations and requirements may be set by the developer.
• When viewing album:
  • Click photo to go to next photo feature
  • Next, previous, and page number (1,2,4, …) selections

User Menu

Regardless of your specific role, i.e. Regular User, Group Creator, or Group Member, you will see the same User Menu. However, the functions available from the menu will vary depending on the access permissions you have. Once you have logged in to the web site you will notice that a User Menu appears in the right navigation pane. This menu may contain more or less options depending on the individual permissions.

The following are common user menu items:

Directory – takes you to the directory of all NetworX entities: Individuals, Groups

World View – map overlay of your connections, groups, media, blog posts, forum topics, and wiki documents.

Forums – to view topics you are interested in and post your comment

Wiki – to manage wiki articles.A Wiki documents can be created by and collaborated on by groups.

Networking on NetworX…

NetworX is an online community where members can meet to share photos, journals and interests with an extensive network of friends/colleagues. The NetworX mission statement describes the NetworX network as being for everyone including:

Friends who want to talk Online

Single people who want to meet other Singles

Matchmakers who want to connect their friends with other friends

Families who want to keep in touch–map your Family Tree

Business people and co-workers interested in networking

Classmates and study partners

Anyone looking for long lost friends!

From this description it is clear that NetworX is an excellent place for online networking. This article will take a look at how to find the people you want to network with on NetworX.

Making New Connections – Matching Tool

You can browse through the directory of NetworX groups and individuals (Directory link on the left pane) and send them email or instant message. You may request a user to get connected to you, or request a group administrator for group membership.

NetworX can also be used to make business connections. The search feature can be used to find others who share your business interests, dreams and goals. Once you find these individuals you can engage them in conversation by sending an email or instant message or by leaving a comment on their homepage. These connections may lead to potential business relationships but they may also simply be networking opportunities which allow those interested in certain business aspects to converse with others who share this interest.

NetworX Search Tool

NetworX provides a search function so you can search for the following elements:

Wiki articles

Tags (includes everything tagged)

Keyword

Discussion Boards

Group News

Blogs

Location (everything related to a given location)

Advertising on Your NetworX

NetworX website allows posting banner advertisements running on many of the pages and other advertisements appearing in sidebars and other locations. These advertising opportunities are open to the public and anyone who is interested in advertising in these areas is urged to contact NetworX admin directly for more information. This type of advertising is worthwhile for business owners who have products or services which may appeal to the members of the community. While advertising on individual websites on NetworX is prohibited by the terms of service there is sometimes room to market products one ones website without violating the terms of service.