Elgg is a open-source social networking platform for building a
community based website. Think of a fully customizable MySpace of your
own. Elgg V1.0 just launched on August 18th and every week there are
new plugins being released from community members. Elgg’s Full Package
comes with quite a few useful plugins, but these plugins from the
community really bring Elgg to the next level.
The Be Tom plugin automatically adds the user of your choice to a
newly registered users friend list. Hence the name Be Tom. On Myspace
every new user automatically has Tom added to their friend list. This
is a great way to make your site not so lonely for new members.
This plugin is almost a necessity for a new site. By default when a
new user registers there are no pre-loaded widgets on their dashboard
and profile. This makes for a pretty confusing and empty looking page.
With Default Widgets you can make new users have the widgets of your
choice displayed automatically. There are a couple limitations, but
nothing that makes this plugin not great.
The User Contact List plugin adds a tab for administrators to view a
nice list of registered users, which shows their username, nickname,
and email. This plugin also doubles as a contact list in case you need
to email a member directly.
Invitations allows you to send out a email to multiple people
inviting them to join your community. Great for getting your community
started.
Artfolio is basically a image gallery plugin for Elgg. It integrates
a rating system and is a definite necessity to Elgg, since by default
you can only upload one photo to your profile.
This plugin creates a new widget that dispays a list of a users
friends latest blog post. A nice option for your members I would say.
Adds a Widget option to place a tag cloud on your dashboard or profile. Nothing too complex but a nice addition.
Group Feed displays the 10 most recently updated content resources for a group of your choice.
The Latest song widget will display the last 5 songs you listened to
on your LastFM account. A great new feature is that it automatically
adds the cd cover and album name to the list.
Allows users to add a FriendFeed widget to their profiles.
FriendFeed is a service that allows users to create and share a river
of their activity across the web.
If you have the file repository plugin enabled, you can install this
plugin so when you upload a Mp3 file it can be played in the browser
without having to download the file to your computer.
This widget let’s users display their latest flickr photos on their
profile. At the moment it does not work in Safari, but possibly will in
future releases.
This widget will display all of your latest tweets on your profile.
Coppa adds a check box that requires users to specify that they are
over 13 years old when registering. Coppa is a online child protection
act. Technically it should ask if users are over 12 years old, but
theres nothing wrong with being extra safe.
For more plugins you can visit the Elgg Community.
New plugins are coming out every week so I recommend checking back here
for updates or going directly to Elgg.org. Also if you have a plugin I
missed or a plugin recommendation post a comment below with the details
about it.