Have you ever wanted to create your own social network? While few might dare to take on giants like Odnoklassniki or VKontakte, creating a niche social network tailored to specific interests is much more achievable.
If you decide to pursue this, the first step will be choosing a content management system (CMS) for your social network.
Today, there are several dozen similar systems, but many of them are no longer updated or are designed for very specific needs. Therefore, you will need to choose from the five most prominent CMS options available.
LiveStreet – A system for building a blog-social network. Here, you can create personal and collective blogs, publish articles, and organize discussions in forums. Plugins allow for the implementation of a fairly wide range of features.
InstantCMS – A Russian system for creating social networks. It includes articles, blogs, photos, and forums. Additionally, there are classifieds and catalogs. Unfortunately, there aren’t many free templates, but the code is quite simple, making it easy to customize the standard template to your needs. There are a few interesting paid components and several dozen free ones.
SocialEngine – An excellent CMS for building a social network, but unfortunately, it is paid. However, its rich functionality and stability are worth it.
Drupal – Not exactly a social network, but a rather powerful engine. With proper use and modification, you can create almost anything.
Pligg – A good free CMS. Suitable for creating news-based social networks. Users can create their own news, as well as comment on and rate others’ posts.
Choosing among these CMS options can be challenging. It’s worth testing them all to understand which one best suits your project. Good luck!