development of social networking site final
TRANSCRIPT
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Preamble
A social networking website is an online platform that focuses on building and reflecting of
social networks or social relations among people, who share interests and/or activities. A
social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile),
his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most Social Network Websites are
web based and provide means for users to interact over the internet, such as e-mail and instant
messaging. Social Networking Sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests
within their individual networks. (Boyd & Nichole, 2007)
The main types of social networking website are those which contain category places (such as
former school year or classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-
description pages) and a recommendation system linked to trust. Popular methods now
combine many of these, with Facebook and Twitter widely used worldwide.
There have been attempts to standardize these services to avoid the need to duplicate entries
of friends and interests.
1.2 Statement of Problems.
National Open University of Nigeria is a distance learning school where students interact with
the school through study centers that are spread all over the country. This approach created a
wide communication gap among the students, and between the student and their departments
and / or the school as a whole.
As a result of this, most students are not properly coordinated due to lack of timely
information. More so, these students, either of the same department / faculty or the school in
general need a way of reaching out to each other from time to time in order to share interests
and ideas. A saying “Alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much and better”.
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1.3 Objective Purpose of Study
The aim of this project is to build a website that will serve as communication tool between
students and lecturers, departments, faculty, and the school and also among the students. The
website will also provide a chance for students to network with professionals for internship
and job opportunities. Also the site includes a platform where educational topics can be
discussed in real-time mode
1.4 Significance of the Study
The significance of a Social Networking Site for National Open University of Nigeria is
majorly for effective collaborations and sharing of materials among the students from every
study centre across the country. Its aim is to assure uninterrupted communications within the
school. This significance will also include;
Creating an Attractive and Secure Login page for users to have access to their
personal areas.
An interface for user account creation that is user friendly and proper
validation of details.
Integration of advance search module for locating classmates and other people
from all study centers across the nation.
Send/Accept friend request to/from other users to make friends.
Creating a public profile having social, professional and personal information.
A profile editing interface for updating users information
Uploading and sharing of files, audio, videos, and photographs on the site.
Send internal message to other friends.
Quick reply to incoming messages.
Group creations and subscriptions
Administration page to keep an eye on users’ operations.
Easily recover your password with a password recovery module.
1.5 Scope of the Study
The study will significantly measure the speed of communication in the school. The operation
such as; creating groups and subscribing to a particular group like Osogbo Study Centre
group, thereby enabling users to get latest updates from the school at the most appropriate
time.
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1.6 Methodology
The project will employ the top-down approach of software development. The project will
develop the individual pages that present different individual functionality before integrating
the whole pages together to form a whole working website. It employs tools like;
Adobe collections (Dreamweaver CS5, for designing the graphical interface,
Fireworks and flash, for animation of graphics.
PHP5.0 (PHP Hypertext Processor) for the processing of server side request, session
handling and security.
Mysql server will be used as the backend relational database for storage, retrieval and
manipulation of persistent data
Wamp2.oa (Windows Apache Mysql PHP) will be used as the backend server for the
project.
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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, we discussed various forms of Social Networking Site that has been in
existence for generations, their social impacts, and their typical structures. The chapter also
discussed briefly, the emerging trends in social networking and the various issues that are
associated with them.
2.1 Background and Related Work
The potential for computer networking to facilitate new forms of computer-mediated social
interaction was suggested early on. Efforts to support social networks via computer-mediated
communication were made in many early online services, including Usenet, ARPANET,
LISTSERV, and Bulletin Board Services (BBS). Many prototypical features of Social
Networking Sites were also present in online services such as America Online, Prodigy, and
CompuServe. Early social networking on the World Wide Web began in the form of
generalized online communities such as Theglobe.com (1995), Geocities (1994) and
Tripod.com (1995). Many of these early communities focused on bringing people together to
interact with each other through chat rooms, and encouraged users to share personal
information and ideas via personal webpages by providing easy-to-use publishing tools and
free or inexpensive web space. Some communities - such as Classmates.com - took a different
approach by simply having people link to each other via email addresses. In the late 1990s,
user profiles became a central feature of Social Networking Sites, allowing users to compile
lists of "friends" and search for other users with similar interests. New social networking
methods were developed by the end of the 1990s and many sites began to develop more
advanced features for users to find and manage friends. This newer generation of Social
Networking Sites began to flourish with the emergence of SixDegrees.com in 1997, followed
by Makeoutclub in 2000, Friendster in 2002, and soon became part of the Internet
mainstream. Friendster was followed by MySpace and LinkedIn a year later, and finally,
Bebo. Attesting to the rapid increase in Social Networking Sites' popularity, by 2005,
MySpace was reportedly getting more page views than Google. Facebook, launched in 2004,
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has since become the largest Social Networking Site in the world. Today, it is estimated that
there are now over 200 active sites using a wide variety of social networking models.
2.2 Social Impacts of Social Networking Sites
Web based social networking services make it possible to connect people who share interests
and activities across political, economic, and geographic borders. Through e-mail and instant
messaging, online communities are created where a gift economy and reciprocal altruism are
encouraged through cooperation. Information is particularly suited to gift economy, as
information is a nontrivial good and can be gifted at practically no cost.
Facebook and other social networking tools are increasingly the object of scholarly research.
Scholars in many fields have begun to investigate the impact of Social Networking Sites,
investigating how such sites may play into issues of identity, privacy, social capital, youth
culture, and education.
Several websites are beginning to tap into the power of the social networking model for
philanthropy. Such models provide a means for connecting otherwise fragmented industries
and small organizations without the resources to reach a broader audience with interested
users. Social networks are providing a different way for individuals to communicate digitally.
These communities of hypertexts allow for the sharing of information and ideas, an old
concept placed in a digital environment.
In 2011, HCL Technologies conducted research which showed that 50% of British employers
had banned the use of Social Networking Sites/services during office hours.
2.3 Typical Structure of Social Networking Sites
2.3.1 Basics
Social Networking Sites to share some conventional features. Most often, individual users are
encouraged to create profiles containing various information about themselves. Users can
often upload pictures of themselves to their profiles, post blog entries for others to read,
search for other users with similar interests, and compile and share lists of contacts. In
addition, user profiles often have a section dedicated to comments from friends and other
users. To protect user privacy, social networks usually have controls that allow users to
choose who can view their profile, contact them, add them to their list of contacts, and so on.
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In recent years, it has also become common for a wide variety of organizations to create
profiles to advertise products and services.
2.3.2 Additional Features
Some social networks have additional features, such as the ability to create groups that share
common interests or affiliations, upload or stream live videos, and hold discussions in forums.
Geosocial networking co-opts internet mapping services to organize user participation around
geographic features and their attributes.
There is also a trend for more interoperability between social networks led by technologies
such as OpenID and OpenSocial.
Lately, mobile social networking has become popular. In most mobile communities, mobile
phone users can now create their own profiles, make friends, participate in chat rooms, create
chat rooms, hold private conversations, share photos and videos, and share blogs by using
their mobile phone. Some companies provide wireless services which allow their customers to
build their own mobile community and brand it.
2.4 Emerging Trends in Social Networking
As the increase in popularity of social networking is on a constant rise, new uses for the
technology are constantly being observed.
At the forefront of emerging trends in Social Networking Sites is the concept of "real-time
web" and "location based." Real time allows users to contribute content, which is then
broadcasted as it is being uploaded - the concept is analogous to live radio and television
broadcasts. Twitter set the trend for "real time" services, where users can broadcast to the
world what they are doing, or what is on their minds within a 140 character limit. Facebook
followed suit with their "Live Feed" where users' activities are streamed as soon as it happens.
While Twitter focuses on words, Clixtr, another real time service, focuses on group photo
sharing where users can update their photo streams with photos while at an event. Friends and
nearby users can contribute their own photos and comments to that event stream, thus
contributing to the "real time" aspect of broadcasting photos and comments as it is being
uploaded. In the location based social networking space, Foursquare gained popularity as it
allowed for users to "check-in" to places that they are frequenting at that moment. Gowalla is
another such service which functions in much the same way that Foursquare does, leveraging
the GPS in phones to create a location-based user experience. Clixtr, though in the real time
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space, is also a location based Social Networking Site since events created by users are
automatically geotagged, and users can view events occurring nearby through the Clixtr
iPhone app. Yet another social networking tool, SceneTap, has allows users to view data
regarding how many individuals are in a given bar or business and even the male-to-female
ratio in that establishment. SceneTap accomplishes this by steaming real-time data to its
website and a user's mobile application through the use of cameras which analyze crowds at
establishments. Recently, Yelp announced its entrance into the location based social
networking space through check-ins with their mobile app; whether or not this becomes
detrimental to Foursquare or Gowalla is yet to be seen as it is still considered a new space in
the internet technology industry.
One popular use for this new technology is social networking between businesses. Companies
have found that Social Networking Sites such as Facebook and Twitter are great ways to build
their brand image. According to Jody Nimetz, author of Marketing Jive, there are five major
uses for businesses and social media: to create brand awareness, as an online reputation
management tool, for recruiting, to learn about new technologies and competitors, and as a
lead gen tool to intercept potential prospects. These companies are able to drive traffic to their
own online sites while encouraging their consumers and clients to have discussions on how to
improve or change products or services.
One other use that is being discussed is the use of Social Networks in the Science
communities. Julia Porter Liebeskind et al. have published a study on how New
Biotechnology Firms are using Social Networking Sites to share exchanges in scientific
knowledge. They state in their study that by sharing information and knowledge with one
another, they are able to "increase both their learning and their flexibility in ways that would
not be possible within a self-contained hierarchical organization." Social networking is
allowing scientific groups to expand their knowledge base and share ideas, and without these
new means of communicating their theories might become "isolated and irrelevant".
Social networks are also being used by teachers and students as a communication tool.
Because many students are already using a wide-range of Social Networking Sites, teachers
have begun to familiarize themselves with this trend and are now using it to their advantage.
Teachers and professors are doing everything from creating chat-room forums and groups to
extend classroom discussion to posting assignments, tests and quizzes, to assisting with
homework outside of the classroom setting. Social networks are also being used to foster
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teacher-parent communication. These sites make it possible and more convenient for parents
to ask questions and voice concerns without having to meet face-to-face.
Social networks are being used by activists as a means of low-cost grassroots organizing.
Extensive use of an array of Social Networking Sites enabled organizers of the 2009 National
Equality March to mobilize an estimated 200,000 participants to march on Washington with a
cost savings of up to 85% per participant over previous methods.
The use of online social networks by libraries is also an increasingly prevalent and growing
tool that is being used to communicate with more potential library users, as well as extending
the services provided by individual libraries.
A final rise in social network use is being driven by college students using the services to
network with professionals for internship and job opportunities. Many studies have been done
on the effectiveness of networking online in a college setting, and one notable one is by
Phipps Arabie and Yoram Wind published in Advances in Social Network Analysis.
2.5 Social Network Hosting Service
A social network hosting service is a web hosting service that specifically hosts the user
creation of web-based social networking services, alongside related applications. Such
services are also known as vertical social networks due to the creation of SNSes which cater
to specific user interests and niches; like larger, interest-agnostic SNSes, such niche
networking services may also possess the ability to create increasingly niche groups of users.
2.6 Business Model
Few social networks currently charge money for membership. In part, this may be because
social networking is a relatively new service, and the value of using them has not been firmly
established in customers' minds. Companies such as MySpace and Facebook sell online
advertising on their site. Their business model is based upon large membership count, and
charging for membership would be counterproductive. Some believe that the deeper
information that the sites have on each user will allow much better targeted advertising than
any other site can currently provide.
Social networks operate under an autonomous business model, in which a social network's
members serve dual roles as both the suppliers and the consumers of content. This is in
contrast to a traditional business model, where the suppliers and consumers are distinct
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agents. Revenue is typically gained in the autonomous business model via advertisements, but
subscription-based revenue is possible when membership and content levels are sufficiently
high.
2.7 Issues with Social Networking Sites
2.7.1 Privacy
Privacy concerns with social networking services have been raised growing concerns amongst
users on the dangers of giving out too much personal information and the threat of sexual
predators. Users of these services also need to be aware of data theft or viruses. However,
large services, such as MySpace and Netlog, often work with law enforcement to try to
prevent such incidents.
In addition, there is a perceived privacy threat in relation to placing too much personal
information in the hands of large corporations or governmental bodies, allowing a profile to
be produced on an individual's behavior on which decisions, detrimental to an individual, may
be taken.
Furthermore, there is an issue over the control of data—information that was altered or
removed by the user may in fact be retained and/or passed to 3rd parties. This danger was
highlighted when the controversial Social Networking Site Quechup harvested e-mail
addresses from users' e-mail accounts for use in a spamming operation.
In medical and scientific research, asking subjects for information about their behaviors is
normally strictly scrutinized by institutional review boards, for example, to ensure that
adolescents and their parents have informed consent. It is not clear whether the same rules
apply to researchers who collect data from Social Networking Sites. These sites often contain
a great deal of data that is hard to obtain via traditional means. Even though the data are
public, republishing it in a research paper might be considered invasion of privacy.
Privacy on Social Networking Sites can be undermined by many factors. For example, users
may disclose personal information, sites may not take adequate steps to protect user privacy,
and third parties frequently use information posted on social networks for a variety of
purposes. "For the Net generation, Social Networking Sites have become the preferred forum
for social interactions, from posturing and role playing to simply sounding off. However,
because such forums are relatively easy to access, posted content can be reviewed by anyone
with an interest in the users' personal information".
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Following plans by the UK government to monitor traffic on social networks schemes similar
to E-mail jamming have been proposed for networks such as Twitter and Facebook. These
would involve "friending" and "following" large numbers of random people to thwart
attempts at network analysis.
2.7.2 Data Mining
Through data mining, companies are able to improve their sales and profitability. With this
data, companies create customer profiles that contain customer demographics and online
behavior. A recent strategy has been the purchase and production of “network analysis
software”. This software is able to sort out through the influx of social networking data for
any specific company. Facebook has been especially important to marketing strategists.
Facebook’s controversial and new “Social Ads” program gives companies access to the
millions of profiles in order to tailor their ads to a Facebook user’s own interests and hobbies.
However, rather than sell actual user information, Facebook sells tracked “social actions”.
That is, they track the websites a user uses outside of Facebook through a program called
“Facebook Beacon”.
2.7.3 Notifications on Websites
There has been a trend for Social Networking Sites to send out only 'positive' notifications to
users. For example sites such as Bebo, Facebook, and Myspace will not send notifications to
users when they are removed from a person's friends list. Similarly Bebo will send out a
notification if a user is moved to the top of another user's friends list but no notification is sent
if they are moved down the list.
This allows users to purge undesirables from their list extremely easily and often without
confrontation since a user will rarely notice if one person disappears from their friends list. It
also enforces the general positive atmosphere of the website without drawing attention to
unpleasant happenings such as friends falling out, rejection and failed relationships.
2.7.4 Access to Information
Many social networking services, such as Facebook, provide the user with a choice of who
can view their profile. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from accessing their information.
Parents who want to access their child's MySpace or Facebook account have become a big
problem for teenagers who do not want their profile seen by their parents. By making their
profile private, teens can select who may see their page, allowing only people added as
"friends" to view their profile and preventing unwanted viewing of the profile by parents.
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Most teens are constantly trying to create a structural barrier between their private life and
their parents.
To edit information on a certain social networking service account, the Social Networking
Sites require you to login or provide a password. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from
adding, changing, or removing personal information, pictures, and/or other data.
2.7.5 Potential for Misuse
The relative freedom afforded by social networking services has caused concern regarding the
potential of its misuse by individual patrons. In October 2006, a fake MySpace profile created
in the name of Josh Evans by Lori Janine Drew led to the suicide of Megan Meier. The event
incited global concern regarding the use of social networking services for bullying purposes.
In July 2008, a Briton, Grant Raphael, was ordered to pay a total of GBP £22,000 (about USD
$44,000) for libel and breach of privacy. Raphael had posted a fake page on Facebook
purporting to be that of a former school friend Matthew Firsht, with whom Raphael had fallen
out in 2000. The page falsely claimed that Firsht was homosexual and that he was dishonest.
At the same time, genuine use of social networking services has been treated with suspicion
on the ground of the services' misuse. In September 2008, the profile of Australian Facebook
user Elmo Keep was banned by the site's administrators on the grounds that it violated the
site's terms of use. Keep is one of several users of Facebook who were banned from the site
on the presumption that their names aren't real, as they bear resemblance the names of
characters like Sesame Street's Elmo.
2.7.6 Risk for Child Safety
Citizens and governments have been concerned by a misuse by child and teenagers of social
networking services, particularly in relation to online sexual predators. A certain number of
actions have been engaged by governments to better understand the problem and find some
solutions. A 2008 panel concluded that technological fixes such as age verification and scans
are relatively ineffective means of apprehending online predators. In May 2010, a child
pornography Social Networking Site with hundreds of members was dismantled by law
enforcement. It was deemed "the largest crimes against children case brought anywhere by
anyone."
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2.7.7 Trolling
A common misuse of Social Networking Sites such as Facebook is that it is occasionally used
to emotionally abuse individuals. Such actions are often referred to as trolling. It is not rare
for confrontations in the real world to be translated online. Trolling can occur in many
different forms, such as (but not limited to) defacement of deceased person(s) tribute pages,
name calling, playing online pranks on volatile individuals and controversial comments with
the intention to cause anger and cause arguments. Trolling is not to be confused with cyber-
bullying.
2.7.8 Online Bullying
Online bullying, also called cyber-bullying, is a relatively common occurrence and it can
often result in emotional trauma for the victim. Depending on the networking outlet, up to
39% of users admit to being “cyber-bullied”. Danah Boyd, a researcher of social networks
quotes a teenager in her article, Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites. The teenager
expresses frustration towards networking sites like MySpace because it causes drama and too
much emotional stress. There are not many limitations as to what individuals can post when
online. Inherently individuals are given the power to post offensive remarks or pictures that
could potentially cause a great amount of emotional pain for another individual.
2.7.9 Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal communication has been a growing issue as more and more people have turned
to social networking as a means of communication."Benniger (1987) describes how mass
media has gradually replaced interpersonal communication as a socializing force. Further,
Social Networking Sites have become popular sites for youth culture to explore themselves,
relationships, and share cultural artifacts". A Privacy Paradox Many teens and social
networking users may be harming their interpersonal communication by using sites such as
Facebook and MySpace. Stated by Baroness Greenfield, an Oxford University Neuroscientist,
"My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children
who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and
who live for the moment."
2.7.10 Psychological Effects of Social Networking
Social Networking Sites have risen in popularity over the past years; people have been
spending an excess amount of time on Social Networking Sites and on the Internet in general.
The excessive amount of time that people spend on Social Networking Sites has led
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researchers to debate the establishment of Internet addiction as an actual clinical disorder.
Social networking can also affect the extent to which a person feels lonely. In a Newsweek
article, Johannah Cornblatt explains “Social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace
may provide people with a false sense of connection that ultimately increases loneliness in
people who feel alone.” John T. Cacioppo, a neuroscientist at the University of Chicago,
claims that social networking can foster feelings of sensitivity to disconnection, which can
lead to loneliness.
2.8 Application of Social Networking Sites
2.8.1 Investigations
Social networking services are increasingly being used in legal and criminal investigations.
Information posted on sites such as MySpace and Facebook has been used by police (forensic
profiling), probation, and university officials to prosecute users of said sites. In some
situations, content posted on MySpace has been used in court.
Facebook is increasingly being used by school administrations and law enforcement agencies
as a source of evidence against student users. The site, the number one online destination for
college students, allows users to create profile pages with personal details. These pages can be
viewed by other registered users from the same school which often include resident assistants
and campus police who have signed-up for the service. One UK police force has sifted
pictures from Facebook and arrested some people who had been photographed in a public
place holding a weapon such as a knife (having a weapon in a public place is illegal).
2.8.2 Government Applications
Social networking is more recently being used by various government agencies. Social
networking tools serve as a quick and easy way for the government to get the opinion of the
public and to keep the public updated on their activity. The Centers for Disease Control
demonstrated the importance of vaccinations on the popular children's site Whyville and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a virtual island on Second Life where
people can explore underground caves or explore the effects of global warming. Similarly,
NASA has taken advantage of a few social networking tools, including Twitter and Flickr.
They are using these tools to aid the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee,
whose goal it is to ensure that the nation is on a vigorous and sustainable path to achieving its
boldest aspirations in space.
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2.8.3 Business Applications
The use of social networking services in an enterprise context presents the potential of having
a major impact on the world of business and work (Fraser & Dutta, 2008)
Social networks connect people at low cost; this can be beneficial for entrepreneurs and small
businesses looking to expand their contact bases. These networks often act as a customer
relationship management tool for companies selling products and services. Companies can
also use social networks for advertising in the form of banners and text ads. Since businesses
operate globally, social networks can make it easier to keep in touch with contacts around the
world.
One example of social networking being used for business purposes is LinkedIn.com, which
aims to interconnect professionals. LinkedIn has over 100 million users in over 200 countries.
Another is the use of physical spaces available to members of a social network such as Hub
Culture, an invitation only social network for entrepreneurs, and other business influentials,
with Pavilions in major cities such as London, UK. Having a physical presence allows
members to network in the real world, as well as the virtual, adding extra business value.
Applications for Social Networking Sites have extended toward businesses and brands are
creating their own, high functioning sites, a sector known as brand networking. It is the idea a
brand can build its consumer relationship by connecting their consumers to the brand image
on a platform that provides them relative content, elements of participation, and a ranking or
score system. Brand networking is a new way to capitalize on social trends as a marketing
tool.
2.8.4 Dating Applications
Many social networks provide an online environment for people to communicate and
exchange personal information for dating purposes. Intentions can vary from looking for a
one time date, short-term relationships, and long-term relationships.
Most of these social networks, just like online dating services, require users to give out certain
pieces of information. This usually includes a user's age, gender, location, interests, and
perhaps a picture. Releasing very personal information is usually discouraged for safety
reasons. This allows other users to search or be searched by some sort of criteria, but at the
same time people can maintain a degree of anonymity similar to most online dating services.
Online dating sites are similar to social networks in the sense that users create profiles to meet
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and communicate with others, but their activities on such sites are for the sole purpose of
finding a person of interest to date. Social networks do not necessarily have to be for dating;
many users simply use it for keeping in touch with friends, and colleagues.
However, an important difference between social networks and online dating services is the
fact that online dating sites usually require a fee, where social networks are free. This
difference is one of the reasons the online dating industry is seeing a massive decrease in
revenue due to many users opting to use social networking services instead. Many popular
online dating services such as Match.com, Yahoo Personals, and eHarmony.com are seeing a
decrease in users, where social networks like MySpace and Facebook are experiencing an
increase in users.
The number of internet users in the U.S. that visit online dating sites has fallen from a peak of
21% in 2003 to 10% in 2006. Whether it’s the cost of the services, the variety of users with
different intentions, or any other reason, it is undeniable that Social Networking Sites are
quickly becoming the new way to find dates online.
2.8.5 Educational Applications
The National School Boards Association reports that almost 60 percent of students who use
social networking talk about education topics online and, surprisingly, more than 50 percent
talk specifically about schoolwork. Yet the vast majority of school districts have stringent
rules against nearly all forms of social networking during the school day — even though
students and parents report few problem behaviors online.
Social networks focused on supporting relationships between teachers and their students are
now used for learning, educator professional development, and content sharing. Ning for
teachers, Learn Central, TeachStreet and other sites are being built to foster relationships that
include educational blogs, eportfolios, formal and ad hoc communities, as well as
communication such as chats, discussion threads, and synchronous forums. These sites also
have content sharing and rating features.
Social networks are also emerging as online yearbooks, both public and private. One such
service is MyYearbook which allows anyone from the general public to register and connect.
A new trend emerging are private label yearbooks only accessible by students, parents and
teachers of a particular school similar to Facebook beginning within Harvard.
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2.8.6 Finance Applications
The use of virtual currency systems inside social networks creates new opportunities for
global finance. Hub Culture operates a virtual currency Ven used for global transactions
among members, product sales and financial trades in commodities and carbon credits. In
May 2010, Carbon pricing contracts were introduced to the weighted basket of currencies and
commodities that determine the floating exchange value of Ven. The introduction of carbon to
the calculation price of the currency made Ven the first and only currency that is linked to the
environment.
2.8.7 Medical Applications
Social networks are beginning to be adopted by healthcare professionals as a means to
manage institutional knowledge, disseminate peer to peer knowledge and to highlight
individual physicians and institutions. The advantage of using a dedicated medical Social
Networking Site is that all the members are screened against the state licensing board list of
practitioners.
The role of social networks is especially of interest to pharmaceutical companies who spend
approximately "32 percent of their marketing dollars" attempting to influence the opinion
leaders of social networks.
A new trend is emerging with social networks created to help its members with various
physical and mental ailments. For people suffering from life altering diseases,
PatientsLikeMe offers its members the chance to connect with others dealing with similar
issues and research patient data related to their condition. For alcoholics and addicts,
SoberCircle gives people in recovery the ability to communicate with one another and
strengthen their recovery through the encouragement of others who can relate to their
situation. DailyStrength is also a website that offers support groups for a wide array of topics
and conditions, including the support topics offered by PatientsLikeMe and SoberCircle.
SparkPeople offers community and social networking tools for peer support during weight
loss.
2.8.8 Social and Political Applications
Social Networking Sites have recently showed a value in social and political movements. In
the Egyptian revolution, Facebook and Twitter both played a pivotal role in keeping people
connected to the revolt. Egyptian activist have credited Social Networking Sites with
providing a platform for planning protest and sharing news from Tahrir Square in real time.
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By presenting a platform for thousands of people to instantaneously share videos of mainly
events featuring brutality, social networking proves to be a vital tool in revolutions.
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CHAPTER THREE
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
3.1 Information on the Existing System
Currently, National Open University of Nigeria maintains different forms of communication
as a means of reaching out to students and a way of serving official information to the
appropriate officers within the school. The methods include;
3.1.1 Internal Memo
This is a written communication similar to a letter but without the formal address blocks at the
beginning, especially one that is circulated to people within an office or organization. It also
at times a note intended to serve as a reminder of something. (Microsoft Corporation, 2009)
3.1.2 Media
Television, newspapers, and radio collectively: the various means of mass communication
considered as a whole, including television, radio, magazines, and newspapers, together with
the people involved in their production. Newspaper, publication usually issued on a daily or
weekly basis, the main function of which is to report news. Many newspapers also furnish
special information to readers, such as weather reports, television schedules, and listings of
stock prices. They provide commentary on politics, economics, educations and arts and
culture, and sometimes include entertainment features, such as comics and crossword puzzles.
3.1.3 Bulk Messaging
Bulk Messaging is the dissemination of large numbers of SMS messages for delivery to
mobile phone terminals. It is used by media companies, enterprises, banks (for marketing and
fraud control) and consumer brands for a variety of purposes including entertainment,
enterprise and mobile marketing.
3.2 Social Networking Site versus Other Existing Methods
Basically, two (internal memo, bulk messaging) out of the three existing methods of communication that are currently being used by NOUN that we just discussed above only facilitate communication between the school and student in a textual form. While media methods can be used to communicate graphic, audio and video messages to the students but
19
the communication is always been done in a restricted ways. This kind of communications are said to be restricted since the students will not have access to those information outside the media through which the information was served.
Meanwhile, Social Networking Site facilitates information sharing without any limitation or restrictions. This gives the users (both students and lecturers) a chance to share unlimited characters of textual information, enables photo, videos, and audio sharing. Students can upload study materials for the benefit of others. The information that’s been shared on the SNS can be printed, downloaded and saved for future purposes.
With SNS, all limitations and restriction problems encountered with the existing methods of communications at NOUN are minimized.
3.3 Features of the Proposed System
The SNS is a creative idea of sharing information within an organization or even the entire world with features that makes it simple, flexible and easy to use. The features include;
Uploading: With this feature of the SNS, a user can easily share information at no
cost by simply uploading a file (audio, video, text, and image) to the website.
Downloading: This compliments the uploading feature of the SNS, a user can
download what is been uploaded by another user depending on the access level setting
the owner of the file set for it.
Printing: With this feature, the users can have access to the information off the SNS
by simply printing the file and get the hard copy.
3.4 Advantages of the Proposed System
Some of the advantages of using Social Networking Site as a medium of communication in banking the school include:
Reduction in individual cost of communication
It enhances sharing of unlimited information at a reduced cost
With its integrated search module, users can easily get the required information at the
appropriate time
Latest information from different sources are easily located on the homepage of the
site.
Unlimited storage space for uploading and sharing of files
Information can be printed, downloaded, and save for future access.
User can have access to information from any part of the world once they have an
internet connection.
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SERVER ADMINISTRATION
Provides Authentication
USERS
Register an account
Generate custom page
SOCIAL NETWORKING
SITE
With its mobile phone compatibility, users don’t necessarily have to be on a computer
table before they can access the site.
The site contains an administrative backend where an Administrative user can monitor
user activities.
3.5 Disadvantages of the Proposed System
Access to the site depends majorly on internet connections
People can abuse the site by posting things that are irrelevant to the site
A hacker can hack a user’s access details and take control of such user’s profile
illegally.
3.6 Data Flow Diagram for the Proposed System
3.7 Entity Relationship Diagram
An Entity Relation Diagram (E.R.D) is a graphical tool used to describe and analyze the movement of data through the system-manual or automated-including the Entities, the relations between different entities and the attributes of different relations or attributes are the central tool and the basis from which other components can be developed. While drawing the ERDs, the approach as given by Yourdon has been followed. The Symbols used in the E.R.D are.
SYMBOL MEANING
Figure: 3.1
Data flow diagram for social networking site
RELATIONS
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Request
A
City
STUDENT
Username Password Phone
Picture
Address
Country Sate DOB
Sex
Name
FName
LName
Make Friends
STUDENT FRIENDS
Friend
FName
Image
AUTHENTICATES
ADMINISTRATOR
ID
Username USER PAGE FName
FName
ImageUsername
COMMUNICATE Message
Chat
Private msg
Name
ENTITIES
Figure 3.2a
Entity relation diagram for the proposed system
ATTRIBUTE
Password
Friend’s Username
22
A
View / Upload
STUDENT PHOTOS/ MEDIA /DOCS
File Caption File Name
STUDENT PROFESSIONAL
Edu
Career
Year
DegreeOrg
Industry
Occupation Colg
View / Edit
STUDENT SOCIAL
Passion
HobbiesMarital
Sport
About me
Religion
URL
Music
LikesFigure 3.2b
Entity relation diagram for the proposed system
23
Enter username and password
If username and password are valid
True
Members Area
Latest Activities of FriendsChats
Invite FriendsUploads Settings Messages
Homepage of the system
Database
Queries the database
Returns true if correct, else false.
False
3.8 Program Flow Chart
3.9 Programming Approach
The site was developed with PHP, AJAX, and SQL. We adopted advanced programming in writing the code where by the whole project was segmented into different modules. This approach of web programming is popularly known as Model – View – Controller, (MVC).
Figure 3.3
Program Flow Chat of the Proposed System
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CHAPTER FOUR
SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION
4.1 Technologies and Requirements
4.1.1 Software Requirements
Application Language: HTML / CSS / Java Script and PHP
Operating System: Linux / Windows
Protocols: HTTP
Web Server: Apache
4.1.2 Hardware Requirements
Any computer system which have an Intel p4 or above processor, minimum server
configuration of 512 MB RAM and 10 GB free hard disk space.
Web server capable of uploading PHP Scripts.
Internet Access
4.2 Programming Process
Below are the steps to be followed to demonstrate Social Networking Site:
1. Create a project flow design.
2. Design good looking and attracting web pages and site flow with Hypertext markup
language (HTML) and Cascading Style sheets (CSS).
3. Decide the database structure to store the registered user’s contact, log-in and other
details.
4. Develop the code needful to navigate the application dynamically.
5. Test the application to locate and remove any bugs.
6. Compile the tested application and deploy the files in the server.
7. Buy a domain name and point it to our server to make it live.
4.3 Programming Maintenance
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Apart from the bugs, we have to maintain the program we created. Program Maintenance is a
term used for the updating of a program after the program is put into use. This updating may
be a result of the users request or a change in the way the program needs to operate.
4.4 System Design
This stage has to do with the development of a new system, and other necessary designs are
provided. The design is used on the satisfaction of the objectives that are stated in this project
work.
The design of the new system contains the following:
1. Input design specification
2. Output design specification
3. Form Design
4. Database Design
4.4.1 Input Design Specification
The input design specification makes specification to accept data at the right time and those
data will be entered through keyboard and with the aid of the mouse. The system contains
operational data. These are the data in the database. The data collected from the students
during their registration process will be used to confirm them during retrieving and
assessment.
Also data are collected from the administrative officers of the school, lecturers, and the
facilitators. All of these individual are put together to form the social network.
The input data needed for the system include:
User Profile
Display Name
About me
Brief Description
Location
Interest
Skills
Email Address
Telephone
Mobile phone
Website
26
Twitter username
Username
Password
Optional Uploads
Avatar
File
Pictures
Videos
4.4.2 Form Design
A form is for capturing student information that is required to identify the student. The
information contained on the form will be entered into the site through the user friendly
interface that has been designed on the site. Such information will be used to analyze statistics
of the member of the network and to connect users having similar information together for
effective relationship on the site. Such relations will make communications easier on the site.
Registration form: This is issued to students that want to register on the social
network, all the necessary information are expected to be filled by the new member,
and all information like, name, sex, ages, department, school, study centre etc. will be
entered by the students while only the administrative member of the site can
approve/disapprove a request to join the network.
4.4.3 Output Design
A clear picture of what is to be developed is very essential before developing or actual design
of a system to implement it. The system output is mostly paramount and synonymous in the
mind of the user and these users are less concerned on how the system works.
Output is the information delivered to users through the information system. Some data do not
require any process before they can become an output. They are stored and retrieved as output
while some require extensive processing before they can be served as output. It is the
information displayed on the screen that will determine the user friendliness of the system.
In developing a Social Networking Site for a school, output is the step that user must
understand how to operate and/or navigate so as to interpret the outcome in his own language.
The completion of this phase is very important because it determine the input and method of
processing and also provides the information to the users.
27
The output format for this application contains the following:
The member statistics
Currently Online Users
Latest Activities of the users
Newest Users
These outputs are designed with the following objectives
To cover the scope of the project
To deliver the appropriate quantity of output
To observe pattern between accounts
For user friendliness
4.4.4 Database Design
Just as it was discussed in section 1.5 of this thesis, the database resides on MYSQL Server.
The database contains twenty three tables. Below are the database details, the list and
structures of some of the tables.
Database: SNS_DB
Username: SNS_Admin
Password: P@55ME
Figure 4.1: sns_access_collections table
Figure 4.2: sns_access_collection_membership table
Figure 4.4: sns_annotations tableFigure 4.3: sns_api_users table
28
4.5 System Evaluation
System evaluation is very essential in project development. This is to ensure the system
design meets up with the aims and objective of the projects.
This evaluation comprise of all input data that were used in this program and see if it will give
correct output result as it was planned. Therefore the output produce will be checked if the
data is accurate and dependable.
Figure 4.5: sns_config table
Figure 4.6: sns_datalists table
Figure 4.7: sns_entities table
Figure 4.8: sns_entity_relationships table
29
CHAPTER FIVE
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
For the purpose of this project, Demo of the developed Social Network Site can be accessed from www.smsparo.com/myproject. However the project maybe fully launched as a real life project, based on the approval I may get from the school authority to do so. If am lucky to get the approval then it will be registered as www.nounsocial.com or www.nounsocial.net. But bellow is the explanation of how it works.
5. 1. Home PageThe Figure 5.1 bellow shows the homepage of the application, otherwise known as welcome
page. Every visitor of the page are always been updated by the latest activities of other
members of the site on the homepage. However, the visitor will only be limited to reading the
activities only; as such they will be denied opportunities to perform actions like ‘liking’ any
of the activities or putting a comment. Every users, including the administrator is required to
login before having access to other features of the site
Figure 5.1 : Homepage of the Application
The Login PanelAt the right hand side of the home page is the login panel where existing users can simply
logged into the application to have full access to the features of the application. New users can
30
also create a new profile on the application by clicking the register button at the bottom side
of the login panel.
5.2 Activities UpdatesFigure 5.2 shows the updates of latest activities of the users. The logged in user can filter the
activities by selecting either ‘All’, ‘Mine’ and ‘Friends’ or by selecting an option from ‘Show
All’ drop down. The user can also click the like icon to show an adoption of an activity of
other users. Comments can also be put on any activity by clicking the comments icon that is
attached to the activity
Figure 5.2: Users Activities Updates
5.3 Blog PostsThe figure 5.3 bellow is the blogging interface of the application. The user can add blog by
clicking the add blog post button at the top. Figure 5.4 shows how the adding blog interface
looks. Also, the Latest comments on the blogs are shown on the panel at the right hand side of
the screen.
Figure 5.3: Blog Posts
31
5.4 Adding Blog Posts
Figure 5.4 is the snapshot of the add blog post interface. Adding a blog includes adding and
setting the Title, Excerpt, Body, Tags (Keywords for searching), Comments (set it off if you
don’t want people to contribute to the post), Access (Public, Private, Friends Only, Logged in
users), Status (Published or Draft), and the save button
Figure 5.4: Add blog Post
5.5 Uploaded FilesThe Figure 5.5 shows the list of all the files that has been uploaded to the site. The right side
contains the latest comments and tags of all the files.
Figure 5.5: Uploaded Files
32
5.6 How To Upload Files
The Figure 5.6 below shows the interface for uploading a new file. Click the browse button to
select the file to be uploaded, type the title of the file, describe the file in the best way you
can, type keywords (that others can use to search for the file) that are related to the file, set the
access level (access level works in the same way as that of the blogs) and click the Save
button.
Figure 5.6: Uploading a File
5.7 Groups
This Figure 5.7 shows the groups page of the application. The page contains all the groups
that have been created on the site. You can however filter the groups with the options at the
right side and those at the top
Figure 5.7: Groups
33
5.8 Group Creation
This is the interface for group creation. The owner of the group can set the options like enable
group activity, enable group blog, enable group discussion, enable group bookmarks, enable
group files, enable group pages based on his/her own discretion
Figure 5.8: Create Group
5.9 View Members
This shows the list of registered members on the site. The user can click on the name of any
member to see the complete profile of suck member as shown in figure 5.8
34
Figure 5.9: Members
5.10 Member’s PageThe Figure 5.10 above shows the page of a member. You can add the member as a friend by
clicking the add friend button, report the user or send him/her a message.
Figure 5.10: Member’s Page
5.11 Discussion Pages
The figure 5.11 below shows the list of all the pages that have been added by users.
Figure 5.11: Site Pages
35
5.12 Adding Pages For Discussion
The figure 5.12 below shows the interface for adding pages. The read and write access setting
determines who can see the page and make contributions on the page.
Figure 5.12: Add Page
5.13 User’s Personal Settings
A user can use the interface in Figure 5.13 below to change their settings. The panel at the
right hand side contains the options for the user to check for notifications.
Figure 5.13: Settings
36
CHAPTER SIX
SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
6.1 Summary
Our project goal was to study and implement a Social Networking Site for national Open
University of Nigeria. Our first step was to identify the problems facing the students of the
school in terms of collaboration and organization. This was followed by stating the aims and
objectives of our project work in other to solve the problems. Once the above were
completed, the focus was shifted to the study of previous works that are related to our project
work. This was followed by the theoretical framework, where we discussed the current
methods of interaction at NOUN and the associated challenges. We later proceeded to the
actual design and the implementation of the Social Networking Site, the Software and
Hardware requirements were well stated. We also discussed the programming process,
maintenance and the design. This was followed by the explanation of the system. The goal of
this project work was successful and the functionality implemented by us was working
satisfactorily.
6.2 Recommendations
The major interest of the study is to come up with suggestion from the objective of the study
on way to make communications easier in National Open University of Nigeria, in order to
relieve students and staff of the school of the difficulties they encountered in getting adequate
information from and about the school. The following recommendations are differed with the
hope that this will help improve and suit the performance of the school’s communication
when implementing Social Networking Site.
It is imperative as well as essential for comprehensive updating of the system to be carried
out at least every six months; this will improve the performance of the system.
Social Networking Site depends so much on the Internet. Users require internet
connection for ease access to the Portal. It’s recommended that the school provides good
internet connection access point in all study centre of the school.
There must be quality back up for the information on the system in case of any natural
disaster.
37
Unauthorized staff should be given administrative access to the system in order to avoid
disarrangement, abuse of other users’ privacy or loss of data in the system.
6.3 Conclusion
This study has undertaken a thorough assessment on how to improve communication
methodologies between the National Open University of Nigeria and her Audience, thereby
enhancing better relationship among the students and between the school and the students.
Social Networking Sites play a very important role when it comes to communications within
an Educational Settings.
Conclusively, Social Networking Sites help companies/organizations particularly Schools,
and Corporate Organization to maintain a reliable method of communicating and sharing files
within the organization. Thus it is becoming a necessity in this Information and
Communication Technology era to adopt the use of one of the latest technologies in our day
to day communications.
38
REFERENCES
Boyd, D. (2006). "Friends, Friendsters, and MySpace Top 8: Writing Community Into Being on Social Network Sites". First Monday 11 (12).
Boyd, D., & Nichole, E. (2007). Social Networking Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13 (1).
Ellison, N. B.; Steinfield, C; Lampe, C (2007). The benefits of Facebook "friends": Exploring the relationship between college students' use of online social networks and social capital". Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12 (4).
Fraser, M., & Dutta, S. (2008). Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: How Online Social Networking will Transform Your Life, Work, and World. Wiley. ISBN 978-0470740149
Mazer, J. P.; Murphy, R. E.; Simonds, C. J. (2007). "I'll See You On "Facebook": The Effects of Computer-Mediated Teacher Self-Disclosure on Student Moltivation, Affective Learning, and Classroom Climate". Communication Education 56 (1): 1-17. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ftinterface~content=a769651179~fulltext=713240930. on Jan 2, 2012.
Microsoft Corporation. (2009). Microsoft® Encarta®. In Memo.
39
APPENDIX
The Codes for Index.php
<?php
require_once(dirname(__FILE__) . "/engine/start.php");
sns_set_context('main');
// allow plugins to override the front page (return true to stop this front page code)
if (sns_trigger_plugin_hook('index', 'system', null, FALSE) != FALSE) {
exit;
}
if (sns_is_logged_in()) {
forward('activity');
}
$content = sns_view_title(sns_echo('content:latest'));
$content .= sns_list_river();
global $autofeed;
$autofeed = FALSE;
$login_box = sns_view('core/account/login_box');
$params = array(
'content' => $content,
'sidebar' => $login_box
);
$body = sns_view_layout('one_sidebar', $params);
echo sns_view_page(null, $body);
?>
The Codes for Start,php
if (!file_exists(dirname(__FILE__) . '/settings.php')) {
header("Location: install.php");
exit;
}
40
global $START_MICROTIME;
$START_MICROTIME = microtime(true);
global $CONFIG;
if (!isset($CONFIG)) {
$CONFIG = new stdClass;
}
$lib_dir = dirname(__FILE__) . '/lib/';
$required_files = array(
'snslib.php', 'views.php', 'access.php', 'system_log.php', 'export.php',
'sessions.php', 'languages.php', 'input.php', 'cache.php', 'output.php'
);
foreach ($required_files as $file) {
$path = $lib_dir . $file;
if (!include($path)) {
echo "Could not load file '$path'. "
. 'Please check your Sns installation for all required files.';
exit;
}
}
set_error_handler('_sns_php_error_handler');
set_exception_handler('_sns_php_exception_handler');
if (!include_once(dirname(__FILE__) . "/settings.php")) {
$msg = sns_echo('InstallationException:CannotLoadSettings');
throw new InstallationException($msg);
}
// load the rest of the library files from engine/lib/
$lib_files = array(
// these need to be loaded first.
41
'database.php', 'actions.php',
'admin.php', 'annotations.php', 'calendar.php',
'configuration.php', 'cron.php', 'entities.php', 'export.php',
'extender.php', 'filestore.php', 'group.php',
'location.php', 'mb_wrapper.php', 'memcache.php', 'metadata.php',
'metastrings.php', 'navigation.php', 'notification.php', 'objects.php',
'opendd.php', 'pagehandler.php', 'pageowner.php', 'pam.php', 'plugins.php',
'private_settings.php', 'relationships.php', 'river.php', 'sites.php',
'statistics.php', 'tags.php', 'user_settings.php', 'users.php',
'upgrade.php', 'web_services.php', 'widgets.php', 'xml.php', 'xml-rpc.php',
//backwards compatibility
);
foreach ($lib_files as $file) {
$file = $lib_dir . $file;
sns_log("Loading $file...");
if (!include_once($file)) {
$msg = sprintf(sns_echo('InstallationException:MissingLibrary'), $file);
throw new InstallationException($msg);
}
}
// confirm that the installation completed successfully
verify_installation();
// Autodetect some default configuration settings
set_default_config();
// needs to be set for links in html head
$viewtype = get_input('view', 'default');
$lastcached = datalist_get("simplecache_lastcached_$viewtype");
$CONFIG->lastcache = $lastcached;
sns_trigger_event('boot', 'system');
42
sns_load_plugins();
sns_trigger_event('plugins_boot', 'system');
sns_trigger_event('init', 'system');
if (!defined('UPGRADING')) {
$lastupdate = datalist_get("simplecache_lastupdate_$viewtype");
$lastcached = datalist_get("simplecache_lastcached_$viewtype");
if ($lastupdate == 0 || $lastcached < $lastupdate) {
sns_regenerate_simplecache($viewtype);
}}
sns_trigger_event('ready', 'system');
?>
The Code for settings.php
<?php
global $CONFIG;
if (!isset($CONFIG)) {
$CONFIG = new stdClass;
}
$CONFIG->dbuser = 'user';
$CONFIG->dbpass = 'general';
$CONFIG->dbname = 'sns';
$CONFIG->dbhost = 'localhost';
$CONFIG->dbprefix = 'sns_';
$CONFIG->broken_mta = FALSE;
$CONFIG->db_disable_query_cache = FALSE;
$CONFIG->min_password_length = 6;
?>
The Code for login.php
<?php
// set forward url
43
if (isset($_SESSION['last_forward_from']) && $_SESSION['last_forward_from']) {
$forward_url = $_SESSION['last_forward_from'];
unset($_SESSION['last_forward_from']);
} elseif (get_input('returntoreferer')) {
$forward_url = REFERER;
} else {
// forward to main index page
$forward_url = '';
}
$username = get_input('username');
$password = get_input("password");
$persistent = get_input("persistent", FALSE);
$result = FALSE;
if (empty($username) || empty($password)) {
register_error(elgg_echo('login:empty'));
forward();
}
if (strpos($username, '@') !== FALSE && ($users = get_user_by_email($username))) {
$username = $users[0]->username;
}
$result = elgg_authenticate($username, $password);
if ($result !== true) {
register_error($result);
forward(REFERER);
}
$user = get_user_by_username($username);
if (!$user) {
register_error(elgg_echo('login:baduser'));
forward(REFERER);
44
}
try {
login($user, $persistent);
} catch (LoginException $e) {
register_error($e->getMessage());
forward(REFERER);
}
system_message(elgg_echo('loginok'));
forward($forward_url);
?>