Here’s a comparison matrix for 6 Top Social Networking Software. Also make sure to read comments on installation procedure at bottom.
| Category | BoonEx Dolphin |
ELGG |
Drupal |
Joomla |
Jcow |
phpFox |
| Hosting | Best Boonex dolphin hosting | Best Elgg hosting | Best Drupal hosting | Best Joomla hosting | Best Jcow hosting | Best phpfox hosting |
| License | CC-BY | Open source under the GPL 2.0 | GPL 2.0 | GPL 2.0 | Creative Commons | Custom |
| Cost | Free, $39, $99, $299 | Free | Free | Free | Free, $299 | $99, $199, $299 |
| Source Code |  |
Freely available via stable releases and development SVN | |
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| Installation | Out of the box | Out of the box | Out of the box | Out of the box | - | Out of the box |
| Codebase | PHP, MySQL | PHP, MySQL/ PostgreSQL | PHP, MySQL | PHP, MySQL | PHP, MySQL | PHP, MySQL |
| RSS | |
Blog/Files/Groups/users/tags | |
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| Forum | |
(via plugin) |
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(via component) |
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| Blog | |
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| Media sharing(Image, Video, Audio) | |
(via Plugin) |
Via Video Module | |
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| Messaging | (Text, Video) |
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Module | |
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| Event Calendar | |
(via plugin) |
Module | (via plugin) |
Application | |
| Social Grouping | |
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Module | (via plugin) |
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| Tagging | |
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Module | |
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| Poll Generation/Tally | (with sharing) |
(via plugin) |
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| Contact Management | |
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| SEO | |
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| Customizable | (templates, page builders, database builders, open-source, extensions, plugins) |
Extensible via plugins with a flexible API; skinnable; available in many languages | Module | |
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| Hosting | Best Boonex dolphin hosting | Best Elgg hosting | Best Drupal hosting | Best Joomla hosting | Best Jcow hosting | Best phpfox hosting |
Comments
Dolphin – Installation process is very easy. The admin and frontend appeared to be functional immediately after installation. Frontend Look, Feel is very good. Dolphin upgrades can be done very easily. But Administration and customization is not easy when compared to other networking scripts. There are many bugs in this software. May be they will fix this in future releases. Overall Dolphin would be the easiest to quickly implement and have tons of features. Boonex dolphin hosting Providers
ELGG – Elgg is the best choice for an all-in-one option without customization.Elgg hosting Providers
Joomla – The installation wizard is good and you will have a working Joomla core installation once you complete the wizard.Joomla customization & administration is pretty easy and straightforward. You will get a very good support from the community. There are many joomla templates available on market to improve the frontend look & feel. Joomla hosting Providers
Drupal – The installation wizard for Drupal is good and is very similar to Joomla. But the default Drupal install has little to no functionality for what you need. You must add at least 20 modules to achieve optimal functionality. Drupal has very simple looking on the frontend. But Administration and customization may not be easy for first time users. However once you have a grip on the terminology used in Drupal, it is very easy. Drupal hosting Providers
phpFox – can be installed perfectly after changing a few settings in .htaccess file. phpFox provides a functioning social networking site once completing the installation wizard. Administration and customization is not easy when compared to Joomla or Drupal. Frontend Look & Feel is very simple in phpfox.
Socialengine - is another feature-rich and stable platform to build a Social Network and Community Website. Read full features of socialengine.
