3 Platform selection and evaluation 25
3.5 Round 2: Priority A evaluation 33
3.5.1 Elgg 34
Elgg [17] is an open source social networking engine developed by the Elgg Foundation project. Elgg is
free to use under the terms of the GNU General Public licensev2 [18] and MIT License [19]. Elgg has
several features which make it an interesting option as a base for the MVC for telemedicine. It has a
flexible and abstract data model, which can make extending it easier. It also has the possibility to set
access control on all entities in this data model, thus allowing very granular access to sensitive data. It
has a web services API which allows simple communication with external data sources. Finally, it was
mentioned the most at the sources.
Figure 7: Elgg
Out of the box, Elgg has a sleek and simple blue and white design. It has several buttons for basic
functionalities like groups and members. On the front page a list with recent activities and a log in form
are shown. After logging in, access restricted data, like private groups and members are shown. The
administrator panel is simple – to the point where it is too simple and missing some features, at least
compared to the other VC’s. One of the strengths –but also one of its possible weaknesses‐ is the fact
that every extension in Elgg is a plug‐in, from the groups to the UI and from the garbage collector to the
language packs. All extensions are in 1 list, which makes the plug‐in page a bit cluttered.
Priority A requirement Requirement met
MVCA1: Sub‐community creation Yes MVCA2: profile creation and management Yes MVCA3: restrict access to sub community Yes MVCA4: Accessibility Yes
MVCA5: Https support Partially, HTTPS login is supported, however it is not possible to customize which information
is sent using HTTPS MVCA6: Different UI for mobile devices Yes
MVCA7: Multiple languages Yes
MVCA8: Different roles No, this might be done using access controls, but not out of the box
MVCA9: Fully customize UI Yes MVCA10: User specific UI Yes MVCA11: Constraints on sub‐communities No
MVCA12: Secure platform MVCA13: Security leaks fixed fast
MVCA14: Backwards compatibility Partially, No guaranteed backwards compatibility between the major releases . [20]
MVCA15: Recent updates Yes, the latest release was less than 1 month old
MVCA16: Free Yes, GPLv2
MVCA17: PHP or Java Yes, it is written in PHP
MVCA18: Well documented API Yes, API and several tutorials available. [21] Table 13: Elgg priority A evaluation
3.5.2
Dolphin
Dolphin [22]is a software package for building social networks developed by Boonex. It is free to use
after registering. It was considered in the previous research [10]done by this C. Dulawan as a base
platform for the MVC for telemedicine. The research concluded that Dolphin did not meet the
requirements at the time. However, this research was done in 2008, which is 5 years ago. Since then, the
platform has undergone continuous development, and the requirements might have been met now, so
it was decided to take another look. One of the interesting features is that Dolphin offers mobile apps
for iPhone and Android. Also, dolphin offers the usual features of a VC builder, like grouping, forums,
and a selection of extensions to offer more usability.
Figure 8: Dolphin
The first thing that draws attention after installing Dolphin is a front‐page that shows a lot of items, from
all members to Boonex news. These items make the front page look cluttered. Fortunately, they can be
removed from the admin page. The Boonex banners however cannot be removed unless a paid
subscription is acquired. Navigating the website does not feel intuitive; sometimes a great amount of
time is spent finding a simple feature, like the admin page. The reviews about Dolphin are mixed. On the
one hand people like the features Dolphin offers, and the fact that it is free. On the other hand people
claim the code is not nicely written, and making your own extensions can be hard.
Priority A requirement Requirement met
MVCA1: Sub‐community creation Yes MVCA2: profile creation and management Yes MVCA3: restrict access to sub community Yes MVCA4: Accessibility Yes
MVCA5: Https support Partially, it can be set per page, but only by editing the code. [23]
MVCA6: Different UI for mobile devices Partially, it is possible to offer a specific UI, so once the type of device is detected, a different UI
can be provided MVCA7: Multiple languages Yes
MVCA8: Different roles Yes
MVCA9: Fully customize UI Partially, it is not possible to remove the Boonex logo unless a paid subscription is acquired
MVCA10: User specific UI Yes MVCA11: Constraints on sub‐communities No
MVCA12: Secure platform MVCA13: Security leaks fixed fast
MVCA14: Backwards compatibility Partially, the new version will have a major overhaul, and will most likely not be backwards
compatible, but until then it was mostly backwards compatible [24] MVCA15: Recent updates Yes, the last update was less than 1 month old
MVCA16: Free Yes, but only with the Boonex logo on every page
MVCA17: PHP or Java Yes, it is written in PHP
MVCA18: Well documented API Partially, to our knowledge, there is no API page. A developer has to look into the source code
to find it
Table 14: Dolphin priority A evaluation
3.5.3
WordPress–BuddyPress
WordPress [25] is one of most popular blogging tools currently available. It is distributed under the
GPLv2 License. WordPress is not suitable to be used as a community builder by itself, but with the
BuddyPress [26] extension it becomes a potential base platform. BuddyPress is an extension to
WordPress which adds user registration, message posting and grouping.
The default theme of WordPress shows a blue and white UI, comparable to Elgg. The top menu is easy
to navigate, with just 5 buttons. Creating a new group page in WordPress is hard. Since WordPress is
one of the most popular blogging tools around, a wide range of extensions and themes are available.
Priority A requirement Requirement met
MVCA1: Sub‐community creation Yes MVCA2: profile creation and management Yes MVCA3: restrict access to sub community Yes MVCA4: Accessibility Yes
MVCA5: Https support Yes, by using [27]
MVCA6: Different UI for mobile devices Yes
MVCA7: Multiple languages Partially, WordPress does support multiple languages, but not at the same time, at least not out
of the box MVCA8: Different roles Yes MVCA9: Fully customize UI Yes
MVCA10: User specific UI Partially, there are add‐ons to have user specific UI's, but these have no recent updates [28] [29]
MVCA11: Constraints on sub‐communities No
MVCA12: Secure platform MVCA13: Security leaks fixed fast
MVCA14: Backwards compatibility Partially, not always backwards compatible, as proven in [30]and [31] MVCA15: Recent updates Yes, the latest update is less than 3 months ago
MVCA16: Free Yes, releases under GPLv2
MVCA17: PHP or Java Yes, written in PHP
MVCA18: Well documented API Partially, documentation is available, but only inside the code
Table 15: WordPress priority A evaluation
3.5.4
Mahara
Mahara describes itself as follows on their website: First established in mid 2006, the Mahara project
started as collaborative venture funded by New Zealand's Tertiary Education Commission's e‐learning
Collaborative Development Fund (eCDF), involving Massey University, Auckland University of Technology,
The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, and Victoria University of Wellington. Since July 2007, Kineo
Pacific has worked with Catalyst IT to guide the further development of Mahara. It is distributed under
the GPL3 license.
Mahara [32] is a highly modular, extensible personal learning environment. It is aimed towards building
virtual communities in the field of education and offers the usual features of a VC builder: profiles,
groups and forums as well as some features unique in the field of education, such as institutions and
student ID’s. If Mahara would be used as a base platform these features should be removed.
Figure 10 :Mahara
The default theme –Mahara comes with 7 themes‐ shows a clear green and white UI. The default page is
the user’s dashboard, which shows an activity stream and the actions a user can take, such as joining a
group. At the top of the screen a 2 layer menu is shown which is easy to navigate. New pages can be
made using a drag and drop interface where blocks can be dropped onto a page. It is also possible to
restrict access to these pages to users, groups or institutions.
Priority A requirement Requirement met
MVCA1: Sub‐community creation Yes
MVCA2: profile creation and management Yes
MVCA3: restrict access to sub community Yes
MVCA4: Accessibility Yes
MVCA5: Https support Partially, it is possible to set https access per page via the apache configuration, but there is
no extension available to do so from the platform itself MVCA6: Different UI for mobile devices Partially, default theme is compatible for mobile devices
MVCA7: Multiple languages Yes
MVCA8: Different roles Partially, it is possible to give custom roles by inserting them into the database
MVCA9: Fully customize UI Yes
MVCA10: User specific UI Yes
MVCA11: Constraints on sub‐communities Per community, it is possible to set which group of users can view which page
MVCA12: Secure platform MVCA13: Security leaks fixed fast
MVCA14: Backwards compatibility Partially, no guaranteed backwards compatibility between the major release MVCA15: Recent updates Yes
MVCA16: Free Yes
MVCA17: PHP or Java Yes, written in PHP
MVCA18: Well documented API Partially, there are developer pages but no real API[33] Table 16: Mahara priority A evaluation
3.5.5
Anahita
Anahita [34] is an open source social networking platform developed by Rmd Studio Inc and Peerglobe
Technology Inc. It is distributed under the GPL3 license. Originally based on a modified version of
Joomla! 1.5, it is now a standalone platform where Joomla code is being replaced by custom code. With
the groups extension it is possible to create sub‐communities.
Figure 11: Anahita
The functionality of Anahita is limited. While you can make groups, you cannot add pages to this group.
It is not possible to create custom roles, nor limit access to parts of the group to certain roles.
Furthermore, it is not possible to invite users to join the main community, or ‐to our knowledge‐ invite
users to join a sub‐community.
Priority A requirement Requirement met
MVCA1: Sub‐community creation Yes MVCA2: profile creation and management Yes MVCA3: restrict access to sub community Yes MVCA4: Accessibility Yes
MVCA5: Https support Partially, it is possible to set https access per page via the apache configuration, but there is
no extension available to do so from the platform itself MVCA6: Different UI for mobile devices Yes MVCA7: Multiple languages Yes MVCA8: Different roles No MVCA9: Fully customize UI Yes MVCA10: User specific UI No MVCA11: Constraints on sub‐communities No MVCA12: Secure platform MVCA13: Security leaks fixed fast MVCA14: Backwards compatibility No
MVCA15: Recent updates Yes, the latest release is less than 1 month old
MVCA16: Free Yes
MVCA17: PHP or Java Yes, written in PHP
MVCA18: Well documented API Yes
3.5.6
Drupal–Commons
Drupal [35] is an open source CMS distributed under the GPL. It offers the possibility to be extended by
making modules. One of the modules is already developed is Commons [36], which adds profiles and
groups to Drupal. Commons is open source and developed by Acquia. With thousands of extensions
available, Drupal is one of the most complete platforms available.
Figure 12: Drupal
After installation multiple themes are available. The theme shown in the screenshot above is the
“Commons Connect” theme. At first glance Drupal looks like any community builder, there are groups,
profiles and an activity stream. However, when you start to look at the administration page, Drupal’s
strength becomes more apparent. There are a lot of features available for managing users, group and
other functionalities. With available extensions, Drupal has a strong User‐Access Control (UAC). Out of
the box, Drupal did not meet several requirements. However, for most of them, an extension was
available to fulfill the requirement.
Priority A requirement Requirement met
MVCA1: Sub‐community creation Yes MVCA2: profile creation and management Yes MVCA3: restrict access to sub community Yes MVCA4: Accessibility Yes
MVCA5: Https support Yes, with add‐ons it is also possible to set what information should be sent using https. [37]
MVCA6: Different UI for mobile devices Yes, with [38]
MVCA7: Multiple languages Yes
MVCA8: Different roles Yes, With OG user roles you can set user roles per sub community. [39]
it is open source, anything can be edited.
MVCA10: User specific UI Yes, it is possible to set the UI per user
MVCA11: Constraints on sub‐communities Yes, with OG user roles you can set roles per user sub community. [39] MVCA12: Secure platform
MVCA13: Security leaks fixed fast
MVCA14: Backwards compatibility Partially, no backwards compatibility between major releases. [40] MVCA15: Recent updates Yes, last update less than a month old
MVCA16: Free Yes, GNU public license
MVCA17: PHP or Java Yes, written in PHP
MVCA18: Well documented API Yes, well documented API and reference available Table 18: Drupal priority A evaluation
3.5.7
Oxwall
Oxwall [41] is a free open source software package for building social networks. It is operated by the
non‐profit Oxwall foundation. It offers the usual features of a VC builder, like group pages, profiles and a
newsfeed. There is support for multiple languages and themes and a simple User‐Group‐Role model.
Around 150 extensions and some themes are available.
Figure 13: Oxwall
The default theme used by Oxwall has a clear and intuitive design. The built‐in drag and drop editor
makes building new pages fast and easy. The default page is the user’s dashboard, it shows some links to
the limitations of the platform become clear. Oxwall has no developer API, nor is it possible to set
different UI’s per user. Furthermore, it is not clear if the code is backwards compatible.
Priority A requirement Requirement met
MVCA1: Sub‐community creation Yes MVCA2: profile creation and management Yes MVCA3: restrict access to sub community Yes MVCA4: Accessibility Yes
MVCA5: Https support Partially, the platform should work on https, but no functionality to add https to specific parts of
the platform
MVCA6: Different UI for mobile devices Partially, work in progress
MVCA7: Multiple languages Yes MVCA8: Different roles Yes MVCA9: Fully customize UI Yes MVCA10: User specific UI No MVCA11: Constraints on sub‐communities No MVCA12: Secure platform MVCA13: Security leaks fixed fast
MVCA14: Backwards compatibility Unclear, no information can be found about backwards compatibility
MVCA15: Recent updates Yes, the latest release was 3 months old
MVCA16: Free Yes
MVCA17: PHP or Java Yes, it is written in PHP
MVCA18: Well documented API No API available Table 19: Oxwall priority A evaluation
3.5.8
Liferay
Liferay Portal Community Edition [42] is a free, open source enterprise portal developed by Liferay Inc. It
is one of the few free enterprise portals available. Even though it is an enterprise portal, it still offers the
usual functionality of a Community builder like group pages, profiles and an activity stream.
Figure 14: Liferay
Installing Liferay is quite straightforward when using a bundled edition, just download, unzip and run.
platforms, when making a new group, a new instantiation of the group webpage template was made. At
Liferay, when creating a new group, the developer creates a whole new set of web pages, and gives
users access to these web pages. An advantage of this approach is the increased flexibility since you can
now change all the features of a group page. A disadvantage of this approach is the additional overhead
when creating a new group. Liferay offers a very strong UAC. For each element on a group page, you can
set which user or group can do what action with that element. Another advantage of Liferay is its
extensive admin panel.
Priority A requirement Requirement met
MVCA1: Sub‐community creation Yes MVCA2: profile creation and management Yes MVCA3: restrict access to sub community Yes MVCA4: Accessibility Yes
MVCA5: Https support Partially, best solution seems to be to use an apache server and then forward it using virtual
servers. An out‐of‐the‐box solution is not available. [43]
MVCA6: Different UI for mobile devices Yes. It is possible to set mobile themes. It is possible to limit access to certain functionalities to
mobile/fixed. It is possible to set mobile device rules MVCA7: Multiple languages Yes
MVCA8: Different roles Yes, globally and per community
MVCA9: Fully customize UI Yes, multiple themes and multiple layouts offer flexibility regarding the UI. 100% customization
could not be verified nor invalidated MVCA10: User specific UI Yes
MVCA11: Constraints on sub‐communities Yes MVCA12: Secure platform MVCA13: Security leaks fixed fast
MVCA14: Backwards compatibility Partially, no backwards compatibility between the major releases, deprecation process between
them. [44]
MVCA15: Recent updates Yes, latest release less than 3 months old
MVCA16: Free Yes
MVCA17: PHP or Java Yes, written in Java
MVCA18: Well documented API Partially, there is a generated javadoc, but the actual documentation about what the
classes/functions do is limited
Table 20: Liferay priority A evaluation
3.5.9
GateIn
GateIn UXP [45] is an open source enterprise portal based on the GateIn Portal and provides additional
applications to build social intranets. GateIn Portal itself is an open source website framework
sponsored by eXo and Red Hat. Like Liferay, communities are made by creating a new set of websites
called a portal, and giving a user access to these websites. The same advantages and disadvantages of
this approach as mentioned in section 3.6.8. still apply. GateIn portal offers the usual features for an
enterprise portal, such as SSO, user and group management and multiple templates. The UXP extension
Figure 15: GateIn
GateIn, like Liferay, comes with a sample community to show its capabilities. Creating a new community
is straightforward. One aspect where GateIn differs from the other platforms is the lack of an