Where can I get help to setup my site?
I want to build a community where people interested in meditation and breathing exercises can meet. I wonder if there is anyone that can help in making the site look like appealing for people interested in this genre and how would it cost. Are there people in Freelancers that offer help with UNA, they are normally cheap.
-
UNA is a great system, but can be a little bit confusing. We all had to go through fire to get to a point where UNA became usable.
This community is very helpful. When we have time, we all help. We all found our own way to use UNA and this is possible because UNA is flexible.
The UNA team has made videos and walkthroughs for beginners. If you have special requests - ask away.
This system is different from other systems like Wordpress and Joomla. This system is easier to work with to a certain level. the tough part comes, when you get greedy.
UNAs looks can be customized exactly as you want it. -
I used to have Dolphin and now I have this. Very much differnt as you say than Joomla and the price is also higher. I just want to see or feel that I have a site people can visit. I just installed it, and I am still wondering what to do next.
-
I am working on a national social network for Cambodia, which is aimed to replace FaceBook. It also has services, where people can download forms and stuff from the government. Latest is public traffic cams that will be hooked up to the site, so people can sit and follow who drives like an idiot and who doesn't.
http://DotKhmer.comI had some special needs. I was not able to do it with UNA, so I mixed Wordpress with UNA. This way I cut down costs on the modules. I also got the tip, that if one folder has too much traffic, it will slow the overall performance. So UNA is only the main engine and the social network. Everything else has own subdomains.
This also has an advantage when it comes to people working with the site. Now I can divide people in to departments and not worry about them coming in conflict with each other.16 million users - it has to be a smooth running system.
The most annoying part of UNA is when you need to do special things and you have to make changes in the code. There is no roadmap. But there is a community (here) and we try to help each other. One of the very helpful people is Master "Baloo". A true UNA master. He's like the Yoda of UNA.
UNA is awesome. Learn the basics and then experiment. The learning curve is a little bumpy at times, but everything has a solution. -
I appreciate your enthusiasm and I got you are going to make loads of money when you have your site finished but isnt it a pain having to start from scratch when other CMSs like joomla are so much way ahead and the options and extensions so many? I am very dissapointed that Dolphin will be discontinued in 23 but for what for UNA? Why didnt the smart heads built on something that already was there, why starting from scratch? The number of devs and help in UNA is so small....
-
>>The UNA team has made videos and walkthroughs for beginners << Can someone link to them? This was the first discussion when I searched for "Videos". Will carry on hunting...
-
Oh I am annoyed with some(many) things. That's why I use Wordpress for most tasks. Wordpress has all the cool modules for free, where UNA - you have to pay expensively for most of the modules. With so heavy competition, UNA will not make any fast progress, with so little to offer.
I also have to admit, that I am close to go full wordpress and use the social network system from there. I have my doubts that UNA will be mature enough for serious implementation anywhere in near future. Mobile App is highly needed. Still not finished. In WP the users can do mobile apps directly from a module for free in minutes.
There are serious holes in the management of the concept, which is why I think UNA eventually will be abandoned and die. That's a risk I cannot take. -
Yes, this was another problem i had. Documentation. They use Github
https://github.com/unaio/una/wiki/Creating-new-language-module
You can browse around from there.
The videos are... on youtube. Just search for UNA.
This will be your first step towards frustration :) -
Haha. Una being a girl's name, I suspect my Youtube search will be a tough one! I found one... (linked from Github)... OK... thanks.
-
This is a good place to start - https://una.io/page/Start-Guide-General
When you compare UNA with, say, Joomla or Wordpress, consider that UNA is a framework (with data model similar to Drupal) with a collection of modules built for a community/multiuser site. These are provided as an integrated ecosystem. to build a social network with Joomla or WP you’d have to use most of the modules from various 3rd party developers, which may not sync correctly between each other or follow the core updates pace. We do it all together instead - same team doing core updates and all modules. There are still 3rd party modules, of course, but at least you have a good bunch to work off.
There is a bit of work to do when you start, but you’ll see during configuration that this is actually necessary if you want your community to be unique and not just another cookie-cutter instance of a common CMS.
-
All that is good Andrew, the problem is time. Joomla is so simple, the extenssions easy to install, the templates easy to install, UNA is a pain. I saw the site for a user is making for some goverment in Africa and it looked like a site from the 90s or made in phpnuke.... Yes it is cool to mess around with these thingies but time is the problem....
-
UNA modules and templates install just as easily via Apps in your UNA Studio. The look and feel is fully customisable - you can make it look like phpNuke :) if needed but it may well look like Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. it’s a matter of Styles settings and the template you choose. This site is also powered by UNA.
-
I have been a member of BoonEx for 12 years using Dolphin. I took a break for a couple years and then decided to come back and start again. When I did, I chose to go with UNA and here is my suggestions/comments for you:
Before you even downloaded the software, you should have already known the following:
- Site Name/Domain registered
- Exactly what your site is about and how you want it to function - Be creative and unique
- Who your audience will be for targeting/getting new members (goes along with what you site is about)
- Even the Design/Layout (colors, banners, logos, etc.)
After installing UNA, I would strongly suggest you spend some time in the Studio before doing anything else. This is the place where any changes you want to make to your site will happen. Click everything and learn where everything is at. Don't be scared :) I did not find it that difficult to learn my way around at all.Do not set your expectations too high. We all would like to think we will be the next Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram but in reality, that will probably never happen. For most, having a site with 20-50 "active" members who enjoy your site, visit often and participate can be considered a 'successful website'.
UNA is new and unique so yes, it's different than Joomla, Wordpress, or any other CMS for that matter. To think that UNA needs 100's or 1,000's of modules/extensions to be a successful platform is really not true. Take Facebook or Twitter as example. The reason these 'giant' sites are so successful is because they are simple and direct. 99% of the members there use the site to do just a few things - Post content, like, share, and comment with friends/followers.. That's it! They can login to these sites and do exactly that in just a few clicks and they are done. The Timeline module in UNA can do all of that. Keep that in mind when building your own site. If you think having a site with a bunch of modules installed is going to make your site successful, you may be disappointed. Keep your site simple, direct, user friendly, and focused on 'what' you site is about, nothing more.
Installing apps/modules within UNA is pretty simple also and can be done in just a few clicks. From the Studio Apps Market, find the app you want, click download, go to downloads, and click install. BAM! Done! Choose only the apps you need for you site's objective.
The UNA community is still growing but, if you need help or looking for a specific module (custom), just post it in the discussions.
