EduSpaces news : Weblog

Elgg wins a BOSSIE for best social networking platform

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:39:25 GMT

We're pleased to announce that Elgg has been featured as the best open source social networking platform in InfoWorld's 2008 Best Of Open Source Awards. Elgg joins WordPress, which won for best blogging platform, Firefox, which won for best web browser, and MySQL, which was featured as the best database system.

From the article:

While Elgg lets corporations, governments, and schools quickly establish blogs, the system's collaborative features encourage building communities of users with shared interests. Other Elgg fine points include podcast support, file repositories, user profiles, an RSS aggregator, and branding features. Significantly, the software integrates with other IT systems and provides OpenID authentication.

Elgg is the software which powers this EduSpaces service.

The next generation of Elgg

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:33:54 GMT

As we gear up for the first release of the next generation of Elgg, we are inviting those who are Elgg users into our test site to help with debugging etc. Not all the features have an interface on them yet, but there is enough there for people to get an idea of what the new Elgg is going to be like.

Elgg is the open source social networking software that powers this site, Eduspaces.

If you would like an invite, please send an email to info at elgg dot com

Cheers.

EduSpaces relaunch

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 14:15:03 GMT

As some of you will have noticed today, we have been upgrading and rebranding EduSpaces. The new site is a marked improvement with many new features as well as enhancements to old favourites.

It is well worth trying all the new features out including video processing, easier embedding of content into blogs, photo galleries, bookmarks and much more. It would be cool if you could share your thoughts in the new forum.

For those who are not sure what EduSpaces is; EduSpaces is the largest social network in the world dedicated to education and educational technology.

Cheers, the EduSpaces team.

Bookmarks on EduSpaces

Sat, 07 Jul 2007 16:00:21 GMT

Thanks the guys over at the Graz Technical Institute, EduSpaces now has bookmarking. This is a neat feature that you can access on your toolbar at the top of the page.

Shortly, we will be upgrading EduSpaces to the latest version of Elgg (v0.8) which will bring with it some cool features such as; generic comments and a recent activity river.

Explode searching now on Edu Spaces

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 19:30:57 GMT

The eagle eyed among you will have noticed that doing a search on Edu Spaces now pulls up results from Explode - this is a very significant development!

Things are only in Alpha at the moment, but soon you will be able to friend these people and communicate with them, essentially creating your own meta-network of friends, regardless of which network they are on, from your presence here on Edu Spaces.

Watch this space.

Some new features to try out

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:21:35 GMT

A few new features have been added to Edu Spaces.

New widget based profiles. You can add various content to your profile via the widgets including a comment wall which is quite cool to just post short messages on to peoples profiles
The presentation tool - just select 'Your presentations' from the top menu bar and begin building away.
A large profile picture - this is a great way to make the profiles more personable
Private messaging
The search has been integrated with Explode so you can find others who share your interests but might not be on Edu Spaces (this is still very much in the testing phase)

Changes roundup

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:17:10 GMT

1. Elgg.net is now EduSpaces.net

You've probably noticed, because we changed the domain over last week. As promised, all your old links still work, but starting today, if you visit http://elgg.net/ you'll be directed to the Elgg software site. Your internal links, e.g. http://elgg.net/news/, will still work fine.

2. RIP dashboard, long live profile 2.0!

The dashboard was a proof of concept in the Elgg software, and has quietly been put to rest in favour of a new profile format. This highlights the most-used profile fields on the site and allows you to host a wider range of widgets underneath. A prominent link still leads to your old, extended profile - but we think this new one will allow for a lot more freedom and interaction. If you've used Facebook or Explode, you'll be pleased to see a comment wall appear here soon. Thanks to Kevin Jardine for making the new widgets possible; if you'd like to program your own, see Elgg.org for details about the API.

The profile also has an easy way for you to display a larger photo of yourself. Just click the 'edit profile' link and upload to your heart's content.

3. The presentation tool

We've had this in the works for a while - some of you may remember us talking about it last year - but the presentation tool is finally up and running. Designed by Dave and Ben, made possible by the University of Brighton and programmed by Sven Edge, this allows you to showcase content you've created or uploaded as part of a continuous portfolio. To read what the University of Brighton's Stan Stanier had to say about it, head over to http://curverider.co.uk/blog/2007/03/16/presenting-your-activity/.

Elgg.net becomes Edu Spaces

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 16:10:55 GMT

Some of you will have noticed that Elgg.net is no longer - the service has now been renamed Edu Spaces with the url http://eduspaces.net

The change over is nearly complete and there will be no disruption to the service or your site.

Private messaging

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 06:59:53 GMT

Thanks to a plugin developed by Diego Andres - elgg.net now has private messaging. You can send messages to your friends or to anyone in a community which you are a member.

Select 'Your messages' from the toolbar at the top.

Changes are afoot at Elgg.net!

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 16:41:27 GMT

Actually, you've been accustomed to change throughout the existence of the site since we started it in 2004. New features pop up all the time, and we think you'll be pleased to hear that this isn't going to stop soon.

However, we're going to change the name. Next Wednesday, Elgg.net will become Edufilter.org.

This is because, for a lot of people, Elgg.net *is* Elgg. Granted, it's a confusing name. But Elgg is a free, open source, white label social networking framework that anyone can install on their own servers. Want it running at your institution? Point your elearning folks at http://elgg.org. Elgg.net, meanwhile, is a social network for education - and therefore, we think Edufilter is probably a better name.

You've probably got concerns, so let's deal with the most important:

#1: We're not going to break any of your links. While the front page of Elgg.net will forward to the main Elgg software homepage, anyone visiting elgg.net/your-username will still get to your page. We have no plans to end this, so if your address is printed on materials, don't worry: everything's fine.

#2: The site will not be discontinued. It continues to be our flagship installation.

Furthermore, making the site overtly educational means we can give you more directed content and features. Sponsorship opportunities are available; if you'd like to promote your product or service available to some of the world's leading lights in elearning, let us know.