Lucy, I agree that the DNN community is what seals the deal for me. I have been involved in DNN since version 1 and I operate some vertical market hosting solutions built on DNN. For the last 18+ months have really wanted to start using DNN to build out vertical market SN sites. My belief is that every Yahoo Group and Forum site out there will migrate to more full featured SN sites over the coming years. But I still don't see the DNN modules in that arena maturing very quickly. MyProfiles offered some promise but it is a one person show and he seems mostly busy with other projects and it is not really progressing much. Rod at Smart-Thinker / Poker DIY / DNN Directory has also done some nice work on his modules, but they just don't provide what I really need...or maybe they do...or can...and I just need more education on how to use them.

So when I saw your original question....to move forward now with what we have or to wait...well I was feeling the exact same way. That is why I did a search (again) on "social networking" on the DNN Forums this morning. In fact I was up at 1am this morning not able to sleep worrying about the best option for creating a new SN site for one particular market where I already have a hosting presence. I couldn't sleep (which is very rare) even after taking hydro-codone for a root canal surgery a couple of days ago. So you can see that this is an area where I have put forth a great deal of energy with little to show for it. But I still have the passion.

I started working on a Web 2.0 / SN type of site related to Web Reality Shows (www.webrealityshows.com). There is a auto-responder on the index page, but if you go to www.webrealityshows.com/default.aspx you can see the dnn site. I started using the MyProfiles, but I have not been able to launch this site. I still have a lot of work to do and I am not sure if I can really do what I want with the modules available. But feel free to check it out and create an account and see how it works. What I find incredible is that I was able to get this from Google PR0 to PR4 in one update, with just a single autoresponder page there and some external links. But that is another subject.

My main needs are pretty simple, and maybe some of the existing modules can do this but I don't know exactly how to mesh them all together. And believe me I have bought and installed lots of modules on lots of DNN sites. So anyone feel free to jump in and offer solutions.

1. I need to be able to create some Public networks on a site that allow people to group themselves together in these networks.
2. The functionality for each network would include a Forum, calendar, network listing, articles, repositories, etc as well as each person having their own profile available with photo galleries, video galleries, etc. You know the standard SN profile widgets.
3. I need for members to be able to create an advanced profile allowing them to join any number of Public networks on the site by checking a box on the advanced DNN profile.
4. Then I need to be able to assign members to moderate membership into the networks or make them not require moderation.
5. I also need to be able to create private networks on the same site and have someone moderate who can be a member.
6. The private networks would be by invitation only and provide much of the same functionality.

OK, I am going to provide what I consider to be a simple use of these types of modules for an actual market that I need to enter. Exposing this info may not be the best thing in a public forum, but it might be a reason for others to jump in and offer ideas or solutions.

I operate www.homeschoolportals.com and provide hosting to some homeschool related websites and homeschool support groups around the country. I have been wanting to build out a great, full featured SN for the homeschool community and I have secured the domain at www.homeschoolcommunity.com. I know for fact that homeschoolers are big into all things web.

So I want to create a great networking site and allow people to join networks related to the various aspects of homeschooling, including age of their kids, subjects like Math or Science, brands of curriculum, styles of homeschooling, etc. So one network might be for anyone with a specific interest in teaching Math to homeschoolers. Another might be for those with specific interest in using the ABEKA homeschool curriculum. Another might be for teaching high school students in homeschool. you get the picture.

Beyond the Public networks, there would be private networks that could be established to allow a Homeschool Support Group to have it own little network on the web just for its members. This is kind of what I do in my www.homeschoolportals.com web hosting site. But it would be better for a group to be able to have their Public and Private networks in one place. There are thousands of homeschool support groups scattered across the entire globe and this would allow them to have their own Calendar, Announcements, Member Listing, Forums, etc. So this could be pretty large. This might be the best opportunity to monetize the site, in addition to Adsense and other advertising. I would expect the basic membership to be free, with some possible paid levels of membership in the future.

Could I do it this way? Could I use a lot of the existing modules and use a lot of Security Roles to represent the available networks and when someone checks a box to be a member of a network just assign them a security role. Could it be that simple? Then in the Forums for instance use these roles to expose them to it? I think that approach could work, but how could I most effectively organize something this large? It just seems a little overwhelming.

But I agree that I would rather start running with this now and see how far I can get, instead of waiting for Cambria and then possibly being disappointed in its schedule or feature set. So hopefully this post will spark some other posts with ideas on how to do this and how to organize something this large.

I am thinking to use Survey Monkey to start surveying the homeschool community to see what interest I can get and what features I might need to prioritize first. I have a few places online where I can advertise to drive people to my auto responder page and capture their contact information and then forward them onto the survey. So maybe seeing how large the interest is will either cause me to move forward rapidly or if the interest is minimal then I might not move forward with this market. But there are lots of markets and in either case we need to be able to create real SNs on DNN.

Thanks so much for any input you can provide.

Have a Merry Christmas and happy holiday season.