by Anne Corci
What is the SquidLog Net and how does it work?
October 2, 2009 in About SquidLog, Editorial, Featured by Anne Corci
The SquidLog Net is a social networking type site that was created solely for Squidoo lensmasters who are ready for some advanced interaction and group-ing with their Squidoo friends.
Feature Highlights
- Extended Profiles
When a new member first signs up, a “Base” profile is created. Aside from the basic fields like name and email new members can fully or partially fill in their profile and be ready to go upon first login.In addition, we have more grouped profile information in sub tabs of each members’ administration area. Within each sub tab are forms that members can update or add their information even after they have registered. In a larger community this will help to find members with similar interests or who live in the same area, etc.
- Private Messaging
SLN private messaging works like internal site email. Members can message people on their friends list as well as forward and reply to received messages.Each member will have their own individual Inbox, Sentbox, and Drafts folder. They will be notified of new messages by a new message count as well as email notifications if enabled.
Sending of messages to multiple friends, as well as site wide messages by an administrator are also possible.
- Friends
Members of SLN can be connected together by one member adding another as a “friend” and then the other member accepting the friendship request.Each member has a visible list of their friends on the site. Friends lists are browsable and members can click on each friend to see more information – or add them as their own friend. Profiles are not restricted as a whole.
The ability to search for members by and piece of profile information is also included in with the built in members directory.
- Groups
Groups are one of the core features of the SquidLog Net. Groups are a gathering of members, wire posts, blogs and forum topics. In future versions it is planned that members will be able to post any sort of content to groups including images and links.Any member can create a group in our network. They then become the group administrator giving them heightened privileges within that group.
Every group includes a place for group information, and the latest group news which can be kept up to date by group administrators. Groups also include a group forum, and wire where group members can engage in discussions. These features can be selectively enabled by each group creator.
In addition, group admins can either create a group blog, where all group members are automatically added, and the admin can assign the role (i.e. author, contributor, subscriber) for each member on a general or case by case basis.
If a group already has an external blog or blogs, the feed(s) can be integrated into the group’s activity stream.
- The Wire
The wire is a place where friends and other members can come along and post messages. Much like a message board, or “Wall” if you will. Every component (member profiles, groups etc) within the SLN have a wire. This allows members to post on other members profiles or leave messages for other group members. - Activity Streams
Activity streams aggregate all of your activity across the network. All of your friends activity is also recorded so you can check what others are doing on the site.Every component can make use of the activity stream component, which means any sort of activity can be recorded. Wire posts, blogs posts, new friendships and blog comments are among the most popular activities recorded.
Custom components can also hook into the activity streams, meaning any sort of data can be tracked and recorded.
- Blog Tracking
The blogs component will aggregate all blogs, blog posts and comments for a member across the entire network. This means other members can easily find all blogs that a member belongs to or owns, as well as their recent posts and comments.The blogs component also adds an easy to use screen for creating new blogs built right into the theme.
- Forums
The forums component allows groups to create and manage their own group forum. Group members can post and reply to topics all from within the group’s page. - Status Updates
Status updates will appear on a member’s profile page. A member can update their status as frequently as they want to.All status updates will be logged in a member’s activity stream. Status updates will also be fed into other results such as member search results, member listings and other screens involving the display of members.
The SquidLog network was created by lensmasters Chefkeem and Squidster (who also moonlights as our webmaster), and is powered by WordPress MU and BuddyPress.
With thanks to 
Overheard on twitter...
Thank you for the thorough post on SquidLog. It helps to know how it’ll work like other social networks we may know, as well as its unique features.
I am pretty much on the ground floor learning about the marketing aspect of Squidoo but I am like a sponge – ready to learn! This sounds like a group I would like to be a part of. It sounds like a ning to me. Is there a difference?
Hi Kim, there are a lot of similarities to the big networking sites. SquidLog.net was made specifically for lensmasters. It has nearly all the same features and in addition it ties all the activities in all groups, blogs, forums etc. together on the front pages. Every member can manage or participate in multiple groups and blogs and access them all from their own dashboard area. Give it a try, we’re just starting!