Project: Freckles & Dimples Social Bookmarking/Networking Site

Legend:

narrative

in progress

completed

wishlist

Project Summary:

 “Freckles & Dimples” will be a niche community of fans of the U.S. television show Supernatural and, more specifically, readers of the fan fiction inspired by the show.  The focus of the site is to allow members to share the bookmarks of their favorite fan fiction stories as well as write small reviews (called “recs”), tag these bookmarks for easy story “grouping”, add these bookmarks to favorite and "to read" lists, and comment on the recs.

History:

Currently, there are hundreds of blogs on LiveJournal and other blogging sites where individuals “rec” numerous flavors and genres of fan fiction.  Those are easy to locate within those communities.  However, there were and still are quite a few people who had been using delicious.com prior to its recent sale and revision.  While it wasn’t perfect, the features it offered and its functionality were well-suited to those in the community who were not interested in flashy, shiny interfaces, but functionality and simplicity.  The revision has not only removed some of the communal functionality we loved, but it has made many of those features unusable and certainly less simple.

General Goal:

I am hoping to create a social bookmarking website with some of the functionality of the old delicious.com but with a focus on the needs of this niche community, which will allow for some limitations but will also hope to modify those functions in favor of the niche's needs.  The website design should be simple, easy on the eyes, and easy to use, without a lot of glitz and glamor.

Instead of blogs, there were be recs of bookmarks, instead of forums, there will be groups.  Members will be able to see site-wide activity streams and member profiles.  Non-members will be able to see the bookmarks with the recs but will have to register to comment..

Specifications:

• The website is hosted on A Small Orange under a sub-domain I have created for it.
• The root directory is http://j2-spn.exit-23.net
• Software: WordPress, BuddyPress, CustomPress (Pro), Gravity Forms, Gravity Forms + Custom Posts, (anything from WPMUDev.org can be downloaded and installed)

Theme:

• Header: A header has already been created  --  j2banner.png (726x150).
•  All colors used in the theme should complement the header.
• The content should be dark lettering on a light background.
• Wish: The menu items to be renamed by theme such as:

• Bookmarks ⇒ The Library
• Activity  ⇒ The Road
• Groups  ⇒ The Hauntings
• Friends  ⇒ The Souls
• Messages  ⇒  The Roadhouse
• Pages  ⇒ The Journal
• pls ask if there are others/questions

Functionality

Bookmarks/”The Library”

• new post_type created -- bookmarks --

• custom fields

• to_read_flag -- checkbox (default: yes)
• favorites_flag -- checkbox (default: no)
• rec_flag -- checkbox (default: no)
• private_flag -- checkbox (default: no)

• taxonomies

• fic_url -- required, auto-populate from bookmarklet
• fic_author -- required, auto-populate as member types but allows new entries
• genre -- checkboxes, multiple choice
• fandom -- checkboxes, multiple choice
• content_rating -- radio buttons, choose one
• word_count -- radio buttons, choose one
• fic_warnings -- text field, like tags field, comma separated and auto-populating but allows new entries
• fic_tropes -- text field, like tags field, comma separated and auto-populating but allows new entries
• spn_char -- text field, like tags field, comma separated and auto-populating but allows new entries
• spn_pair -- text field, like tags field, comma separated and auto-populating but allows new entries
• rpf_char -- text field, like tags field, comma separated and auto-populating but allows new entries
• rpf_pair -- text field, like tags field, comma separated and auto-populating but allows new entries
• spn_when -- checkboxes pre-populated from current entries, multiple choice but also with text field like tags field, comma separated and auto-populating but allows new entries
• x_over_char -- text field, like tags field, comma separated and auto-populating but allows new entries
• x_over_pair -- text field, like tags field, comma separated and auto-populating but allows new entries

• the_excerpt should function as the fic's summary or the poster's notes on the bookmark or another custom field should be created for this purpose.
• the_content should function as the poster's rec/review of the fic at the bookmark and when it is populated, the rec_flag should be changed to "yes".
• Members reading a rec or summary of a bookmark they do not have bookmarked themselves should always have a button offering to add it to their own bookmarks.  
• Members, who have a bookmark in their favorites list but have not yet done a rec, should have a button or link inviting them to rec it.
• Members visiting their bookmark's "posts" should always be invited to update the fields, favorite it, or rec it.  Also, there should be an option for removing it from the "to read" list on the permalink "post" page as well as doing mass removes on archive search pages.
• Members should be able to view their lists by "to read", "favorites", and "recs".  They should be able to set in their profiles who sees their "to read" and "favorites" lists -- ie. friends only, friends of friends, Members only, or everyone.  Recs can be set to Members only or everyone.
• When saving a bookmark, Members can mark it "private" so only they will see it in their lists.
• The new Summary or Rec field truncates in the “activity stream” after the first paragraph and the member has to click "[more]" to read the rest.
• Members can "like" the bookmark or the “rec”.
• Members can comment on the “rec”.
• On Bookmark page, “Leave a Comment:” should be changed to “Comment on this Rec:”
• Anyone should be able to share/send the bookmark link to someone

• Wish

• The old delicious.com, listed the # of “other saves”; I would like to  list the # of likes, comments & “other recs”.
• The old delicious.com, listed the # of “other saves”.
• Would love to be able to narrow searches down by multiple taxonomies like delicious allowed. 

Activity/”The Road”

•  The front page/login screen should default to either the most recent or most popular public Rec bookmarks for the whole website.
• A Member's activity stream should default to his/her own "to read" list, perhaps with the ability to set a default in the profile for which list?

Groups/”The Hauntings”

• Groups should be created by the Admin or moderators and should operate like forums.   (Forums should only be assessable under Groups).
• These should only be accessible to logged on Members.

Tagging/Taxonomy

• There should be one page available from the log in screen where anyone can see the most popular 200 tags and the 20 most recently used tags.  Members should be able to access a searchable index/page of all tags.

Profiles

• There will be limited personal data fields.  Things like "Twitter name", "Live Journal", "Facebook", "bio".
• These should only be assessable to logged on Members.

Administration

• I will be the ultimate admin, but I should be able to set up group moderators, an administrator with limited power – ie. Ability to restrict user registration, edit tags & pages, delete naughty postings but not make huge changes to the website, plugins, layout, code, etc.
• There should be a contact form linked from the footer that allows Members to contact the Admin staff for various issues/requests.

Not Needed

• Photo or Video albums.
• File uploading, except photos for avatars.