I couldn’t find it, so I built it. I’m talking about a social platform called Ixthus Catacombs. I originally tried to build this on my business hosting account, but with other sites there already, the result was too slow! I’ve rebuilt it on a free server now.
It doesn’t offer photo albums, and it’s not lickety-split fast and needs “waking up” from time to time (free server limitations), but it will let me offer in-site live workshops and challenges, allows the creation of groups and “fan pages (group setting to allow this)”, has a basic classifieds system, course system, event management, collaborative document creation, buddydrive (similar to google docs), etc.
Other than tweaks here and there, it is live and ready for use. I’ve created a few groups and “fan pages” already. There is test data here and there, such as the sample course I’ve been testing with. I should delete that and add my own sample course to show how it can be used. The two main add-ons that many use for photo albums seem rather clunky to me, but if people really want albums, I’ll pick one of them and install it.
Emails were an issue earlier this week, but it appears to finally be fixed. They weren’t being sent at all! Now they are being sent again.
I’ve installed a points system normally used to encourage activity and interaction, and figured out how to use it as a rudimentary in-site “currency” of sorts, that can be used to buy and sell in-site for anything where offline money wouldn’t be necessary to replace, such as shipping costs, cost of materials, etc. This is an answer to barter and trade that has no exchangeable cash value. If you are looking for ways to do life away from “the system”, this will be one of those answers until the string pullers make the very act of getting online impossible away from “the system”.
It is my hope people will create local groups allowing them to make exchanges in person of physical goods and services that require physical in-person presence to carry out. If this can happen well enough while we have Internet access, then when it’s taken from those who won’t comply, offline connections will be easier to build and maintain.
Digital goods and services that don’t require in-person pickup or delivery can happen across the globe for things like books, documents, music and video files, virtual assistant tasks (online secretarial for those not familiar with the term), coaching, tutoring, courses, workshops, challenges, and many other digital goods and services that can be offered from your desk to theirs across cyberspace. I anticipate groups and “fan pages” being built for those who need and offer these too.
I’m all about repurposing things to handle tasks others think can’t be done without certain tools. It is my hope that others will see the tools I’ve provided and come up with novel ways to use them to help themselves and others not only be social online, but meet needs as well.
