Community Server

Infobox Software
name = Community Server



caption = CommunityServer.com home page
developer = Telligent Systems
latest_release_version = Community Server 2008
latest_release_date = release date|2008|04|15
platform = ASP.NET / Microsoft SQL Server
genre = CMS, Blog software, Forum Software, Photo Gallery
website = http://communityserver.com

Community Server is a community collaboration platform that consists of a core blog, forums, photo gallery, and file sharing system. It has additional add-ons that add support for news server access (NNTP), email server, virtualized file system, and single sign-on modules. Community Server is developed by Telligent Systems and built with ASP.NET, C#, and Microsoft SQL Server. It is available as downloadable software that can be installed on a web server or via a hosting provider such as [http://CommunityServer.com/ CommunityServer.com] . The most recent stable version is Community Server 2008. [ [http://get.communityserver.com/download/ Community Server Downloads ] ]

History

Community Server was created in 2004 from the merger of three widely-used open source ASP.NET projects: the .Text blog engine, the nGallery photo gallery, and the ASP.NET Forums. [ [http://weblogs.asp.net/rhoward/archive/2004/07/15/184620.aspx Scott Watermasysk and Community Server - Rob Howard's Blog ] ] The people behind those projects (Scott Watermasysk, Jason Alexander, and Rob Howard) joined together as Telligent Systems and along with several other developers created Community Server. As of|2007 Community Server is the platform behind many large community sites on the internet, including the MySpace forums. [ [http://communityserver.org/blogs/showcase/ Showcase - Community Server ] ]

The first annual Community Server Developers Conference was held on October 20-21, 2007 in Frisco, Texas. [ [http://csdc.communityserver.org/ Community Server Developers Conference ] ] It was attended by over 100 developers. [ [http://weblogs.asp.net/rhoward/archive/2007/10/19/2007-community-server-developer-conference.aspx 2007 Community Server Developer Conference - Rob Howard's Blog ] ]

Releases

* Community Server 1.0 - February 20, 2005 [ [http://communityserver.org/forums/t/459193.aspx Community Server 1.0 - Community Server ] ]
* Community Server 1.1 - June 16, 2005 [ [http://communityserver.org/forums/t/462973.aspx CS 1.1 Goes RTM (or RTW) - Community Server ] ]
* Community Server 2.0 - February 20, 2006 [ [http://communityserver.org/blogs/announcements/archive/2006/02/20/516100.aspx Community Server 2.0 Now Available! - Announcements ] ]
* Community Server 2.0 SP1 - May 26, 2006 [ [http://communityserver.org/blogs/announcements/archive/2006/05/26/Community-Server---Critical-Security-Patch.aspx Community Server Critical Security Patch Released - Announcements ] ]
* Community Server 2.1 - August 9, 2006 [ [http://communityserver.org/blogs/announcements/archive/2006/08/09/Community-Server-2.1-Now-Available.aspx Community Server 2.1 Now Available - Announcements ] ]
* Community Server 2.1 SP1 - October 30, 2006 [ [http://communityserver.org/blogs/announcements/archive/2006/10/30/community-server-2-1-service-pack-1-now-available.aspx Community Server 2.1 Service Pack 1 Now Available - Announcements ] ]
* Community Server 2.1 SP2 - December 5, 2006 [ [http://communityserver.org/blogs/announcements/archive/2006/12/05/community-server-2-1-service-pack-2.aspx Community Server 2.1, Service Pack 2 - Announcements ] ]
* Community Server 2007 - April 16, 2007 [ [http://communityserver.org/blogs/announcements/archive/2007/04/16/community-server-2007-released.aspx Community Server 2007 - RELEASED - Announcements ] ]
* Community Server 2007 SP1 - May 11, 2007 [ [http://communityserver.org/blogs/announcements/archive/2007/05/11/cs2007-sp1.aspx Community Server 2007 SP1 - Available - Announcements ] ]
* Community Server 2007 SP2 - June 12, 2007 [ [http://communityserver.org/blogs/announcements/archive/2007/06/12/community-server-2007-sp2.aspx Community Server 2007 SP2 - Announcements ] ]
* Community Server 2007.1 - September 18, 2007 [ [http://communityserver.org/blogs/announcements/archive/2007/09/18/community-server-2007-1.aspx Community Server 2007.1 - Announcements ] ]
* Community Server 2007.1 SP1 - April 16, 2008 [ [http://get.communityserver.com/moredownloads.aspx#cs21sp Community Server Downloads - Service Packs] ]
* Community Server 2008 - April 15, 2008 [ [http://dev.communityserver.com/blogs/announcements/archive/2008/04/15/community-server-2008-now-available.aspx Community Server 2008 Now Available!] ]

Next Stable Release: TBD

Features

* Forums system which can integrate with email discussion lists and news servers
* Publishing system that manages single and multi-user blogs
* File and photo sharing integrated with forums and blogs
* Content mirroring to enable content syndication and republishing
* Integrated search across blogs, forums, photos, and files in one consistent UI
* Integrated tagging support throughout all applications
* Search engine-friendly permalink structure
* Extensible with support for plug-in modules, scheduled jobs, and spam rules
* Automatic TrackBacks and Pingback
* WYSIWYG HTML editing
* Control panel with consistent tools for community management
* Single sign-on authentication modules available for forms authentication, cookies, Active Directory, and Windows Live ID
* Source code for all core components available in the free SDK download under Shared Source licensing [ [http://docs.communityserver.org/kb/article.aspx/195/is-community-server-open-source/ Community Server 2008 Support ] ]

Criticism

* The licensing terms for Community Server have changed for the 2007 version. The Personal and Business licenses are no longer available. Only the free express, professional, intranet and enterprise licenses remain, along with a hosted edition. However the free express edition's limits were increased to 15 Blogs, 15 Forums, 10 Photo Galleries, and 250 Shared Files. [ [http://communityserver.org/blogs/announcements/archive/2007/11/02/customer-support-announcement.aspx Customer support announcement - Announcements ] ] The pricing for the 2008 version has doubled in some cases, continuing concerns among users, mostly small businesses, that the software is becoming less affordable.

Further reading

*cite book
last=Preul
first=Wyatt L
coauthors = Keyvan Nayyeri, José Lema, and Jim Martin
title = Professional Community Server
url = http://www.professionalcommunityserver.com
year = 2007
publisher = Wrox Press
isbn = 0-47010-828-2

*cite book
last = Preul
first=Wyatt L
coauthors = Benjamin Tiedt
title = Professional Community Server Themes
year = 2007
publisher = Wrox Press
isbn = 0-47018-208-3

*cite book | last=Narayanaswamy| first=Anand | title=Community Server Quickly: A Concise and Practical Guide to Installation, Administration, and Customization | year= 2006 | publisher=Packt | id=ISBN 1-84719-087-1
* [http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=19967 Press Release for Community Server Hosted Edition Beta]

ee also

* Telligent Systems
* Weblog software
* Comparison of Internet forum software

External links

* [http://communityserver.com CommunityServer.com] - Official Community Server homepage
* [http://docs.communityserver.com Community Server Documentation]
* [http://dev.communityserver.com Community Server Developer Community]
* [http://csmvps.com Community Server MVP community site]
* [http://in.telligent.com 2008 in.Telligent Conference, Oct.20-22, Dallas]

References