Social Network for mutual goals for community health and wholeness built with PHP5+, Linux, Apache, Mysql, Symfony Framework 1.4, AJAX, HTML5, CSS3 - See more at: http://www.greymatterindia.com/social-networking-platform-for-faith-communities

1. Client Requirement
The client required a social networking platform for faith communities to promote mutual goals and
health and wellness. An interactive platform for diverse and multi cultural communities was built that
encouraged health and wellness among the various congregations. This platform helps build trust
relationships and promotes wellness of spirit, mind and body of the individual, families and
communities.
The client required the following features:
 Ability to connect to the church and family and friends.
 Ability to connect and listen o sermons, Bible Study and community.
 Ability to learn more about the community and church.
 Ability to create a marketplace and trade
 Ability to create groups, communicate and share information with others from the same
community.
 Meet people of the same faith and connect with the believers of the same faith.
 Get access to global Bible study, global ministry directory, chats, blogs, video
chats, events, photo album etc.
 Ability for the admin to invite other church members to join the community.
Challenges
Team faced the following challenges
 Incorporating updated information at the backend using RSS feeds.
 Safe and secure data transfer during 3rd
party API integration.
 Developing and maintaining a website that will incorporate a wide range of interactive features
like blogs, live events, groups etc. to ensure user participation.
 An active and interactive social networking site that will be capable of handling millions of
connections without slowing down.
 Web usability principles to be used for enhancing experience of users.
 Security measures for users information.

2. Technologies Used
Manpower
Operating System & Server
Management
Red Hat Linux OS, Multi-Server Architecture with Staging & Production
Environment through Version Controlling releases, Server Optimization,
Security & SSL Implementation, Scheduler for Back-ups, Alert Monitoring
System Integration, Server Performance Tuning at regular intervals,
Software Firewall Configuration & Maintenance
Development Tools &
Environments
PHP5+, Symfony Framework 1.4, AJAX, HTML5, CSS3 etc.
Database MYSQL Database Server, DB Clustering, DB Optimization, Master Slave
Replication, Query Optimization, Scheduler for Backups
Project Leader 1
Developers 2
Designers 1
Quality Assurance Testers 1

3. Planning
Taking into consideration the enormous nature of the website, a four tier development approach was
used.
• The Database layer - MySQL Server Database, Tables, Triggers and so on.
• The Data Access layer - the Data Access DLL responsible for accessing data from the database.
• The Business Logic layer - business logic procedures for modules.
• The User Interface Layer which forms the Graphical User Interface of the website.
Architecture
The development approach included PHP and MySQL to achieve the social networking robust nature. .
Modules like Blogs, Events, Groups etc. were developed in PHP such that they can be executed directly
from the UI layer. RSS feeds were incorporated to enhance the user experience.
To enable the database access in an object oriented context, an interface that translated the object logic
to the relational logic was created. This enabled communication between the relational databases in an
object oriented manner. An intermediary abstraction layer ensured data access from database. The User
Interface Layer was kept isolated from business logic with images, applications and data being called
from their respective servers.
Development Highlights
A robust site was implemented using the symphony framework that was capable of performing all the
crucial functions. Without adding too much code, all the necessary features and interactivity was added
to the site. RSS feeds were implemented to enhance user experience. Usability guidelines were followed
and interface was made easy to navigate with the use of AJAX, HTML and CSS. The site was developed
and fully functional within a span of 3 months.