Getting Started

1. Navigate to the Module Definitions page under the host menu.
   
2. Click “Install Module”.
   
3. Browse to the folder containing the Active Social private assembly and select the .zip file.
   
4. Click “Next” three times.
   
5. Add a check in the "Accept License" box and then click "Next". The module will begin to automatically install. If you receive any errors during installation, please visit the Support section of www.activemodules.com. Solutions to most installation errors can be found in our knowledgebase and community forums.
   
6. Scroll through the Package Installation Report and check for any errors in red text. If there are none, hit the "Return" button.
   
7. Now you will need to install Active Forums. If you have Active Forums 3.7.8 or older installed already you will need to use the migration utility to transfer all your existing content. Please contact Active Modules support if you need to migrate. If you have version 4.0 or later installed, then you will install the new version over it. To install the forums, return to the Module definitions page and repeat steps 2 through 4; choosing Active Forums instead of the Active Social .zip file.
   
8. Now that you have both modules installed, you will need to prepare your site to display them. Navigate to the page where you plan on adding Active Social. Make sure this is not your forums page. Please log into an Admin account, if you are still logged in as host. This is important because the host account does not have a profile affiliated with it; therefore it is not supported by Active Social. At this time you should only add one instance of Active Social per page. To do this, select it from the drop down menu in the admin control panel and click “Add.”
   
9. You will be presented with the following menu. Use it to select a configuration option.
   
10. • Simple Configuration – Consists of four pages, just the bare essentials.

      • Forums – Contains the Active Forums module, which has your discussion forums and your Active Social group forums.
      • Groups – A single page contains the Listing of all the Groups and displays individual groups when selected.
      • Members – This page will show the member list and the profile of a chosen member.
      • Inbox – Contains the private messaging interface.
    • Standard Configuration – Consists of nine pages. This configuration will offer improved search engine optimization by allowing each group and profile to have separate addresses. You can choose to exclude some of them from the navigation bar if it becomes too cluttered.

      • Summary – The Social Stream. This page will show you updates and activity for members and groups on the site. It can be filtered to show specific types of information or certain user types.
      • Members – Searchable listing of all members of the network.
      • Profile – This is the page used to display a member’s profile.
      • Groups Directory – Contains the list of all the groups in the network.
      • Group Details – Default view of a group profile. Only visible once a group has been created.
      • Forums – Same as Basic Configuration.
      • Inbox – Same as Basic Configuration.
      • Sign-Up – A page containing the Active Social Sign-Up wizard. Set this page as the “User Page” in the site settings. It will automatically redirect users to their profile.
      • Login – Create a separate page containing only the active social login. This will be used for verified registration or other non-standard logins.
      
    • If you select Expert, you will need to determine how you wish to have your pages laid out and then create the pages. Creating pages and setting up view permissions is outside the scope of this guide.
      
    1. Navigate to the first page where you plan on adding Active Social. Make sure this is not your forums page. Please log into an Admin account, if you are still logged in as host. This is important because the host account does not have a profile affiliated with it; therefore it is not supported by Active Social.
       
    2. At this time you should only add one instance of Active Social per page. To do this, select it from the drop down menu in the admin control panel and click “Add.”
       
    3. Active Social will now be visible in the pane you selected.
       
    4. Click the large Setup button then expand the Active Social View Manager drop down list and select the default view for the page. This view corresponds with the page that you have placed the module on. If you are using the Basic page configuration, you will be using the MembersList, Groups and Messaging Center Views. Standard Configuration will not use the Groups view, but instead use GroupsList and GroupsView on two separate pages. Click the Save button, then the Next button. Repeat these steps for all your other pages.

       • Profile View –This view includes the About Me information, the journal, their friends, groups, pictures, and recent forum activity.
       • Members List –Use this list to find and become friends with other users. In basic configuration this view will also display profile information.
       • Sign Up – A user registration wizard.
       • Login – A simple login prompt.
       • Groups – A combination of the Groups List and Groups View.
       • Groups List – A listing of all the current groups.
       • Groups View – Similar to Profile View, this will show all the members, pictures, and information about a group.
       • Summary – The social stream. This page will show you updates and activity for members and groups on the site. It can be filtered to show specific types of information or certain user types.
       • Messaging Center – The interface used to send and receive messages from other users.
       • Welcome Center - A compact view that shows the users profile picture, inbox status and provides a link to the Profile. This can be added to every page.
       
11. After you finished setting up your preferred configuration, enter the Active Social Control Panel.
    
12. Click the “Settings” button and scroll down until you see "Define Social Pages". You will use these drop down menus to establish relationships between your different Active Social modules. Here is an example of how it would look using the Standard configuration. For the Basic configuration, Members List and Profile will point to the same page. Groups List and Groups View will also be a single page.
    
13. On the “Settings” page enter your site’s URL into the Site Address box and click "Save".
    
14. Click on the "About" button.
    
15. Enter the serial number that was emailed to you into the text box and click “Activate”. You have 30 days from the time of installation to complete your activation. If you receive any errors at this point please contact our technical support through the online helpdesk, found in the Community section of our website. Attach a copy of the error, your serial number and your invoice number. If you are installing Active Social on a test environment please do not activate.
    
16. Click “Exit” to leave the Active Social Control Panel. We will configure the other options after the Active Forums have been configured.
    
17. Navigate to your Forums page. If you did not have the forums installed previously, it was added automatically if you selected Simple or Standard. If you are adding the module to the page for the first time, click “Continue.” Otherwise, enter the Active Forums Control Panel.
    
18. Click the “Settings” button then the “Community Settings” tab.
    
19. Change Profile Type to the page where your ProfileView is shown and Messaging Type to the page where your Private Messaging is located. The rest of the options are a matter of personal preference, please consult the Active Forums administration guide for further information on each setting. Click "Save".
    
20. Click the “Forums” button at the top.
    
21. You should add a new forum group to contain all your Active Social group discussion forums. If you have any questions regarding forum groups, please view the Active Forums Administration Guide.
    
22. Click “New Forum Group,” and enter a name for it. Click “Save.”
    
23. You can click the security tab and remove all settings for the public roles, if you do not want them to have access. If you want non-group members to access a forum, give Registered Users access also. If you need clarification on specific settings, please consult the Active Forums Administration Guide.
    
24. If you do not want the social group forums to be displayed in the list with your regular discussion forums, check the Hidden box on the Group tab.
    
25. Click the “Features” tab and configure this menu. Details on each of the options are located in the Active Forums Administration Guide.
    
26. You do not need to add any forums to this group because they will be added automatically from now on.
    
27. If you have not previously activated your forums, please click the “About” button and enter your Active Forums serial number into the box and click “Activate.” If you receive any errors, please send the error, your serial number and your invoice number to technical support, which can be accessed through the online helpdesk in the Community section of our website.
    
28. Exit the Active Forums Control Panel, navigate to one of your Active Social modules and enter the Active Social Control Panel.
    
29. Click the “Journals” tab. On this page, enable all the options that you want to have available. Click "Save".
    
30. Click the “Groups” tab. Click “Global Group Settings.”
    
31. Add a role to Global Group Administrators. This role will be able to approve all groups on the network.
    
32. Add a role to “Who can create groups?”
    
33. Select your new Active Forums forum group from the drop down list at the bottom. Here you can set the permission options for the Group Admins and Group Members. More information on the individual permissions is available in the Active Forums admin documentation. Click "Save" once you have selected the forum group.
    
34. Click the “Members” tab.
    
35. Select a role for the “Membership Role”. This can be Registered Users if you want all members of your site to appear in the members list.
    
36. Select a role for “Community Role”. This will be the role that users are added to once they are verified. If you do not want to use verified registration, just set this to Registered Users. There is additional documentation available in the discussion forums on our website that will help you configure verified registration.
    
37. Click the >> next to any permissions you wish to add to the “Options Available to Members” in the Profile Access Options section. Click "Save."
    
38. At this point your Active Social network is ready to accept users. You should configure the rest of the settings in the control panel.