I have been researching this in the forums and I believe this is possible.

What I want to do is have group types accessed via a DNN tab page and then have categories specific to the group type with a custom view similar to the groups page layout on AS but specific to the group type.

When a user adds a new group they are required to choose the group type and category or categories it belongs to.

Can a group belong to more than one category?


here is an example of the page layout

Fishing Page - Shows all groups belonging to Group Type = "Fishing"
Categories Associated to Group Type = "Fishing"
Clubs
Guides
Stores
Fly Tying

Camping Page Shows all groups belonging to Group Type = "Camping"
Categories Associated to Group Type = "Camping"
Clubs
Camp Grounds

Group types are admin assigned and categories (starting with 1.6) are user assigned. Your fishing page will have a group type filter of fishing. Any groups created on that page will be assigned the group type fishing. Your category list is dynamic based upon the groups that would be in the list.

Posted By Will M on 03 May 2010 11:33 PM
Group types are admin assigned and categories (starting with 1.6) are user assigned. Your fishing page will have a group type filter of fishing. Any groups created on that page will be assigned the group type fishing. Your category list is dynamic based upon the groups that would be in the list.

Still cant figure out the categories thing.  I already setup the category in the Control Panel but cant see it appearing anywhere in the group view, add or edit.

Are you sure you setup a category and not a group type? Create a group on ActiveSocial.com so you can see how it will work.

Posted By Will Morgenweck on 03 May 2010 11:33 PM
Group types are admin assigned and categories (starting with 1.6) are user assigned. Your fishing page will have a group type filter of fishing. Any groups created on that page will be assigned the group type fishing. Your category list is dynamic based upon the groups that would be in the list.

I just want to make sure I understand and implement this correctly. Since I cannot allow a Group Creator to select a Group Type upon creation, then I have to have multiple Group Directories that have the Group Type set and then controls what Type is used when a new group is created. And further this group type controls the template that is used.

Is there some technical reason that it is designed this way? What if I only wanted a single directory of groups, but wanted to allow my Group Creators to select a Group type at creation. Then the Group Advanced Search could allow a Group Type filter instead of only allowing Group Type filtering by  the Social Settings in the module. Why is this not a feasible design? Just curious. There must be some reason this design decision was made.

Then the Group Creator can select the applicable Categories for the group during the creation process. Are there any limitations regarding numbers of categories assigned to a group? I have a large number of categories / subcategories and have also posted on a separate thread asking how to load these into the db directly.

The main purpose for Group Types is to allow the module to serve multiple purposes. For example, I would use Group Types if I wanted to use the Groups Module on one page as an actual groups modules and I also wanted to use the Groups Module as business directory on another page. The Group Type functionality was built to allow for isolation of functionality and purpose, not for classification.

The Social Groups module in 6.2 doesn't use Group Types because the isolation is handled on a module specific basis. This will provide far greater flexibility for customization. It is also integrated with the core taxonomy so you will be able to further identify groups as you see fit.

OK Will. Thanks for taking time to post this explanation. Here is my basic use case. Let me know if this is possible now or with Social Groups that are baked into the core when it is released.

I would like to be able to have one Group Profile template for a Local Homeschool Support Group (e.g. Atlanta Home Educators Group) and another for a subject-based group (e.g. Math for Middle Schoolers) and another for a homeschool-related product niche market based group (e.g. Math Tutor Software). Each of these groups has it own unique requirements for interacting with its members and having the ability to customize the group profile template with certain tabs / embedded modules would be great!

You don't need group types for what you want to do. Just drop the customized template in the /portals/pprtalid/activesocial/groups/groupid folder. I'm pretty sure that will work.

Posted By Will Morgenweck on 08 Jan 2012 05:30 PM
You don't need group types for what you want to do. Just drop the customized template in the /portals/pprtalid/activesocial/groups/groupid folder. I'm pretty sure that will work.

I just tested this and it appears to work. Just make sure to name the custom template the same "GroupView.ascx"

So is AS supposed to create the groupid folder when group is created? I only see one groupid folder in my portal but I have several groups. Jeff, thanks for testing this, but it looks like this is a manual process. Is there any way to automate the selection of a group template? I guess I would have to repurpose the Create a Group button to take people to another page and then have some custom app that calls the AS Create a Group code and depending on the type of group then create the folder and add in the correct groupview.ascx. Any thoughts?

I believe that the group folder only gets greated when:

1. The group owner assigns an image for the group
2. Files, other images, or anything else that needs stored gets created for the group.

Posted By Jeff Blanks on 09 Jan 2012 10:57 AM
I believe that the group folder only gets greated when:

1. The group owner assigns an image for the group
2. Files, other images, or anything else that needs stored gets created for the group.

Just tested and found that assigning an image doesn't create the group folder. It puts all images into _icons folder. But adding a file and other posts that require a place to put something, like gallery, etc does create the group folder.

I am assuming that I could programatically create the folder to hold the groupview.ascx file and that wouldn't cause any issues since AS most likely checks for the presence of the folder before creating it.