alamb wrote: Does the free version of this product help you to build a social network where members can make comments and communicate with eachother.
YES! Community Builder is the best social network component ever.
I mean, you could buy expensive out-of-the-box social network solutions but, I did months of research before starting one up, and decided to go with Joomla+Community Builder.
Why? Because it's all open source which means your imagination is your only limit. You can do anything and everything you want with CB with a little determination and creativity.
For comments etc you can use CB's own Activity plugin, or you can use Axxis SuperActivity, you can use Jcomments, or install Kunena and use Kunena discuss (I use this)
Community Builder is definitely the way to go.
Does the pro version do that? I am so confused how you get to the social networking part of the product. So far it just looks like it helps you manage users. What am I missing?
The free version can do that. You install COmmunity Builder. Set it up. Out of the box it gives you profiles. You then use the admin panel in the back to install Community Builder Plugins.
The Pro version comes with certain plugins pre-installed and professional support.
When I built my site, it was all built using Community Builder free. I only recently signed up for professional membership because I'm still learning about coding etc so needed professional help with certain things to do with code.
Sorry to the mods if this is spam feel free to edit/censor, but if you want to take a look:
www.justfriendlychat.com
<- this is a full social network site using Community Builder. 95% of the plugins used etc are Community Builder plugins.
To view comments on profiles just go to my profile:
www.justfriendlychat.com/profiles/userprofile/justfriendlychat
To view comments on articles/pages etc:
www.justfriendlychat.com/internet-friends-relationships/123-how-to-make-friends-in-chatrooms
That's using Kunena Discuss, integrated with CB Authorbot and Community Builder profiles.
Hope this has convinced you just how powerful and amazing Community Builder is.
Go for it.