:Elgg (software)
{{Short description|Open source social networking software}}
{{Primary sources|date=November 2009}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Elgg
| logo = Elgg white.png
| developer = [http://theelggfoundation.org/ The Elgg Foundation] and the open source community
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|edit|reference|P348}}
| latest release date = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|P348|P577}}}}
| programming language = PHP
| genre = Social networking
| license = GNU GPLv2 and X11 (MIT)
| website = [http://elgg.org/ elgg.org]
| operating_system = Cross-platform
}}
Elgg is open source social networking software that provides individuals and organizations with the components needed to create an online social environment. It offers blogging, microblogging, file sharing, networking, groups and a number of other features. It was also the first platform to bring ideas from commercial social networking platforms to educational software.
History
Elgg was the first platform to bring ideas found in commercial social networking platforms to education. It was founded in 2004 by Ben Werdmuller and Dave Tosh, based on informal papers they had written over the previous year.[http://www.downes.ca/archive/04/07_16_news_OLDaily.htm OLDaily, July 16, 2004] Combining their experience (Werdmuller was a web entrepreneur who had been building and facilitating online communities since 1995, while Tosh was a postgraduate student in online education) they created a social networking approach to e-learning,[http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/elgg.php Elgg - social network software for education] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629034229/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/elgg.php |date=2011-06-29 }} ReadWriteWeb, 2006. with the former designing the architecture and writing most of the code. Subsequently, they founded the company Curverider Ltd to continue the development of the software and to provide Elgg-related services. Elgg has since become a cross-purpose open source social networking platform.
In April 2009, Werdmuller decided to leave the project,[http://benwerd.com/2009/04/end-of-an-era-start-of-a-new-one/ End of an era, start of a new one] benwerd.com, 2009. leaving Brett Profitt in charge of development. Werdmuller has since released Known, an open source publishing platform.{{cite web|last1=Aaron|first1=Mendelson|title=Startups pitch their ventures at Matter Three demo day|url=http://www.knightfoundation.org/blogs/knightblog/2014/9/12/startups-pitch-projects-matter-three-demo-day/|website=Knight Blog|publisher=Knight Foundation|accessdate=2 April 2015}} In May 2010 a hosted version of Elgg launched in beta. In December 2010, Curverider was acquired by Thematic Networks and Elgg was transferred to a non-profit foundation.[http://blog.elgg.org/pg/blog/dave/read/160/a-foundation-acquisition-and-change A foundation, acquisition and change] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110107112543/http://blog.elgg.org/pg/blog/dave/read/160/a-foundation-acquisition-and-change |date=2011-01-07 }} blog.elgg.org, 2010.[http://benwerd.com/2010/12/the-elgg-foundation/ The Elgg Foundation] benwerd.com, 2010.[http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=54329&format=html The Elgg Foundation] www.downes.ca, 2010.
Elgg is free to download and use.{{cite web|title=Download Elgg|url=http://elgg.org/download.php|publisher=Elgg Foundation}} It is dual licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) as published by the Free Software Foundation and the MIT License.{{cite web|title=Elgg License|url=http://elgg.org/license.php|publisher=Elgg Foundation}} Elgg runs on the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) platform. Elgg is used by Lorea as the engine of N-1.cc, the self-organized social network of the Spanish 15-M social movement.[http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=129645 N-1, red social del movimiento #15M] The same applies for the self-organized Anillo Sur and Saravea Lorea latinamerican social networks.
In April 2010, a multiple site version of Elgg was released by the former core developer Marcus Povey.[http://www.marcus-povey.co.uk/2010/04/19/multiple-site-support-elgg/ Multiple site support with MP's Multisite Elgg] marcus-povey.co.uk, 2010 As of January 2013 this project can be found on GitHub,[https://github.com/mapkyca/Elgg-Multisite Elgg Multisite Project] a new version based on Elgg 2.x was released in 2018.[https://www.marcus-povey.co.uk/2018/03/15/elgg-multisite-2-released/ Elgg Multisite 2 released!]
Sites powered by Elgg
Here is a list of some sites powered by Elgg{{cite web|url=http://elgg.org/powering.php|publisher=Elgg Foundation|title=Powered by Elgg|accessdate=27 March 2013}}
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