Configuring User Profiles

Overview

Sociable provides a flexible profile system that supports different profile types for different user groups. Each profile type can have its own set of custom fields, allowing you to collect different information from different types of users (e.g., Teachers vs. Students, Buyers vs. Sellers).

Profile Features

Each user profile in Sociable includes:

• Display Name - User's public display name
• Handle - Unique username (e.g., @johndoe)
• Avatar - Profile picture with automatic resizing
• Cover Image - Banner image for the profile header
• Bio - Short description (configurable max length)
• Location - User's location
• Website - Personal website URL
• Birthdate - Date of birth
• Gender - User's gender
• Social Links - Links to external social profiles
• Custom Fields - Additional fields based on profile type

Profile Privacy Settings

Users can control their profile visibility:

Setting	Description
Public	Profile visible to everyone
Friends	Profile visible only to friends/connections
Private	Profile visible only to the user

Individual profile fields can also have their own privacy settings, allowing users to share some information publicly while keeping other details private.

Setting Up Profile Types

Step 1: Plan Your Profile Types

Before creating profile types, identify the different categories of users on your site and what information you need from each:

Example for an educational site:

• Teachers - Bio, experience, qualifications, subjects, office hours
• Students - Major, year of study, interests, courses enrolled

Example for a marketplace:

• Buyers - Interests, wishlist preferences
• Sellers - Business name, product categories, contact info

Step 2: Create Field Groups

Field groups organize related custom fields together and appear as sections on the profile page.

1. Go to Components → Sociable → Field Groups
2. Click New to create a new field group
3. Configure the field group:
   • Title - Section heading displayed on profile
   • Description - Optional description
   • Ordering - Display order
   • Published - Enable/disable the group

Example field groups:

• "Professional Information" - for work-related fields
• "Education" - for academic fields
• "Interests" - for hobby-related fields

Step 3: Create Custom Fields

Custom fields are the building blocks of extended profile information.

1. Go to Components → Sociable → Profile Fields
2. Click New to create a new field
3. Configure the field:

Option	Description
Name	Internal field identifier (no spaces)
Label	Display label shown to users
Field Type	Type of input (text, select, checkbox, etc.)
Field Group	Which group this field belongs to
Required	Whether the field is mandatory
Default Value	Pre-filled value
Placeholder	Input placeholder text
Field Options	Options for select/radio/checkbox fields (JSON)
Ordering	Display order within the group
Published	Enable/disable the field

Supported Field Types:

Type	Description
text	Single-line text input
textarea	Multi-line text input
select	Dropdown selection
radio	Radio button selection
checkbox	Single checkbox (yes/no)
checkboxes	Multiple checkbox options
calendar	Date picker
url	URL input with validation
email	Email input with validation
tel	Phone number input
number	Numeric input
editor	Rich text editor
media	File/image upload

Step 4: Create Profile Types

Profile types define which field groups appear for different user categories.

1. Go to Components → Sociable → Profile Types
2. Click New to create a new profile type
3. Configure the profile type:
   • Title - Name of the profile type
   • Description - Description for admin reference
   • Field Groups - Select which field groups to include
   • Default - Set as the default for new users
   • User Groups - Automatically assign to specific Joomla user groups
   • Published - Enable/disable the profile type

Important: At least one profile type should be marked as "Default" to ensure new users get assigned a profile type automatically.

Step 5: Enable User Plugin

Ensure the User - Sociable plugin is enabled for automatic profile creation:

1. Go to System → Manage → Plugins
2. Search for "User - Sociable"
3. Enable the plugin if not already enabled
4. Configure plugin settings:

Setting	Description
Auto Create Profile	Automatically create profile on user registration
Default Privacy	Default profile visibility for new users
Sync Avatar	Sync avatar from Gravatar or Joomla profile
Delete Profile on User Delete	Remove Sociable profile when Joomla user is deleted

Profile Settings Configuration

Configure global profile settings in Components → Sociable → Settings → Profiles:

Setting	Description
Allow Registration	Allow new users to register through Sociable
Require Approval	New registrations require admin approval
Default Visibility	Default privacy setting for new profiles
Allow Custom Handle	Let users choose their own @handle
Minimum Handle Length	Minimum characters for handles
Max Bio Length	Maximum characters allowed in bio

Managing User Profiles

Admin Profile Management

Administrators can manage profiles from Components → Sociable → Users:

• View/Edit - Modify user profile information
• Verify - Mark a profile as verified (shows badge)
• Ban/Unban - Restrict user access
• Change Profile Type - Assign a different profile type
• Sync - Manually sync with Joomla user data

Bulk User Sync

To sync all existing Joomla users with Sociable profiles:

1. Go to Components → Sociable → Users
2. Click Sync Users in the toolbar
3. Wait for the process to complete

This creates Sociable profiles for all Joomla users who don't already have one.

Avatar Configuration

Sociable generates multiple avatar sizes for different contexts:

Size	Dimensions	Usage
16	16×16 px	Inline mentions
32	32×32 px	Small lists
48	48×48 px	Comments
64	64×64 px	Activity feed
96	96×96 px	Profile cards
128	128×128 px	Medium profile
160	160×160 px	Profile header
192	192×192 px	Large display
256	256×256 px	Full-size preview

Profile Verification

Verified profiles display a badge to indicate authenticity:

1. Go to Components → Sociable → Users
2. Select the user to verify
3. Toggle the Verified status
4. Save changes

Verified users appear with a verification badge throughout the site.

SDK Integration

Developers can access profile data via the Sociable SDK:

$sociable = Sociable::getInstance();

// Get profile by user ID
$profile = $sociable->profiles()->getById($userId);

// Get profile by handle
$profile = $sociable->profiles()->getByHandle('johndoe');

// Get avatar URL
$avatarUrl = $sociable->avatars()->getUrl($userId, 64);

// Search profiles
$results = $sociable->profiles()->search([
    'search' => 'john',
    'profile_type_id' => 1,
    'limit' => 20,
]);

Next Steps

• Setting Up Groups - Create discussion groups
• Activity Streams - Configure the activity feed
• Points System - Award points for profile completion