Setting Up Activity Streams

Overview

The Activity Stream is the heart of Sociable - a dynamic feed where users can share posts, photos, videos, and interact with content from their connections. It supports reactions, comments, sharing, and sophisticated privacy controls.

Activity Settings Configuration

Configure activity settings in Components → Sociable → Settings → Activities:

Setting	Description	Default
Require Post Approval	Posts need admin approval before publishing	No
Allow Media Uploads	Allow image and video attachments	Yes
Max Media Size (MB)	Maximum file size for uploads	10
Max Media Per Post	Maximum attachments per post	10
Allowed Media Types	Accepted file types	JPEG, PNG, GIF, MP4
Enable Reactions	Allow reactions on posts	Yes
Enable Comments	Allow comments on posts	Yes
Enable Sharing	Allow sharing/reposting	Yes

Activity Types

Sociable supports various activity types:

Type	Description
post	Standard text post
photo	Photo post with optional caption
video	Video post with optional caption
share	Shared/reposted content
status	Status update
system	System-generated activity (from integrations)

Creating Activities

From the Frontend

Users can create activities from:

• Main Feed - Compose box at the top of the feed
• Profile Page - "What's on your mind?" composer
• Group Page - Group-specific post composer

Post Features:

• Text content with character limit (configurable)
• Multiple media attachments
• Visibility selection (public/friends/private)
• @mentions and #hashtags

From Administrator

Administrators can manage activities:

1. Go to Components → Sociable → Activities
2. View all activities with:
   • Author information
   • Content preview
   • Visibility setting
   • Reaction/comment counts
   • Moderation status
3. Actions available:
   • Edit content/visibility
   • Publish/unpublish
   • Delete

Post Visibility

Users can control who sees their posts:

Visibility	Who Can See
Public	Everyone, including non-logged-in visitors
Friends	Only approved friends/connections
Private	Only the author (personal notes)
Group	Only members of the specified group

Visibility can be set per-post and defaults to the user's profile setting.

Reactions

Sociable supports rich reactions beyond simple likes:

Reaction	Description
Like	👍 General approval
Love	❤️ Strong appreciation
Haha	😂 Funny content
Wow	😮 Surprising content
Sad	😢 Sympathetic response
Angry	😠 Disagreement

Enabling/Disabling Reactions

Toggle reactions in settings:

• Enable Reactions - Master toggle
• Individual reaction types can be enabled/disabled

Comments

Comments allow threaded discussions on posts.

Features

• Nested Replies - Reply to specific comments
• Mentions - @mention users in comments
• Reactions - React to comments
• Edit/Delete - Authors can modify their comments

Moderation

• Post authors can delete comments on their posts
• Group moderators can delete comments in their groups
• Admins can delete any comment

Sharing

Users can share interesting content:

Share Types

Type	Description
Repost	Share to own feed with optional comment
Quote	Share with added commentary
External	Share link to other platforms

Privacy Considerations

• Only public posts can be shared
• Group posts can only be shared within the group
• Original author is always credited

Media Handling

Supported Formats

Images:

• JPEG/JPG
• PNG
• GIF (including animated)

Videos:

• MP4

Upload Limits

Setting	Default	Notes
Max file size	10 MB	Per file
Max files per post	10	Combined images/videos

Processing

Uploaded media undergoes:

1. Validation (type, size)
2. Virus scanning (if configured)
3. Thumbnail generation
4. Multiple resolution versions

Content Moderation

Post Approval

When enabled, new posts go to a queue:

1. User creates post → Status: pending
2. Admin reviews in Activities section
3. Admin approves/rejects
4. User is notified (if configured)

Spam Detection

Built-in spam filter checks for:

• Banned words/phrases
• URL spam
• Repetitive content
• Known spam patterns

Configure in Settings → Moderation:

• Enable Spam Filter
• Banned Words list

User Reporting

Users can report inappropriate content:

1. Click the "..." menu on any post
2. Select "Report"
3. Choose reason (spam, harassment, etc.)
4. Submit report

Reports appear in Components → Sociable → Reports.

Auto-Hide Threshold

Configure automatic content hiding:

• Posts hidden after X reports (default: 5)
• Hidden posts reviewed by admin
• Admin can restore or delete

Feed Algorithms

Feed Types

Feed	Content Shown
Home	Posts from connections + trending
Profile	User's own posts
Group	Posts within a specific group
Discover	Trending public content

Ordering

Activities are ordered by:

• Creation date (newest first)
• Activity (recent comments bump posts)
• Relevance (engagement score)

Notifications

Activity events trigger notifications:

Event	Notification
Reaction on post	In-app + email
Comment on post	In-app + email
Reply to comment	In-app + email
Post shared	In-app
Mentioned in post	In-app + email

Configure notification preferences in Settings → Notifications.

Activity Feed Module

Display activities anywhere using mod_sociable_feed:

Option	Description
Limit	Number of activities to show
Feed Type	All, following only, or public only
Show Avatar	Display author avatars
Show Reactions	Show reaction counts
Show Comments Count	Display comment count
Cache Time	Cache duration in seconds

SDK Integration

Developers can create and manage activities via the SDK. See Activity API for the complete reference.

$sociable = \Joomla\Component\Sociable\Administrator\SDK\Sociable::getInstance();

// Push an activity. The first argument is an activity rule name — the rule
// must exist in #__sociable_activity_types (see "Activity Rules" below).
$activityId = $sociable->activities()->push(
    'com_myext.article.create',
    'New article published',
    'Short description / preview text',
    $userId,
    ['item_id' => $articleId, 'visibility' => 'public']
);

// Get the public feed.
$feed = $sociable->activities()->getFeed(['limit' => 20, 'offset' => 0]);

// Get activities for a single user.
$personal = $sociable->activities()->getUserActivities($userId, ['limit' => 20]);

// Reactions & comments.
$sociable->activities()->react($activityId, 'like', $userId);
$sociable->activities()->addComment($activityId, 'Great post!', $userId);

Third-Party Integration

Sociable can display activities from integrated extensions. The whole system is driven by activity rules — entries in #__sociable_activity_types that declare which event names are allowed to appear in the stream and how to render them.

Activity Rules

Manage activity rules from Components → Sociable → Badges → Activity Rules:

1. Click Sync Rules to discover and import every sociable_rules.json shipped by installed extensions
2. Toggle individual rules active/inactive (deactivated rules silently drop new pushes)
3. Edit the title, description, layout, asset name, and ordering
4. Add an ad-hoc rule by hand with Create Activity Rule

Sociable also runs the sync automatically on component install/update, so customers don't usually need to click Sync Rules manually.

Creating Custom Rules

For developers integrating custom extensions, the recommended path is to ship a sociable_rules.json file at one of the discovery paths. The full file format and discovery rules live in Registering Custom Rules.

Minimal example:

{
  "version": "1.0",
  "component": "com_myext",
  "activityRules": [
    {
      "name": "com_myext.article.create",
      "assetName": "com_myext",
      "title": "New Article",
      "description": "Activity emitted when a user publishes an article.",
      "uiLayout": "activity.layouts.article",
      "state": 1
    }
  ]
}

Best Practices

For Site Administrators

• Monitor the feed - Regularly review reported content
• Set clear guidelines - Publish community rules
• Use moderation - Enable approval for new users if needed
• Configure limits - Set appropriate upload sizes

For Performance

• Enable caching - Use page caching for feeds
• Limit media size - Smaller uploads = faster loading
• Archive old content - Consider archiving very old posts

Next Steps

• Points System - Award points for posting
• Notifications - Configure activity alerts
• Moderation - Advanced content moderation