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This is not really a request for support, but food for thought on Friendica groups



Good evening everyone!
This is not a request for support, but an invitation to reflect on Friendica groups and their graphical representation in the Friendica interface.

1) Try going to the link https://lemmy.ml/c/helpers@forum.friendi.ca
This is how Lemmy interprets Friendica groups (yes, there are still some things that don't work well, but for now we can focus on the interface: Who knows if @Dessalines and @nutomic will ever be able to solve these problems?).
Here are a couple of screenshots
Viewing posts from a Friendica group in the Lemmy web interface

Viewing a thread in a Friendica group in the Lemmy web interface


2) Try downloading a Lemmy app like Raccoon (it's a recent and very promising app developed by @Diego Beraldin ) and view the Helpers community.
These are the screenshots of the app
Viewing the list of posts from a Friendica group in a Lemmy app

The list of Lemmy communities and Friendica groups within a Lemmy app

Basically, I would be really happy if the Friendica interface (or at least an app) managed to enhance the Friendica groups which, in my opinion, represent one of the most beautiful added values ​​of the Fediverse.

I add a further "off topic" which is that if an app for Mastodon managed to represent Friendica groups in such an intuitive way, Friendica would only have to gain.

Unfortunately today Friendica groups are a wonderful idea, but their use is still very bizarre; at the same time Friendica could be the killer application of the Social Fediverse, but at the moment it seems more like a (very fun) game reserved for geeks...

Could a radical rethink of the interface represent the future path?

!Friendica Support
@Dessalines @nutomic @Diego Beraldin
hoergen (Ai)
This is definitely a post for github or at least the developer group. And I don't understand the whole prequel with all the screenshots to come to the point in the last 2 paragraphs.

Try your luck. I gave up years ago.
anubis2814
@Informa Pirata @nutomic @Dessalines @Diego Beraldin
If you have any specific suggestions, put in a new feature request at github. https://github.com/friendica/friendica
Piece meal suggestions will be more likely to cause changes than an over all large concept. More people than ever are involved with volunteering on the site. Friendica also has no head and doesn't take donations just donated time. Friendica has been like building a mansion verses building a shack and has taken a lot longer than most other platforms. It was not a great platform in 2018 when i first logged in but still liked it better than dispora and Mastodon. I have a tutorial video series from 2020 and it was a mess and working on one for this year and its so much better and different.
Its not the surperior product no one knows about.
DieguiTux8623
do you think it would be possible/necessary to develop a dedicated client for Friendica?
anubis2814
@Diego Beraldin @Informa Pirata I know @Hank G ☑️ is working on one. I just use pin to home because its pretty well aligned to working on a phone browser. I've thought about figuring out how to do what pixelfed does which will automatically install a pin to home as an "app". Friendica is also changing really fast now and adding new features that will be difficult for a dedicated app to keep on top of. The only thing the friendica pin to home can't do is notifications. But people are so addicted to apps that they can't just install something like that without an something in the app store.
Also, the groups are specific to the DFRN protocol. It would need to get expanded into the activitypub protocol as well. Groups have been kind of a neglected feature here because there are so many issues that needed fixing first. Now that those are out of the way they will probably have more time to work on groups. I think thats what you need to add. Make groups interoperable with activitypub.
Informa Pirata
@anubis2814 I understand your point, but GUP groups are sparse and poor and have not led to the development of a way to represent them intuitively. To date, however, the Lemmy communities are the best example of implementation of AcivityPub groups and, above all, the most intelligent way of graphical representation of ActivityPub groups

@Hank G ☑️ @Diego Beraldin
Informa Pirata
@Diego Beraldin I think it's FUNDAMENTAL! Friendica even with its problems is the most advanced and complete tool in the Fediverse and a well-made Friendica app would show that there is a striking difference between Friendica and microblogging like Mastodon or toys like Misskey.
However, I fear that it is VERY UNLIKELY: a well-made app has rather high costs (between 50k and 100k for a good Android app; 200k for a good iOS and Android app) and the Friendica user base is small: in the world there are more Black Rhinos than Friendica users!
anubis2814
@Informa Pirata @Diego Beraldin Good to know. I haven't used Lemmy, I never was a redditor. That might be a useful model.
janTeko@androiddev.social If you are looking to help out with the android app we might need figure out a front end new feature review in the pipeline to give you a heads up so you can keep on top of it. @Hank G ☑️
DieguiTux8623
@anubis2814 @hankg yes I am willing to collaborate, if I can, of course!
anubis2814
@Diego Beraldin @Hank G ☑️ @Informa Pirata BTW When it comes to dealing with development issues @Friendica Developers is where you will likely get an answer from the devs. Mind you they will probably saw, got to github and put a request in.
Hank G ☑️
As as pointed out by @anubis2814 I have been working on a dedicated app called Relatica. There is at least one other dedicated app that has had development started long before mine but it was Android only. Mine targets both iOS and Android on mobile and Linux, Mac, and Windows on desktop. Although development has been more in fits and starts than I'd like it is something that I use throughout the day every day. I need to put some quick touches on it and put it in full release already. Feel free to DM me for a TestFlight invite if you want to try the iOS or Mac version #friendica #relatica https://gitlab.com/mysocialportal/relatica/
#friendica #relatica
anubis2814
@Informa Pirata From what i can tell, it mostly needs just the ability to comment on groups from activitypub using the ! feature. Are there other issues you think needs addressing on the general fediverse? Perhaps the format will require tagging the group and then starting the sentence with !. I also can't find groups on firefish so unsure why that is. I can find the
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