www.brainvire.com | 2013 Brainvire Infotech Pvt.

Ltd


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Case Study

Social Networking Platform to
Collaborate Faith Communities


www.brainvire.com | 2013 Brainvire Infotech Pvt. Ltd


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The client demanded a social networking platform to collaborate with faith communities to further
mutual goals for community health and wholeness. We build an interactive website that
encourages better health among congregations with respect for diverse multi-cultural and multi-
faith needs and preferences. Also, it builds the trust and relationships people have in their faith
communities for health promotion and wellness of spirit, mind and body of the individual, families
and communities.

The client wanted the below features:

Connect with your church family and friends
Connect on Sermons, Bible Study and live events
Learn about people in your church and community
Create your own marketplace and trade
Testify about personal events to inspire others
Create groups, manage and share information within specific communities
Meet other believers and get connected with people of faith around the world
Get access to global Bible study, global ministry directory, chats, blogs, video chats,
events, photo album etc.
Admin to sign-up and invite other church members as well as manage all the church
related activities

















Client Requirement
Project Challenges
Team faced the following challenges:

Incorporating and managing up-to-date information, news and related data on the
backend through RSS feeds.

Ensuring a safe and secure transfer of data while integrating 3rd party APIs.

Embedded widgets into the website so the web addresses that customers see will
be relevant to that of the clients site.

Providing and maintaining the database of a wide range of interactive features like
blogs, live events, groups etc. to ensure user participation.

Developing an active social networking site capable of handling millions of users at
the same time without slowing the site down.

Incorporating web usability principles while developing numerous features
designed for enhancing the users website usability.

Implementing stringent security measures that safely handle the vast transfer of
data.





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Technologies Used









Manpower










Planning


Keeping in mind the enormous structure of the website and the challenges involved a
four-tier development approach was adopted consisting of:

The Database layer containing MySQL Server Database, Tables, Triggers and so on.

The Data Access layer containing the Data Access DLL responsible for accessing data from
the database.

The Business Logic layer consisting of all the business logic procedures for modules.

The User Interface Layer which forms the Graphical User Interface of the website.
Operating System &
Server Management
Red Hat Linux OS, Multi-Server Architecture with Staging &
Production Environment through Version Controlling releases, Server
Optimization, Security & SSL Implementation, Scheduler for Back-ups,
Alert Monitoring System Integration, Server Performance Tuning at
regular intervals, Software Firewall Configuration & Maintenance
Development Tools &
Environments
PHP5+, Symfony Framework 1.4, AJAX, HTML5, CSS3 etc.
Database MYSQL Database Server, DB Clustering, DB Optimization, Master
SlaveReplication, Query Optimization, Scheduler for Backups

Project Leader

1

Developers

2

Designers

1

Quality Assurance Testers

1


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Architecture


Designed to be a powerful and robust social networking platform the design approach was built
around PHP and MYSQL server. Modules like Blogs, Events, Groups etc. were developed in PHP
such that they can be executed directly from the UI layer. User experience was enhanced
through the implementation of live RSS feeds into the site.

In order to most effectively access the database in an object-oriented context, an interface
translating the object logic to the relational logic was used to communicate with the relational
databases in an object-oriented manner. An intermediary abstraction layer was created for
accessing data from the database. Stored procedures were used only for complex retrieval of
data from multiple tables and were entirely avoided with conditional syntax to ensure smooth
performance of the website. The UI layer was kept free of any business logic with images,
applications and data being called from their respective servers. Sub-domains were used for the
different areas of the website to guarantee scalability.


Development Highlights


The site was equipped with a robust architecture for performing crucial operations. We used
Symphony Framework to add interactivity to the website without the need of adding too much
of code. The user experience was enhanced through implementation of live RSS feeds and the
web usability guidelines were strictly followed during development. The interface was made
easily navigable through judicious use of AJAX, CSS and HTML controls. The site was developed
and fully functional within a span of 4 months.