DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF WEB-BASED STUDENT SOCIAL NETWORKING

CHAPTER ONE

1.1. INTRODUCTION

Social life in most of our University is diminishing because of some factor. These limitations of social life have affected some of the students not to know how to relate in the outside world. In Caritas University socialism is a problem. In building a social network website for the University will make the University to solve the problem of the anti socialism. A social network is a social structure made up of individuals (or organizations) called "nodes," which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike,  or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.

1.2      BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Caritas University is made up of four (4) faculties namely:

1. Engineering with the following departments: Computer, Mechanical, Chemical and Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
2. Environmental with the following departments: Architecture, Urban & Regional Planning and Estate Management.
3. Management and Social Sciences with the following departments: Accountancy, Economics, Business Administration, Public Administration, Political Science, Industrial Relation and Personnel Management, Mass Communication, Marketing, Banking and Finance.
4. Natural Sciences with the following departments: Biochemistry, Computer Science & Information Technology, Industrial Chemistry, Mathematics & Statistics and Microbiology & Biotechnology.

In Universities like Caritas, the need for automated method of keeping data has been there. Software, so many of them has been developed and even sold worldwide to solve this problem. I have analyzed these software and discovered that very many of them are inefficient. Students as well has researched and developed their own software but they could not give or develop error free software that will assist in result generation, automated course registration to keep or build a database of results in the University that will facilitate students’ transcripts.

This problem has been delaying or delayed the results of graduating or graduated students that has made some of them not to go for youth service when they ought to or ought to have gone and has even made some not to have gone at all. To bridge this gap or solve this problem, there is a need to develop software that is accurate, error free as the problem has imposed so much stress on both exams and record and the management in Universities.

1.3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objectives of the study are Caritas Social Network while the subsidiary objectives are:

1. To Effectively and efficiently communication of staff and student online
2. To Reduce pressure on seminars by introducing online seminar
3. To Enhance the University document management
4. To Reduce queue in seeing of lecturers and head of departments
5. To Reduce anti Socialism
6. To Creation of educative groups online to enhance learning
7. To Forming reading partners online
8. To Making new friends online
9. To Boasting the image of the school

1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of this study is centered on designing and automated and web-based application for student online communication and reduction of anti socialism. The system is strictly based on students, management and lecturers communication and online seminars and suggestion and specially for making of friends.

1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Viewing critically the inefficiencies in the social life of student relationship presently in Caritas University, Amorji Nike Enugu, the need to develop and implement online social network website that will handle such inefficiencies cannot be over emphasized.

1.6. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Constraints of time and resources are the factors, which prevented the implementation of this system hosted online.

1.7    DEFINITION OFTERMS/VARIABLES

Computerized: Convert to computer – based system to install or start using a computer system to organize, control, or automate something.

Processing: To deal with somebody or something according to an established procedure

Communication: Interaction between two or more person or sending of message from one place to another

Online: Connected via computer attached to or available via a central computer or computer network.

System: Set of computer components i.e. in assembly of computer Hardware, Software and peripherals functioning together.

Automation: The replacement of human workers by technology; A system in which a workplace or process has been converted to one that replaced or ministries human labour with electronic or mechanical equipment.

Web: A complex structure, or design www: computer-based network of information resources that combines text and multimedia. The information on the www can be accessing and search through the internet, a global computer network.

Database: Any collection of data organized for storage in a computer memory and designed for easy access by authorized users.

Database Update: This simply means applying and maintaining changes on a database after data must have been added, removed or modified

System Administrator: This is a person responsible for maintaining and operating a computer system.

 PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (the name is a recursive acronym) is a widely used, general-purpose scripting language that was originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages.:  Hypertext Preprocessor is the code used to link the database to the interface of the website, it is a server code.

Apache: It is the server used for designing php, python pages.

SQL: Structured query language, it is a code used to query or insert records in a database.

MySQL is a relational database management system (RDBMS) that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases.

PhpMyAdmin: is an open source tool written in PHP intended to handle the administration of MySQL over the World Wide Web.

CSS: Cascading Style Sheet is a programming language used in the graphics and fine tuning of the website

SwishMax: It is animation software used in doing all the animations in the website.

Macromedia Dreamweaver: It is the software used in organizing the website.

Macromedia Fireworks: It is the software used to create or the graphics and images in the website.