We’re exploring the possibility of moving our citizen science community to Friendica for improved security and ownership. We currently run a wiki at helminthictherapywiki.org and have a Facebook support group with 8,000 members, although engagement is limited (1–4 new posts per day).
We lack the skills and expertise to build this ourselves. Our team consists of two main volunteers focused on internet services (others manage social media like Instagram). One volunteer, John, is in his late 70s and slowing down, but he cares deeply about Internet security and would prefer a finished product. We can manage the Friendiverse platform once it’s set up.
Cost and Current Setup:
We pay around $30/month for the current wiki hosted on a “wikifarm” (which wasn’t a good decision). Moving the wiki to a proper MediaWiki setup on the same server as Friendica would eliminate the need for multiple servers. The wiki sees minimal traffic (1–2 users at a time, with maybe a dozen at peak times).
About John:
John is very invested in the project, as HT literally saved his life 20 years ago. He is highly security-conscious and would be thrilled to see this secure platform in place. However, he’s slowing down, and the best approach is to provide him with a finished product.
What We’re Looking For:
- An experienced individual to privately set up and install Friendica.
- Details on the cost, setup time, and whether you’d be willing to handle the server setup if we provide the cloud service.
I also need to understand any potential differences between Facebook and Friendica, such as how image uploading or other features might work differently. While I plan to search for this information, any insights you can provide would be helpful.
Respectfully, I don’t think you want to go down this path.
Having a third party setting up a complex software with no commitment for ongoing maintenance leaves you in a bad spot when something breaks or needs updating. And even if this software is great; all technology stacks eventually need some maintenance.
So I think you need someone from your community to step up and be willing to take this on with at least an intention of being there for ongoing maintenance and support. Or, paying for a commercial service who will do this for you.
If you find that person, feel free to reach out to me and I’ll give them some pointers about how to get this up and running and answer some questions about best practices and such. I’m not familiar with Friendica but the setup seems relatively straightforward if you have a web host who supports running Docker containers.
