How UNA Works

UNA is a Community Management System. You can build unique social apps with it. Out of the box, you get the website and the server application.

The frontend is fully responsive, customisable and mobile friendly. It can be shipped as a Progressive Web App.

The backend includes the database, server application and the configuration system, called Studio.

Only site operators can access the Studio, while content administration happens in the frontend.

Apps are the main building blocks in UNA. You can add Apps and configure them in the Studio to create unique experiences for your users. Apps can be modules, system tools, templates, languages, and integrations.

Frontend

When you launch your site with a Starter Kit, you get a generic social app, with a few preinstalled apps and some dummy content.

UNA has two main types modules - Content and Context. Some Context modules also act as Profiles.

Content modules such as Timeline, Posts, Discussions, Videos, and [Albums][Albums] allow your users to publish and share various types of content. The system supports media storage, uploading, and transcoding.

Context modules such as [Groups][Groups], [Events][Events], [Spaces][Spaces], and [Courses][Courses] work as containers for content. Users can publish content into context modules, which will set visibility boundaries.

Some context modules like [People][People] and [Organizations][Organizations] work as profiles. Users can publish content in their profiles and profiles are referenced as Authors in other modules.

The Timeline module includes its own content type, called “Updates” and it can absorb listings from all other content and context modules.

Studio

Studio is a powerful configuration system. It comes with a few Core apps which you can use to customize your site. Let’s go through them briefly…

• Dashboard shows the application status, system version, space used, cache, and server audit, etc.
• Apps Market is where you download new apps, install, and update them.
• Settings includes the general System configuration and quick access to settings from other apps.
• Storage gives you a way to upload and control media used for site configuration.
• Polyglot handles your language keys and values, localization settings, and email templates.
• Designer allows you to choose a default site layout and template; upload custom logos, icons, and cover images; prepare your progressive web app manifest and inject custom styles.
• Accounts app gives high-level control of all user accounts as well as the accounts export tool.
• Pages app is the page builder, where you can modify pages provided by other modules or create new custom pages. You can control layouts, choose blocks, set visibility, inject page-specific styles, and manipulate individual blocks on each page.
• Navigation builder controls all the menus found in the system and installed modules. You can reorder navigation items, change visibility, structure hierarchy, add new links, and create whole new menus with reusable item sets and predefined styles.
• Forms builder is the most powerful tool which gives the way to manipulate the forms of all modules in various presentation modes. This is where you choose what information to collect, what can be edited, what to show to specific membership levels data lists to use.
• Permissions app lets you set up membership levels and choose which actions every level can perform. A few system levels are already configured and you can add your own as required.
• Roles app is for separating Operator permissions, so that you choose to limit your staff access to specific categories of apps in Studio.
• Badges module allows you to add reusable badges that admin can give to the users.
• Developer app unlocks advanced settings for the configuration and the main builders. It is designed for the more experienced site operators.
• API app is where you enable the API, add origins and create authentication keys.

There are many more apps you can install to add more options for your users and more tools for the site operators.

Deployment and Scaling

UNA is designed as a platform for independent communities. You control the site data and host the software. Depending on your server configuration, UNA can be used for a small community or it can handle millions of active users. There are no limits on the number of users, storage, customization options, or code modifications.

You can start a small community and use basic features, then grow big and evolve the experience. Good luck and happy building!