PeepSo Extras: AutoFriends

Your automatic friend has a limit too, 200 by default

You put the community account on the AutoFriends list and every person who registers has it as a friend from the first moment. It works, which is why it is easy to forget the other setting that affects it: the maximum number of friends, which is 200 by default.

That limit applies to all users, administrators included, and to AutoFriends as well. An account that befriends every new signup is the one that approaches the limit fastest. If your community expects to pass that many signups, decide beforehand what number you want, knowing that setting it too high may slow the site down.

AutoFriends automatically creates friendships between the users you choose and new PeepSo members. Its features do not include contact suggestions between members: every automatic friendship has one of your listed users at one end.

New signups and members who were already there

Each situation is handled its own way:

• New members: a user on the list becomes a friend of everyone who registers from that moment on. Nothing happens with people who already had an account.
• Existing members: the "Befriend All Users" button creates the friendship between that user and everyone else in the community.
• Several users at once: check their boxes and apply "Befriend All Users" as a bulk action.

If you install this on a running community, remember that being on the list does not reach people who are already members. For them you have to use the action explicitly, and the friend limit still counts.

Who belongs on the list

Whoever appears here becomes a contact of every new signup, so the choice defines who that person's relationship with the community starts with. A brand account, a team member who looks after members, or the person who runs activity on the site are reasonable options, and each one conveys something different.

Keep the human factor in mind too: if you choose a real person, they will receive the friendship of every new member. An account created for this purpose lets you share the task across the team and keeps personal accounts out of it.

You can list several users, but each one adds friendships to every signup. Start with the ones who have a clear reason to be there.

Leaving the list does not erase what was created

Removing a user, with their Remove button or the bulk action, stops future friendships. Connections already created stay. If you change the welcome account, the previous one keeps all those friends, and they still take up its allowance.

It is worth trying the chosen account with a few signups before opening registration to everyone, because each signup leaves a connection that does not go away when you take the account off the list.

Where to find it in your PeepSo

AutoFriends became part of the Friends plugin in current versions of PeepSo. On a recent installation there is no need to activate it separately: its options are in the Friends settings tab. Check which version you run before installing this add-on.

1. Open the Friends configuration in PeepSo.
2. Review the maximum number of friends and adjust it to your expected signups.
3. Search for the user by name in the AutoFriends field and select them.
4. Register a test account and check that the friendship appears.
5. If the community already has members, decide whether to apply "Befriend All Users".

To accompany whoever has just joined

All of this runs on PeepSo. With PeepSo Core: Chat, members get private messages and real-time chat, with the option of allowing messages only between friends. If you turn that on, test how it behaves with your welcome account.

PeepSo Groups offers spaces by topic, and PeepSo Email Digest sends activity roundups by email and can target only people who have not visited for a set number of days.

The limit, the list and older friendships

Does it affect members who are already registered?

Only if you use the "Befriend All Users" action. The list acts on new signups.

Does the friend limit affect administrators?

Yes. It applies to all users, including administrators and AutoFriends accounts.

Can I raise the maximum of 200?

Yes, from the Friends configuration, although a value set too high may slow the site down.

Are friendships deleted when someone is removed from the list?

No. Only future ones stop.

Can I add several users?

Yes, and bulk actions let you apply "Befriend All Users" or remove several at once.