Could I set up an app with a "Friending" system? aka could app users control what users could see their data?

Questions
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TLDR: Can you make a “Friending” system in Bubble? Do you need any plugins to make it work (and, if so, which one(s), please =) )? Any Bubble/community tutorials or guides that I should be sure to check out ASAP for the needed knowledge/features to make it work?

All help appreciated! =)

Hi. I just learned about Bubble today while researching for a platform to build an app idea I’ve had for over half a year and am checking feasibility on this platform.

A key feature and challenge is basically to make a decent system for users to “Friend” each other.

  • Users able to
    • contribute their own personal information
      • their schedule and
      • their interests and preferences
    • And choose what other users are allowed to see their information
      (i.e. Friends can have read access to their data)
      ((Bonus if they could have separate levels of access required to see more depth of someone’s information, letting users mark someone as an “Acquaintance”, “Friend”, or “Trusted Friend”))

I guess the simplest implementation that I have thought of so far is:

  1. Unique User login is required
  2. Give each user a unique ID#
  3. Users can generate entries in a master data table listing their ID# and an ID# of a friend that they wish to trust, and a number relating to the level of trust granted.
    (3.b. Also will have another table listing the User’s ID# and the ID# of people that they Want info from, as the second part of verification, so you don’t have random people offering their data to others without being requested.)
  4. Another table would combine the data into a master friends list and be referenced when seeing what user(s) data is approved for querying.
  5. User triggers queries or smart table filtering of some sort to see who has matching opportunities in their schedule.

Is this all totally do-able in Bubble or are there any roadblocks that I should know about, or custom plugins that I’d need to write in javascript or have someone write?

I’ve worked on the logic of comparing schedules a lot. I mainly need to know about a friending system and maybe that there’s no issue setting up cross-table queries triggered by user clicks.

Thanks for your time,

-pwpickett

Extra Reading =)
Background making this in Google Sheets:
I’d been prototyping this in Google Sheets and really wanted to get it onto a platform that I could make a product that the average person could use without getting scared off by the fact that it’s a spreadsheet. (Or requiring me to get each new user their own copy of the User Interface & Data spreadsheet in order to make it work).

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Sounds pretty easy to me. I’d even say easier than you are saying in your post.

  1. Unique User login is required (yup)
  2. Give each user a unique ID# (only if you can think of a reason why this is needed)
  3. Users can generate entries in a master data table listing their ID# and an ID# of a friend that they wish to trust, and a number relating to the level of trust granted. (I don’t see the need for an ID to do this, just create a list field in the user table. That list is what would allow “friends.”)
  4. (3.b. Also will have another table listing the User’s ID# and the ID# of people that they Want info from, as the second part of verification, so you don’t have random people offering their data to others without being requested.) (Same as above, make another list field on the user data type.)
  5. Another table would combine the data into a master friends list and be referenced when seeing what user(s) data is approved for querying. (Sounds unnecessarily complicated)
  6. User triggers queries or smart table filtering of some sort to see who has matching opportunities in their schedule. (also sounds unnecessarily complicated)

To answer your questions, all of this is totally do-able. Honestly, almost anything you can think of is do-able. Some things have complications that you might need help with, but I haven’t come across anything yet that I haven’t found a way to get done.

2 Likes
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Yup, exactly that… bravo, @ben4. I have this same thought every time I see a post asking if something can be done on Bubble. Don’t get me wrong… I understand folks wanting to do their due diligence… but there are over 700,000 Bubblers out there, so chances are good that no matter what you are trying to do, someone has come up with one or more ways to get it done.

Also, with the amount of functionality Bubble gives away for free on the Hobby plan, I would never understand why someone wouldn’t just dive right in and give their idea a try… there’s no better due diligence than that.

Anyway, I’m adding no value to this thread, but I just wanted to applaud that comment because it’s spot on.

Best…
Mike

2 Likes
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Alrighty. Thanks.

I’ve done the first 3 tutorials, now and the 2nd showed me how the system totally expects unique users to login, so I’m confident that I’ll be able to do the things that I need.

I’ll continue learning, ben4. Thanks for your vote of confidence.

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Yup, message me if you have any questions.

:slight_smile: