Social Network
Chamilo includes a built-in social network for connecting with other users on the platform — separate from any specific course. Whether you have access to it depends entirely on your administrator: it's on by default, but can be turned off platform-wide.
Whether You Have Access
Click Social network 
in the sidebar to expand it, then click Home. If this option isn't there at all, your administrator has disabled it for your platform — there's nothing missing on your end.
The same expanded section also lists Messages, My friends, Social groups — and, a little unexpectedly, My files (your personal file storage) and Personal data (an export of the personal data the platform holds about you). Those last two aren't social features; they're just grouped into this part of the sidebar.
Your Social Wall
Once inside, your wall shows a feed of activity from you and the people you're connected with. You can post updates, and — if enabled by your administrator — like or dislike, and comment on, posts from your connections.
Connecting With Others
You can search for other users and send them a connection request. As a learner, you can only connect with other learners — you cannot send a connection request to a teacher. A teacher, on the other hand, can send one to you. On some platforms, your administrator configures teachers to automatically appear as friends to every learner, without either side having to request it — if you see teachers already listed as connections without asking, this is why.
Messaging From the Social Network
Posts and connections are the social side; sending someone a private message is handled by the platform's separate Inbox — the social network links into it rather than having its own separate messaging system.
Floating Chat and Video Calls
The floating chat panel is a separate real-time messaging feature from the Inbox and from a course's own Chat tool. Select an online contact to chat directly.
If your administrator has enabled video chat and your browser supports WebRTC, an online contact can also show Start video call. Calls are one-to-one: an incoming call can be Accepted or Declined, and during the call you can mute the microphone, turn the camera on or off, or hang up. Your browser may ask for camera and microphone permission.
If the video action is not shown, the feature may be disabled by the administrator, the other user may be offline, or the browser may not support the required media APIs.
Social Groups
You can join existing social groups built around shared interests, and — if your administrator allows learners to create groups — start your own. Social groups are platform-wide and unrelated to a course's own Groups tool (see Finding Your Way Around a Course); joining or posting in a social group has no effect on any course you're enrolled in.
Tips
Don't expect to add a teacher as a friend yourself — it only works the other way around, unless your administrator has configured automatic connections.
Social groups and course groups are unrelated — don't confuse a course project group with a social-network group of the same name.
Not seeing likes or dislikes? Your administrator can enable, or partially disable (keeping only "like"), that feature platform-wide.
Last updated
Was this helpful?