Laravel Befriended

Eloquent Befriended brings social media-like features like following, blocking and filtering content based on following or blocked models. Laravel Befriended comes with scopes that manage filtering content that gives you easy control better what your user can see and cannot see.

Switching from 1.1.x to 1.2.x

The main difference is that the traits that are responsible for filtering content got a better eloquent capability.

Make sure you replace the following traits:

• Rennokki\Befriended\Scopes\CanFilterFollowingModels
• Rennokki\Befriended\Scopes\CanFilterUnfollowedModels
• Rennokki\Befriended\Scopes\CanFilterBlockedModels
• Rennokki\Befriended\Scopes\CanFilterUnlikedModels

with the following ones that are paired by the action they filter:

• Rennokki\Befriended\Scopes\FollowFilterable
• Rennokki\Befriended\Scopes\BlockFilterable
• Rennokki\Befriended\Scopes\LikeFilterable

Installation

Install the package:

$ composer require rennokki/befriended

If your Laravel version does not support package discovery, add this line in the providers array in your config/app.php file:

Rennokki\Befriended\BefriendedServiceProvider::class,

Publish the config file & migration files:

$ php artisan vendor:publish

Migrate the database:

$ php artisan migrate

Example

The power of example is better here. This package allows you simply to assign followers, blockings or likes without too much effort. What makes the package powerful is that you can filter queries using scopes out-of-the-box.

$alice = User::where('name', 'Alice')->first();
$bob = User::where('name', 'Bob')->first();
$tim = User::where('name', 'Tim')->first();

$alice->follow($bob);

$alice->following()->count(); // 1
$bob->followers()->count(); // 1

User::followedBy($alice)->get(); // Just Bob shows up
User::unfollowedBy($alice)->get(); // Tim shows up

Following

To follow other models, your model should use the CanFollow trait and Follower contract.

use Rennokki\Befriended\Traits\CanFollow;
use Rennokki\Befriended\Contracts\Follower;

class User extends Model implements Follower {
    use CanFollow;
    ...
}

The other models that can be followed should use CanBeFollowed trait and Followable contract.

use Rennokki\Befriended\Traits\CanBeFollowed;
use Rennokki\Befriended\Contracts\Followable;

class User extends Model implements Followable {
    use CanBeFollowed;
    ...
}

If your model can both follow & be followed, you can use Follow trait and Following contract.

use Rennokki\Befriended\Traits\Follow;
use Rennokki\Befriended\Contracts\Following;

class User extends Model implements Following {
    use Follow;
    ...
}

Let's suppose we have an User model which can follow and be followed. Within it, we can now check for followers or follow new users:

$zuck = User::where('name', 'Mark Zuckerberg')->first();
$user->follow($zuck);

$user->following()->count(); // 1
$zuck->followers()->count(); // 1

Now, let's suppose we have a Page model, than can only be followed:

use Rennokki\Befriended\Traits\CanBeFollowed;
use Rennokki\Befriended\Contracts\Followable;

class Page extends Model implements Followable {
    use CanBeFollowed;
    ...
}

By default, if querying following() and followers() from the User instance, the relationships will return only User instances. If you plan to retrieve other instances, such as Page, you can pass the model name or model class as an argument to the relationships:

$zuckPage = Page::where('username', 'zuck')->first();

$user->follow($zuckPage);
$user->following()->count(); // 0, because it doesn't follow any User instance
$user->following(Page::class)->count(); // 1, because it follows only Zuck's page.

On-demand, you can check if your model follows some other model:

$user->isFollowing($friend);
$user->follows($friend); // alias

Note: Following, unfollowing or checking if following models that do not correctly implement CanBeFollowed and Followable will always return false.

Filtering followed/unfollowed models

To filter followed or unfollowed models (which can be any other model) on query, your model which you will query should use the Rennokki\Befriended\Scopes\FollowFilterable trait.

If your User model can only like other Page models, your Page model should use the trait mentioned.

$bob = User::where('username', 'john')->first();
$alice = User::where('username', 'alice')->first();

User::followedBy($bob)->get(); // You will get no results.
User::unfollowedBy($bob)->get(); // You will get Alice.

$bob->follow($alice);
User::followedBy($bob)->get(); // Only Alice pops up.

Blocking

Most of the functions are working like the follow feature, but this is helpful when your models would like to block other models.

Use CanBlock trait and Blocker contract to allow the model to block other models.

use Rennokki\Befriended\Traits\CanBlock;
use Rennokki\Befriended\Contracts\Blocker;

class User extends Model implements Blocker {
    use CanBlock;
    ...
}

Adding CanBeBlocked trait and Blockable contract sets the model able to be blocked.

use Rennokki\Befriended\Traits\CanBeBlocked;
use Rennokki\Befriended\Contracts\Blockable;

class User extends Model implements Blockable {
    use CanBeBlocked;
    ...
}

For both, you should be using Block trait & Blocking contract:

use Rennokki\Befriended\Traits\Block;
use Rennokki\Befriended\Contracts\Blocking;

class User extends Model implements Blocking {
    use Block;
    ...
}

Most of the methods are the same:

$user->block($user);
$user->block($page);
$user->unblock($user);

$user->blocking(); // Users that this user blocks.
$user->blocking(Page::class); // Pages that this user blocks.
$user->blockers(); // Users that block this user.
$user->blockers(Page::class); // Pages that block this user.

$user->isBlocking($page);
$user->blocks($page); // alias to isBlocking

Filtering blocked models

Blocking scopes provided takes away from the query the models that are blocked. Useful to stop showing content when your models blocks other models. Make sure that the model that will be queried uses the Rennokki\Befriended\Scopes\BlockFilterable trait.

$bob = User::where('username', 'john')->first();
$alice = User::where('username', 'alice')->first();

User::withoutBlockingsOf($bob)->get(); // You will get Alice and Bob as results.

$bob->block($alice);
User::withoutBlockingsOf($bob)->get(); // You will get only Bob as result.

Liking

Apply CanLike trait and Liker contract for models that can like:

use Rennokki\Befriended\Traits\CanLike;
use Rennokki\Befriended\Contracts\Liker;

class User extends Model implements Liker {
    use CanLike;
    ...
}

CanBeLiked and Likeable trait can be used for models that can be liked:

use Rennokki\Befriended\Traits\CanBeLiked;
use Rennokki\Befriended\Contracts\Likeable;

class Page extends Model implements Likeable {
    use CanBeLiked;
    ...
}

Planning to use both, use the Like trait and Liking contact:

use Rennokki\Befriended\Traits\Like;
use Rennokki\Befriended\Contracts\Liking;

class User extends Model implements Liking {
    use Like;
    ...
}

As you have already got started with, these are the methods:

$user->like($user);
$user->like($page);
$user->unlike($page);

$user->liking(); // Users that this user likes.
$user->liking(Page::class); // Pages that this user likes.
$user->likers(); // Users that like this user.
$user->likers(Page::class); // Pages that like this user.

$user->isLiking($page);
$user->likes($page); // alias to isLiking

Filtering liked content

Filtering liked content can make showing content easier. For example, showing in the news feed posts that weren't liked by an user can be helpful. The model you're querying from must use the Rennokki\Befriended\Scopes\LikeFilterable trait.

Let's suppose there are 10 pages in the database.

$bob = User::where('username', 'john')->first();
$page = Page::find(1);

Page::notLikedBy($bob)->get(); // You will get 10 results.

$bob->like($page);
Page::notLikedBy($bob)->get(); // You will get only 9 results.
Page::likedBy($bob)->get(); // You will get one result, the $page