DECLARATION
I hereby certify that this project presented for submission was composed and written by me, and it has
not been submitted in any previous application for degree. This project was conducted by me at Plateau
State University, Bokkos from 20th April, 2024 to 27th September, 2024 towards the fulfilments of the
requirements of Plateau State University for the degree [Link]. under the supervision of Dr. DATUKUN,
Kalamba Aristarkus. In submitting this copy to Plateau State University, Bokkos, I give permission for
it to be made available for academic use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library. I
retain the copyright in this work.
Signature ________________
27th September, 2024 Jeremiah Arin Ajang.
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APPROVAL PAGE
_________________________________ __________________________
Project Supervisor Date
Dr. DATUKUN, Kalamba Aristarkus
___________________________ _____________________
Head of Department Date
Dr. DATUKUN, Kalamba Aristarkus
___________________________ _____________________
Dean of Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences Date
Prof DAMUUT, Luhutyit Peter
__________________________ _____________________
External Examiner Date
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Firstly, I’ll like to acknowledge God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; I love you and thank
you Lord.
I gratefully acknowledge the close supervision and thorough guidance of Dr. DATUKUN, Kalamba
Aristarkus, who was a great teacher all through the time of this project work.
I would like to acknowledge the motivation and creative ideas from other students under my project
supervisor, Samuel Albert Garba, Ezekiel Dalong Wufoebelep, Richard Domzak maktong, Ntiem Paul
Sunday. I also acknowledge all Computer Science 400Level students; it has been an impactful four (4)
years.
Lastly, I would love to acknowledge my friends; Raymond Dizan, Nanlop Jemima Cishak, Precious
Timbyen Timkwali and my parents Mrs. Rifkatu Yakubu, for been a blessing to my life throughout this
project.
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DEDICATION
I dedicate this report to the Holyspirit, who is my guide and strength throughout this interesting and
worthwhile experience.
I also dedicate this report to my lovely mother Mrs. Rifkatu Afe Yakubu and my siblings, James Kaze
Ajang, Ether Abi Ajang for their encouragement, prayers and support.
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ABBREVIATIONS
Plasu …………………… Plateau State University
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLEARATION….......................................................................................................................i
APPROVAL PAGE….....................................................................................................................ii
ACKNOLEDGEMENTS…..........................................................................................................iii
DEDICATION ……………………………………………………………………………...…… iv
ABBREVIATION…………………………………………………………………………………v
TABLE OF CONTENTS…...........................................................................................................vi
TABLE OF FIGURES…................................................................................................................ix
ABSTRACT…................................................................................................................................x
CHAPTER ONE…..........................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION….......................................................................................................................1
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY….....................................................................................1
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM…............................................................................2
1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY..................................................................2
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY…............................................................................2
1.5 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY….................................................................................3
1.6 PROJECT ORGANIZATION…....................................................................................3
CHAPTER TWO….........................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW….......................................................................................................4
2.1 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPT…...............................................5
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2.1.1 History of the Social Media….....................................................................................5
2.1.2 What is an Online Forum?............................................................................................6
2.1.3 Structure of an Online Forum......................................................................................7
2.1.4 Features of an Online Forum.......................................................................................9
2.1.5 Applications of Online Forums.................................................................................10
2.2 REVIEW OF EXISTING SYSTEMS…........................................................................11
2.2.1 The Student Room…...................................................................................................12
2.2.2 Google Groups…........................................................................................................13
CHAPTER THREE…..................................................................................................................15
REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN….....................................................................15
3.1 INTRODUCTION…....................................................................................................15
3.1.1 Proposed System…....................................................................................................16
3.2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND ANALYSIS….....................................................17
3.2.1 Software Architecture of Plasu Student Social Network….......................................17
3.2.2 System Analysis….....................................................................................................18
3.2.3 System Requirements….............................................................................................19
3.3 SYSTEM DESIGN…....................................................................................................21
3.3.1 Object Oriented Analysis and Design…....................................................................21
3.3.2 Unified Modeling Language (UML)…......................................................................21
3.3.3 Use Case Diagram…..................................................................................................22
3.3.4 Sequence Diagram…..................................................................................................30
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3.3.5 Activity Diagram…....................................................................................................31
3.4 DATABASE DESIGN…...............................................................................................33
3.4.1 Description of Tables….............................................................................................33
CHAPTER FOUR….....................................................................................................................35
SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION…..............................................................................................35
4.1 INTRODUCTION…......................................................................................................35
4.1.1 Platforms and Tools Used for Implementation..........................................................35
4.2 SYSTEM DESIGN…....................................................................................................36
4.2.1 The Plasu Student Social network home page….......................................................36
4.2.2 The Guest User registration Interface…....................................................................37
4.2.3 The Login page Interface….......................................................................................38
4.3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS…....................................................................................39
4.4 THE HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS….....................................................................40
CHAPTER FIVE…......................................................................................................................41
SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION…...............................................41
5.1 SUMMARY….......................................................................................................41
5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS AND FURTHER WORKS….....................................41
5.3 CONCLUSION…..................................................................................................42
REFERENCES….........................................................................................................................43
APPENDIX…...............................................................................................................................47
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TABLE OF FIGURES
FIGURE 2.1: Usergroups of an Online Forum................................................................................8
FIGURE 2.2: The Student Room..................................................................................................13
FIGURE 2.3: Google Groups…....................................................................................................14
FIGURE 3.1: Software Architecture of StudentHub….................................................................17
FIGURE 3.2: The Use-Case diagram for the Online Forum........................................................23
FIGURE 3.3: The Administration and Interaction Subsystems....................................................24
FIGURE 3.4: Registration Subsystem….......................................................................................25
FIGURE 3.5: The Sequence diagram for the System...................................................................30
FIGURE 3.6: The Activity diagram for the Guest Student….......................................................31
FIGURE 3.7: Dataflow diagram...................................................................................................34
FIGURE 4.1: Plasu student social network Home Page …..........................................................37
FIGURE 4.2: The Guest Student Registration Page……………………………………………..38
FIGURE 4.3: Log-in Page Interface..............................................................................................39
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ABSTRACT
The internet has been a platform for individuals, groups of people and companies to
interact with one another through the social media. The social media has truly aided
interaction and even other business services through social networks, forums, blogs, etc.
Forums are now been used as tools/platforms to create discussions, connect to people
(mostly of similar interests) and as sources of relevant information. This work intends to
make use of forums as tools in helping prospective university students to make the right
decisions about their choice of career, choice of environment, etc.
Based on an in-depth review of some relevant literatures, some key requirements have
been considered in the development of a suitable web application. This online forum will
be developed for students to cater for some of their needs and solve some of the
issues they face with their choice of career, their course of study, the accessibility of
relevant information about any institution, etc.
