simplelets

simplelets is an open-source community platform built to support Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS). LETS networks enable members to trade goods and services using a mutual credit system — exchanging time, knowledge, and effort instead of money.

This application has powered real-life LETS networks for decades and is designed to be both feature-complete and inclusive, serving a diverse user base that spans from young adults in their 20s to elderly users over 70. It balances legacy browser support with progressively modernized, smartphone-friendly UI components.

🌐 Features

• CMS-based public site: Visitors can browse informational pages about the LETS network without logging in.
• Authentication and roles: Standard members, admins, and superadmins with graduated permissions.
• Member directory: View and contact other LETS participants.
• Service marketplace:
• Search and browse available services.
• Broadcast requests to opted-in members.
• Flea market: Publish photos of items to give away.
• Accounting system: Track transactions in work units (mutual credits).
• Profile management: Add or update personal offerings and availability.
• Admin reporting: Export XLS reports of user and service activity.
• CMS tools: Admins can manage informational pages and uploaded documents.
• Superadmin tools: Control full-text search indexing.

📸 Screenshots

For screenshots and annotated views, visit the Wiki.

🛠 Installation

This is a LAMP-based application. It runs on a traditional PHP + MySQL setup using Apache with mod_php.

Requirements

• Apache HTTP Server (with mod_php)
• PHP 8 (default version from Debian)
• MySQL (any version from the last 20 years)
• Composer (to install dependencies)
• No CRON jobs or background workers required

Setup Steps

1. Clone the repository or download the latest release.
2. Install dependencies:

   composer install

1. Configure your instance:

2. Copy config/config.ini.sample to config/config.ini

3. Edit config.ini with your database and site settings

4. Initialize the database:

5. Import the schema from install/db-creation.sql

6. Serve with Apache:

7. Ensure mod_rewrite is enabled if friendly URLs are needed

8. Place the app under your DocumentRoot
9. Login with admin credentials created during setup

📦 Modernization Notes

• The app originally used Sphinx for search. It is now being updated to use a custom-built full-text search engine.
• Bootstrap 5 is replacing the legacy jQuery UI components.
• The UI is progressively enhanced for better mobile usability.

👥 Contributions

We welcome feedback and contributions from the community! You can:

• Use the app for your local LETS network
• Report bugs or request features
• Help modernize the codebase
• Suggest improvements to the UI for better accessibility

📌 Visit our project page: https://sourceforge.net/projects/simplelets/

🗨️ Feature suggestions: Submit via SourceForge

📜 License

This project is released under an open source license. Please see the LICENSE file (if available) or the SourceForge project page for details.