International Student Travel Network launches a new social networking website

Tavant Technologies, a specialized provider of software services and solutions, today announced the successful launch of www.XploreU.com, a social networking website for traveling students.

The vacation life of college travelers, wanderers and wannabe explorers is now made easy. Tons of travel information – everything from hot spots, to capitals, to hostels, to study abroad programs, to making international friends, to finalizing plans, to learning which shots to get, where to go and what to buy. Moreover, students could also get loads of freebies through a points based rewards system. Students can share their thoughts on their travel through blog posts. They can do other activities like commenting on posts, send messages, become friends, write scraps, etc.

Tavant, with its deep expertise in building Web 2.0 based social networking sites, worked jointly with the XploreU team to develop and roll out this feature-rich website in a very short time. Tavant was able to do this efficiently because of its rich experience in this space and a proven agile delivery model. The website is built on the open source Dolphin framework and new functionalities added using Dolphin services and entities. Custom widgets were built for calendar and trip planning.

"Tavant has been an ideal partner – they were able to rapidly convert concepts for our next generation social networking website into reality," said Meghan Hoover, CEO of XploreU. "This is what every startup company is looking for."

"Tavant’s expertise in user experience design leveraging Web 2.0 technologies, in-depth knowledge of open source technologies and agile development methodology helped us deliver a quality application in super quick time," said Manish Arya, CTO of Tavant Technologies.

Founded in 2007, XploreU (XU) is an international, student-focused website that leverages social networking to promote global responsibility, travel, cultural awareness and global literacy. By using a mix of expert articles, student-written content and virtual points, XploreU provides a relevant and trusted source of travel information.

The success of the site rests on the contributions of their interns and college students located on college campuses throughout the world. By students encouraging other students to share their experiences on the website, the content and use of the site expands. Point Partners help fund the site, and also provide opportunities to donate additional points, earn discounted travel rates, international products and accessories.