As the web becomes more social, a new and interesting way to follow  people across the Internet has emerged. Termed as “Activity Streams”, it is popularized by sites like Facebook, Twitter, and other social websites, Activity Streams has now become an essential part of “the Social Web”.

So what are “Activity Streams”?

On the surface, it looks like a simple record of actions performed by people on the Internet. But what makes it interesting is the philosophy behind it. Activity Streams is rooted to a concept called Activity Theory.

We may not be able to discuss the theory in detail , but I am quite certain that Activity Theory may drive the future of the social web. The concept is also very relevant to Open Source communities such as Nooku, as it explores the psychology behind collaboration, motivation and productivity.

Philosophy aside, the technology behind Activity Streams is also evolving. As more and more websites use it, a standard is being developed which will allow Activity Streams to be syndicated in its own protocol instead of using RSS or Atom. To know more about the Activity Streams Standard, read the Draft and the Wiki.

Where does Nooku come into play?

To easily integrate Activity Streams in your Nooku application, a new Nooku Component is here at your service – com_activities. By using this, logging user actions in your Nooku component and rendering Activity Streams can be effortless.

… continue reading …

In my last blog post, I wrote about the awesome new file manager that made its way into Nooku Server Alpha 3. In this blog post we are going to dive a little deeper into how to re-use com_files in your own components. Meet my new friend : com_uploads!

This is a proof of concept component that demonstrates two distinct features:

1. A custom file upload controller that handles file uploads
2. A full featured interface for managing files in your special container

… continue reading …

The Joomla Media Manager is currently a hermetically sealed black box which has been around since the Mambo days. It neither allows extending it, nor can it be easily re-used by developers. Over the past few weeks we have been giving it some much needed love and re-build it from the ground up. Meet : com_files !

For the diehards, in Joomla this component is called com_media. We gave it a new name to better reflect its use and to allow you to also install it in Joomla site. In good Nooku tradition com_files is fully re-usable and extend-able.

If you check out our Nooku Server demo you will notice that the user interface looks very similar to that of Joomla. Don’t let yourself be fooled by the looks. Under the hood this baby has a completely new and shiny engine.

In this blog I’ll walk you over the key points of the refactor and at the end I’ll show you how you can easily integrate this component in your own solutions.

… continue reading …