We are very excited to announce that our first alpha release of JomSocial REST server is available for testing from the development forum. This early build is of course, still minimal in features and serves only public data at the moment. Future builds with proper authentication system are being developed as we speak.

But, what is a "REST" server? Well, it doesn't actually mean that your server can take a rest and process less data. It is simply a new way to represent your content to the rest of the world. A REST server implementation opens many new possibilites for you to serve your content. For example, developing a widget based on your existing photo gallery would be a lot easier.

You may also allow your data to be streamed from other sites, or even on mobile devices. You may create a native iPhone apps that allow users to interact with your content. Someone might be interested in building a mobile application that allows status update  from a mobile device. Perhaps a desktop application that allow your to manage your photos online better. All of these will be made possible with our REST server implementation.

This new component also uses the new framework which future JomSocial will be build upon. Zend Framework. Wait, don't be alarmed! This isn't the same as Zend Encoder. Our source code will always be open and un-encoded. Zend Framework is a solid, enterprise-class php programming framework, which is also open-source under the new BSD license. You may read about it here http://framework.zend.com/ . This allows us to speed up development and have all sorts of nice features from this framework.

Full information and complete API will be made available at our documentation page, http://www.jomsocial.com/docs/JomSocial_REST_API

We are very excited to announce that our first alpha release of JomSocial REST server is available for testing from the development forum. This early build is of course, still minimal in features and serves only public data at the moment. Future builds with proper authentication system are being developed as we speak.

But, what is a "REST" server? Well, it doesn't actually mean that your server can take a rest and process less data. It is simply a new way to represent your content to the rest of the world. A REST server implementation opens many new possibilites for you to serve your content. For example, developing a widget based on your existing photo gallery would be a lot easier.

You may also allow your data to be streamed from other sites, or even on mobile devices. You may create a native iPhone apps that allow users to interact with your content. Someone might be interested in building a mobile application that allows status update  from a mobile device. Perhaps a desktop application that allow your to manage your photos online better. All of these will be made possible with our REST server implementation.

This new component also uses the new framework which future JomSocial will be build upon. Zend Framework. Wait, don't be alarmed! This isn't the same as Zend Encoder. Our source code will always be open and un-encoded. Zend Framework is a solid, enterprise-class php programming framework, which is also open-source under the new BSD license. You may read about it here http://framework.zend.com/ . This allows us to speed up development and have all sorts of nice features from this framework.

Full information and complete API will be made available at our documentation page, http://www.jomsocial.com/docs/JomSocial_REST_API

Find out how the Total Practice Management Association used JomSocial to help members communicate and share, and gain work / life balance. 

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQpKV5GIJpY 480x320]

How did they do it?

1. deployed in under 6 weeks
2. with NO dedicated developer
3. for less than $150 !

An ipod nano is coming your way to... help you run your business! :) . Check out their site at, http://www.totalpma.org

I just wanted to share with you some of our ideas that didn't make it to the final build. We have tons of ideas and out talented designer occasionally come up with some ideas just for fun. Many of these work never get out of our hard-disk, but I think, what the heck, lets just show them to everyone.

In this design, notice that there are a few profile picture that visitor can view. Recent activities can also be filtered by time. Profile status can be commented on and a longer version of the status update is also available.

This is an idea for the generic "browse members" page. Action such as add as friend and write message is group together in a nice bar. Each profile also includes location information and when the status update was updated.

We have this idea of a collapsible photo gallery view, where with a mouseover or a click, you can view additional information regarding a photo album.

Another idea for the profile page. Here, photo gallery and the wall take a center-stage and the recent activities sit on the sidebar.

Another concept for the profile page.

Some of the mockups for the group page. Notice that each category has nice icons to it.

Anyway, if you guys have a nice sketch for us, pass it over and we'll be happy to discuss it. :)