Parth Lawate wrote:

We do have a app Development Wing over at Techjoomla called as Apptitude..

We would love to take this up.. However we should generally remember that app development is complex & we should be decide which of these features need to make it into a Native app.. Lets continue the discussion & see what needs to get in.. and then maybe we can raise funds from interested users & pool to get the base app built ?

We can then maybe come up with affordable support & addon pricing plans..

Let me know

Parth

To be honest with you Parth, i didn't have a good experience with your joomla extesnions, you have many listed ones but the ones i tried were buggy .. i have an open support ticket for almost 15 days and no one attended it .. so not sure if its the same with apptitude ..

@Muhanad, I am extremely sorry you have had a bad experience ! Are you using any on Joomla 3.2 ? We dont have everything compatible as yet..

Can you please email me your ticket id/ username ? We generally have a policy to make sure tickets are answered in 24 hours min to 48 hours at a maximum ( longer on weekends) .. The actual time is much shorter usually..

15 days is unacceptable.. Please send the same in to contact@techjoomla.com. We'll make sure your issues are resolved & also give you a top up on your subscription to compensate for the long time you have had to wait for whatever reasons.

Awaiting your reply..

It's really good to see extension developers being responsive about what they do I am pretty sure that there's just some slight miscommunication there Muhanad

Hello Parth,

Thank you for the follow up, your team has contacted me and did fix my issue .

Mark, thank you for offering an inviting place for other extension developers to use

You are most welcome

Hello Parth,

if there is anything planned and there is as i understood from mark, can you let us know what is planned, plans, roadmap, dates.. etc


Regards,

Hello Muhanad,

They have actually already drafted the specs, we'll look into that I am not feeling well for a couple of days already but I will take a look at it as soon as I get better.

Hey Muhanad,

As Mark said, the specs document is done. We are currently reviewing it together to make sure nothing is missed out. We don't have an ETA yet, but once our review is done we should be in a position to make some estimations of a beta release.

I hope we can count on you as a beta tester

Hello guys,

I'm glad you are doing progress here. Can't wait to see the roadmap and what the future hides for this app. Parth, i will definitely be interested in beta testing.

Please guys always keep us informed and updated. include is in planning and concept development, what features should make it first and so on ..


Mark feel well soon.

Regards,

Thanks Muhanad

Hi,

Some news about how is going ? i am very interest in this

Thank you

Hello Claudio,

We are currently very occupied with the development of EasySocial 1.2 but we'll be adding the REST api in 1.3 that allows Techjoomla to make these API calls

Hi Mark

I am very glad to hear this ! Thank you Mark

No problem

Hello Mark,

So techjoomla didn't start working on it at all and they need to wait for the REST api?


Regards,

They did started working on the specs but I haven't had the time to review them We're most likely going to go ahead with this only after 1.2 stable is out as this 1.2 baby is really extremely huge and I have to devote all my time for her haha

Mark, is it correct to say that Stack Ideas will be creating with the 1.3 release an EasyDiscuss plugin that will work with TechJooml's REST API for Joomla? WOW dreams really do come true if that's what this will be. If not, would you clarify for me? Thank you

Yes, that's correct. We have too much stuffs being added on the 1.2 release and adding the REST api on 1.2 would only complicate things. We'll add this in 1.3

Absolutely Incredible, thank you Mark! I didn't realize this was a commitment on the roadmap.

Imagine what's possible with the base of all you've added to 1.2, along with your existing responsive design and a REST API. I'd guess most EasySocial customers are not looking to create a native app with game-level responsiveness to replace the recently removed Flappy Bird. Seems most Joomla CMS-based solutions best veer away from expensive native mobile apps or mobile web apps with limited access to a mobile device's features. Hybrid "solution apps" can be built via many available hybrid-app platform providers.

Add your REST API to Joomla CMS to any of them and you will enable your customers to build niche community solutions once, publish through app stores, and work on several mobile platforms with access to the mobile device features EasySocial craves

Thanks for the heads up on this Eileen

A heads up guys! A blog post about the app coming out on techjoomla.com soon! I'll be posting some pretty cool screenshots and info about the app's progress
While we were waiting for the APIs we've gone ahead and started to piece the app together using mock data, and the first results look pretty nice. Stay tuned!


- Ashwin

Sounds good Parth and I do apologize for the delays, we didn't know that we got too excited for 1.2 and delayed it a little Perhaps you want to share with us some screens?

Good to hear Parth. Looking forward to your screenshot and blog ..

Sure. And glad to know that you love the REST API Eileen!

Just saw your blog post Parth Looks great!

Sounds good. For everyone else.. here's the link to the post -
Sneak Peek into the EasySocial app

Looks good! Great work TechJoomla! I'm not into phone apps and such, but I know my users will be which to have a good community I've gotta please my users.

@Parth looks like you guys definitely have aptitude Each of your six teasers clearly demonstrates you guys are serious! Where do you want ongoing discussions. Here or as comments to your blog post? Maybe you can setup ES 1.2 on your site when it's released and create a group for early adopters/customers for the mobile project

What I like about the whole idea is that by-and-large ES customers build niche sites and both of your company's products can help us add more value as we and our clients are able to offer ways to get in front of customers. As everyone here knows that's the niche social market advantage (afordable advertising for our customers, organic connections, focused message).

Where does your approach fit on the native-mobile//web app//hybrid solution plane?

Yep, it does indeed looks great and we'll be working on the design aspect of it. Our awesome designers are working on screens for it now

Great news and Its great knowing that stackideas will take care of the design .. then we will know it's going to be a nice looking app

Thanks Muhanad

Glad to know you guys liked the screenshots! The team is improving the app everyday and with the designs close, I'm sure we will have a rocking app!

Thanks @Eileen ( appreciated your pun ) .. comments to the blog post should be perfect, so that our development team too can keep an eye on the comments. On the approach, the app is riding the hybrid bandwagon and using Titanium. Cross platform portability comes with relative ease and that too without a big performance hit.

Once the app gets released, we will of course have a section for it on the site for beta testers. I'll make sure you, Munhad and everyone on this thread are invited !

You guys and gal rock. Mark - your extensions are the best ever. I have completely dumped JomSocial and never looked back. Techjoomla, love what you are doing especially with ES mobile app development. When I was on Jomsocial, I purchased the full package from ijoomer and it was painful, very painful. I had to cut my losses and moved on, but if they decide to tackle ES I might reconsider.
With Techjoomla doing their thing I don't think going back to ijoomer will be an option.

Again, Stacks...you guys really, really rock.

Thanks for the kind compliments Donovan If you are using EasySocial, please do post a review for it at http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/clients-a-communities/communities/25616

I am so excited about this App!!

Im just wondering though, after looking at the screencaps, whether 3rd party intergrations that are on the site, will show on the app? Probably not right? I am using JReviews so that I can have a detailed block of detail on the users profile page. Would this still show on the app?

Thanks

Hi Katie and Parth,

I was just going to post about Jreviews!

I'm almost certain that 3rd party extensions like Jreviews would have to be specifically coded into the app.

Parth, will you consider supporting Jreviews?

There are a lot of us who would buy into this. A group of us explored the iJoomer app, which supports Jreviews, but I haven't known of anyone yet who is happy with it (there's an example above).

A large group of us were also looking to support a fellow Jreviews user, who is developing an app for Jreviews + JomSocial, but I'm not sure what is happening, as development is slow.

Adding Jreviews support will give everyone the ability to present structured Joomla articles and content, news and listings within the app, alongside the social features provided by EasySocial.

Also, will you support EasyDiscuss and Kunena?


======edit======

I see Katie, that you are talking about plugins that appear on a member's profile, such as the Jreviews listings, favorites and reviews apps. That's an interesting question if they will show. Perhaps Parth can let us know.

Hi Mark!

So glad to see that I am not the only one wanting to integrate Jreveiws into this app!

For my site Im using the "Review Me" addon mainly, plus normal listings and the advanced search at the moment.

Cant wait to hear what Parth thinks about this!

@Katie, @Mark
3PD Integrations will not make it in the early versions of the App where we will be focusing on getting most of the critical features in Easy Social in first.. We do plan on addition SocialAds support earlier so that your apps can be monetized as well..But when - we don't know yet.

In general from an 'mobile app' perspective, things are a bit more complex compared to a Just integrating Joomla extensions with each other. For one thing, we have to develop REST APIs for all extensions that will Read/Write Data via the Mobile app. Also i am not 100% sure how much pf extension Integrations can be standardized in Mobile apps yet. For instance users use JReviews in many different ways. Which is /are the most common ones that the App should go by ?

I think the Direction the App will take about 3PD integrations once the base version is out is to have standard basic integrations with popular extensions based on Demand. One of the Key Questions is going to be is Should there be one App per extension ( I dont think that will ever work ) or have one app where you can pick & Choose which features to enable..

In think the later way is better.. Where you as the site admin can say you want to .. lets say.. Enable EasySocial & Easy Discuss in the app.. Then the app will only allow those features.

What do you think ?

Sounds great Parth but here's the thing. I guess we need to come up with some standardization on the REST API calls. (I am sorry but i really haven't had the time to dive deep into Ashwin's documentation yet. Very occupied with 1.2 release but I promise I will after the stable is out).

Perhaps one fine day we should sit down together and come up with a working standard that works across all our extensions with similar REST API calls. In fact, the same function naming would be a plus so we all know what to expect / transmit. When all our extensions are working within these "apps", I guess more and more 3PD like JReviews would jump in

Hi Mark,

Yes there will have to be standardization across API calls. Actually we already do it for everything we do with our REST API implementation.. So there is a base for that already..So we should be able to base it on that.

In fact Ashwin's docs should be in that direction.. So once you start discussing & commenting on the same, we can trash that out. On our end, we are moving ahead using Mock APIs so that once the live ones come, we can quickly switch !

Great, thanks for the heads up on this Parth! Please tell Ashwin that I am really sorry for these delays! Something came up with the release which delayed us Bad turbulence

@Katie, I use Jreviews and am also interested in thinking how it could be exposed and leveraged on mobile. In fact, there's a prospective interest in any "ES app" that offers functionality valued by users. There's a similar question on 3rd-party components on mobile here Techjoomla.

@Parth, it would seem this is an opportunity to empower the component developers to embrace and extend your REST API as they are experts in their respective customer base and could provide their own user experience to inform what is exposed and how. The second of two important mobile goals is to 2) focus on component developers. By ensuring a com_api and plugin capability standardized for functions such as joomla user authentication, integration with ES, and push notifications, you could leave the "heavy lifting" including requirements gathering and user experience matters for those already doing so. I know this is what you have done. Have you reached out to the Joomla dev community? That leaves the first important goal:

#1 Focus on the user experience. What do they think after using the app? "Wow, that sucked and I'm glad that's done" or "Hey that was so cool and easy, what else can I do with this app?". I know you're already doing this with Stack Ideas, focusing on the size, shape, and functionality of the mobile device to eliminate points of frustration.

Keep moving forward we can't wait to see the fruits of your creativity and hard work!

Parth Lawate wrote:

I think the Direction the App will take about 3PD integrations once the base version is out is to have standard basic integrations with popular extensions based on Demand. One of the Key Questions is going to be is Should there be one App per extension ( I dont think that will ever work ) or have one app where you can pick & Choose which features to enable..

In think the later way is better.. Where you as the site admin can say you want to .. lets say.. Enable EasySocial & Easy Discuss in the app.. Then the app will only allow those features.

What do you think ?

Thanks for the reply Parth.

Yes, I agree, develop integration with other apps in a modular fashion. This is the approach that the iJoomer guys take (although not executed well from what I've understood). If you want Kunena support, you pay extra, if you want Jreviews support, it is extra again. That is fair enough, as not everyone wants all extensions in their app.

For instance users use JReviews in many different ways

Granted, but you could in the standard implementation support displaying standard Jreviews listings with custom fields and user reviews. When a user clicks on the Jreviews section of the app, you present them with all of the categories that the admin as enabled for the app. iJoomla have taken this approach and their demo app (downloadable from the iTunes and Google Play app stores) will do exactly this on any Jreviews enabled website out of the box.

Secondly, in the standard app you support searching for listings by keyword and geo radius (users with Jreviews GeoMaps module can have their listings geotagged automatically and others can add latitude and longitude fields to listings they want showing on a map). Users can then find listings based on their current or inputed location.

Here's a link to a long thread on the Jreviews forum with interested people looking for mobile app support:

http://www.reviewsforjoomla.com/forum/index.php?topic=12305.60

The interest is there, the potential for your app is enormous.

Anyway, I do agree, get the basics right first (EasySocial and perhaps EasyDiscuss). Forum support is a must have!

Thanks for sharing Mark

Am I the only one who thinks a mobile app is not a good idea? The fact that it is responsive is enough!

First of all, ES is not a stand alone app, most people (>75%) have other extension beside ES in Joomla. So I am browsing my webside on my mobile, then I have to close it and open the app just to see ES, then switch again to the browser if I want to navigate to another page on my website, not practical.

You have to build an app for every OS and maintain it ( iOS, Android, Microsoft, blackberry, etc...), or make it better responsive and all you have to worry is the browser compability among mobile devices.

Unless ES is the only extension you use, then it might be useful. But, since it is already responsive, why bother, I would put my effort on making it better responsive.

Hi Checksum,

You're definitely not the only one and to a point I would agree with you. However, the fact of the matter is that end users are obsessed with apps! Whether this is a good or bad thing does warrant debate, but I for one know that mobile apps for my websites is a must.

In regards to switching between your website and ES in an app, that IMHO is the crux of the matter. 3rd party support is ESSENTIAL for any app to be of genuine use. For me, at least 95% of interactions on my websites could be catered for if ES and just two extensions were supported, Jreviews and EasyDiscuss (or Kunena).

Looking at many ES websites, I'm sure the same could be achieved, as most have ES + a few core content extensions, such as a blog and a CCK type content platform (K2, Jreviews etc). It is just my opinion, but I think what Parth said earlier about taking a modular approach, i.e, letting admins choose which 3rd party apps the need is the only viable approach. It will mean that just about every app will require custom work, but that is unavoidable. In fact, it is a requirement (see below).

One important thing that must be taken into consideration is that Apple will pull 'cookie cutter' apps. If hundreds of us all submit a TechJoomla derived app, that does the same thing, they could all could all be pulled without warning from the iOS App Store! This is another reason why 3rd party support must be high up the agenda. That way, all of our apps will be unique.

If the guys at TechJoomla approach development in the right way, supporting the main platforms is not as difficult now as it was in the past, but I do hear you!

Joomla articles is another thing to consider. I use native articles because they are the most widely supported object type of Joomla (in terms of pages). If the app allowed users to download articles, that would simply be amazing!

Hello checksum,

I think this is for users who want a dedicated "Social Networking functionality" on mobile devices. They probably do not want people to access their site using a browser although their site is responsive

I see what you are saying Mark, an app will definitely make your website stand out. But good luck in making all those extensions work within the same app, it will be a challenge.

Yep, that is a challenge that we all face

@Capslock, you are right. To be fair to them, ijoomer have a single app that they now claims supports JomSocial, Virtuemart , Kunena, Sobi2, SobiPro, jReviews, jEvents, MyBlog and jBolo extensions, on iOS, android and BlackBerry.

Their main issues (and this has been my experience) has been around customer service and pre sales. They've also been plagued with bugs. I think between the Stacked guys and TechJoomla guys, they can come up with a good platform with none of the issues iJoomer faced.

There are many app builders out there that successfully have apps accepted to apples store. Some of these are geared toward developers (i.e. phone gap) and some toward non-developers (i.e. biznessapps). Having said that, Apple does have the most restrictive requirements for admission to their AppStore and I think the section applicable to many ES users is under "Functionality" although that's not the whole story.

Generally I think the more one is focused on bringing their website to a mobile app the more likely that goal is misplaced and runs the risk of failing to meet Apples guidelines. I would focus on what problem the app is solving for Joomla users, leveraging the devices capabilities as much as possible in solving that problem, and making sure the user experience is outstanding.

This is a generality, but the more a TechJoomla platform is focused on a cookie-cutter approach to encapsulating existing Joomla components rather than on providing a rich and easy path for the Joomla component developers to re-imagine their components on a mobile phone in a way that leverages native device capabilities (push notifications, GPS, camera) the greater the likelihood an opportunity is missed to really innovate in this space. Ideally, the type of cooperation between Stack Ideas and TechJoomla would be happening together for all of the most popular and innovative components so the entire platform environment is benefited.

We are all about collaboration & innovation @Techjoomla . The REST API, the Common Payments API are just some examples where we have been able to change the way things happen in Joomla ! We hope to take this chance & all your awesome feedback to do the same with Apps in the Joomlaverse ! Keep the awesome Feedback coming..

Eileen, I believe the solution will need to offer Options on various Levels..

A. Standard Cookie Cutter Apps with as much Customer specific (non Development) customization as possible within those limits
B. REST API adoption on a wider scale initially via com_api & later as part of Joomla core ( Joomla 4 will go towards that) .
C. Developer level solutions via source code changes to build as flexible apps as the client wants utilizing the best MVC & ORM practices via a framework base we are building for this.

This is the rough outline

Good and insightful post @Eileen!

Despite agreeing with almost everything you say, I think that content is king and that, not functionality that makes for a good and unique visitor experience.

@Mark yes I'd agree that content is what makes or breaks a CMS site, I'm just asking questions about whether mobile demands something new or not. It's a different question: what's the goal and what's the user experience of a Joomla CMS on a mobile phone? Is it to take a long article and read that long article on a mobile screen? Is there something new that can connect to that content of that article in another way (by location awareness, by commerce, by ES-type engagement around that content) that adds value to your site's content through the mobile experience? I think this is where re-imagining can offer new solutions.

@Parth that strategy looks awesome, and I know it's what you've been sharing. I'm 100% behind you guys, as far as I know you're the only ones to have such a working Joomla-based extensible solution that offers organic growth and that gets me excited. My focus has been outside of Joomla using JavaScript "cloud integration" via some of the REST integrator platforms out there and to see the opportunity to take those concepts applied to my Joomla site on mobile is really exciting. Ok, now back to work for me or nothing will get done

I totally agree wit @Eileen and think the experience is the key! I actually tested iJoomer with my site when I was on JomSocial, i'll be nice and just say it was OK but it didn't cut the mustard! I love ES and only hope to have functional mobile app my members are craving for that they'll enjoy! Our members make us successful and in turn we make Stack Ideas successful, so we should always keep that in perspective as I feel Stack Ideas does and JomSocial doesn't. I also have TechJoomla extensions and love their products, they have always made sure they've helped me with any issue i've had, so I'm ABSOLUTELY CONFIDENT the two of them will give use an OUTSTANDING mobile app that our user will appreciate and love making use that much more successful.

@Antonio Simmons

When you tested ijoomer, where you looking at just the JomSocial support, it were you looking for forum support too (Kunena)?

@Mark H just JomSocial support. I would list all the things that were wrong but I'd much rather watch TV but seriously I'm definitely looking forward too what Stack Ideas and TechJoomla can do.

@Parth and @Mark I would love to be a beta tester.

I'm with you there, I and others I know tested it too, so I know exactly where you're coming from;) I am also looking forward to this app, as it could be what we have all been looking for!

Thanks for all these input guys

Hi Parth,

Just wondering how's the progress coming on the mobile App?

Hi, just wondering has there been any progress on this?

I believe after 1.2.8 release, you'll see some working prototypes

Mark,

if i may ask, what is the type of involvement of stackideas in this project? are you there to provide support to techjoomla only or you are going to be involved in the design.

Hello Muhanad,

We'll be involved in:

1. Creating the REST api (1.2.8 will include a small portion of this api)

2. Creating the designs (I would love to show you more, but I will be posting this in the paid area to avoid other competitors who are messing up with our forums )

Great.... Thanks Mark very excited to see this become a reality....

You are most welcome

http://stackideas.com/forums/easysocial-mobile-app-prototype

Very Nice Mark;)
Please continue the excellent work, you guys are a young company but you're setting the bar very high with your impeccable work!!!

Ditto what Antonio just said! The Stacked team is providing something the Joomla community has been longing for for many years! No exaggerations in that statement.

Thanks for the kind compliments guys