How to Intall Apps on Orkut

Unofficial Orkut Opensocial application directory

Add your Application here so that people can test your Apps
Url : http://www.osocial.net/apps/index.php5

OpenSocial App Reviewed : iRead

iRead is a social book discovery application. With iRead you can organize your favorite books in bookshelves, rate and review them. You can browse what other iReaders and friends are reading. iRead learns from your book reading tastes and recommends books you will like and also users who read like you. Add application and join the social book discovery revolution!

iRead is one of the best crafter application i came across. As said its a Social Book Discovey Application so Search - Add - Broadcast is the key feature of it. With a cool/simple UI you really don't have to take pains to learn to use this Application..
[Picture of Search Box here]

Some cool features of iRead :

Search : iRead search is powered by huge Database of Books. you name it and it will be there. If not then with "Cant find a book, add it" feature you can simply add it. Its that Simple

Explore : One good Social Networking Feature, with explore one can see what our friend Has Read/Reading it/wanna read ..

Fun Stuff : Fun stuff is loaded with sections like Book Quiz, Browse Questions, Browse Quizzes, Add Question, Add Quiz, Leaderboard and mY Quizzes.
As i guess "Never Ending Book Quiz" will be fun.. above it an UGC element like Add Question to "Never Ending Quiz" adds up to the plate. Cant forgot Leaderboard which shows "iReader's" stats.. Just one Question to the Dev team. Why is the Facebook "No profile Image" is showing up here ;)

Issues : Not a Show Stopper tho.. if i log into my facebook account and at the same time i check out my Orkut iRead App on Orkut, i get to see my Facebook App .. surprisingly with all those Facebook Apps Ads. too ;-)

Overall, a must have application on your Profile.

Kuddos iRead Dev Team who are working behind the scene to create such a Easy to use and Sticky Application.

iRead :

Sticky Factor : 4.00
User Interface : 3.5
Viral Factor : 4.00
Personalize Factor : 3.00
Report a Bug Feature : No
Developed by - ugenie.com
Web URL : http://ugenie.com/
Application URL :

OpenSocial : Graphing Social Patterns 2008

Found a nice Presentation on OpenSocial from Graphing Social Patterns 2008 conference .. it has a nice overview on Apache Shindig and some details of Hi5 implementation..




Tip : http://rollerweblogger.org/roller/

OpenSocial : Tips on Creating/Planning your App.

While Developing application, Games.. etc for OpenSocial we usually make one Big Mistake is to create Apps which we Like or replicate a product which did good on some other Medium.. take an eg. of an Viral ad./ app which did good on Portal/website might not do good on Social Networking Site (SNS) because in some way .. SNS does not work like usual ".Com"

So, do what?

Well, i have some markers which i presume every Product Mangers and Developer should keep in mind before developing an App.

- Design your Application keeping in mind that it should fit into most of the known OpenSocial Containers such as Orkut,Hi5,Ning,MySpace,Bebo,Friendster .... and so on. But if you are targeting one particular Container such as Orkut.. then please make sure your Application looks cool on inside it.

- Come out of your own "World" from where you are looking @ SNS.. forget what you like/Dislike and rethink on whats widely used Feature types.. 'X' feature might sound "Cool" to you.. might not coz the larger part of TGs needs/likes something else.

- Widely work on Feedbacks with different sets of TGs. Co-workers and Subordinates a big NO NO.

- UI gives the intial kick start to any application So work around it.. as much possible.Cleaner the better. If you are targeting one particular Container.. a Look Alike will gain Confidence.

- Most Important point : You are developing/Planning a Social App.. Cross check that your app is SNS friendly or not.

- Try incorporating messaging Feature.. Comments.. Feedback.. Voting.. Ping.. what ever that makes the user (person who installed the App) interact with the Users from and Out side the Friends List ( with permission )

Let me explain you why : I, as an user of "X" particular app will love to see any app which says more about me .. may be in a Funniest manner or in a coolest way ..
ideally a personality type app which shows me who all are of my type.. is Cool
a Game App which shows me who all scored around my personal Highest Score.. is Cool
an App which relates us to people inside and Out Side my List.. is So very Coool.. after all .. its all about networking..

- A very specific Note to the Developer/Designer/PM ..Showcase your app in a very Smarter and self explanatory way by creating Cool Icons and a Simple description about your apps in not more thn 3 lines

- Viral out your Apps using Communities ( Don't Spam ) Post installation .. make sure your apps is broadcasting some Update under "updates from my friends"

- Avoid incorporating Too Many feature... "Every body is not a Geek" keep it simple and More personal.

- Seed your Application by mailer, Blogs, Get it reviewed (If u wish by us).. viral it out .

- Last and Final.. Your Apps should interact with the Owner ( the Person who installed the App ) regularly..

- Tips to Developers : Share your experience with others .. Leave comments if possible.. and be more social.. afterall you are developing a Social App. ;-)

Martin Selva

Ps : Thanks to Google Team for Feedbacks and helping us out during OpenSocial hakathon.

Userplane to Release API’s Supporting Google’s OpenSocial Standard

OpenSocial application developers to integrate Userplane apps, such as Webchat, Webmessenger and Webrecorder, within their applications.

These products can be completely integrated into the OpenSocial ecosystem, giving developers access to integrate any Userplane App into their OpenSocial application. Userplane also will release OpenSocial applications of its own, to showcase Userplane technology. For more information, visit www.userplane.com/plugins.

In addition, application developers can use the Userplane Money API to deliver ads within their OpenSocial applications. The revenue sharing system provides virtually instant payout for any volume of display ad units. Currently, Userplane serves tens of millions of daily ad impressions for Facebook developers, providing a very attractive and stable monetization strategy.

“OpenSocial is a great new standard for developers to grow their businesses, and we’re glad to support this effort. We released our Facebook API a few months back and now support many applications within that environment. We expect the same success with OpenSocial.”

Last week Google unveiled its new OpenSocial standard – a common set of API’s that developers can use to create applications that work on any social network or website that chooses to participate. With standard JavaScript and HTML, developers can create apps that access a social network’s friends and update feeds.

Userplane offers customizable publisher tools, such as live IM and chat, that can be added to any site for free, simply by cutting and pasting a few lines of code or implementing a more custom install via an XML API. Userplane serves unobtrusive ads in its players, and splits the proceeds with participating publishers.

- Sounds good to me.. With 0.7 Specs on OpenSocial..
As a Developer i might just want to just want to 'TRY' out most of the services which are available for Open social so that i have an idea what works and what not ...

For mode Details on UserPlane visit : http://www.userplane.com

List of Opensocial Resources : v2

1.Create your own OpenSocial Container : A question which is asked to me very often but with no concrete answer .. i ask to visit the below URL

URL : http://code.google.com/p/opensocial-container-sample/
Getting Started : http://code.google.com/p/opensocial-container-sample/wiki/GettingStarted

2. Orkut Developer's Guide : For people like me who are just concentrating.. to create apps which runs perfectly on ORKUT (at least for now)

URL: http://code.google.com/apis/orkut/docs/orkutdevguide.html

3. Create your OpenSocial Apps : This tutorial is from Mr. Tim Longhurst.

URL: http://www.opensocialblog.com/2007/11/06/creating-an-opensocial-application-example-1-mini-google-search/

4. Latest Update on OpenSocial API : http://opensocialapis.blogspot.com/

OpenSocial Developer's List - Mumbai,India

[Orkut OpenSocial - Community Invite]
Hi Guys,
Can we have a list of OS Developer in Mumbai/Pune. Please do post "Yes i am " if you are from mumbai or Pune.

Well, Let me give you the background to this List :
Couple of my friends/Developers are planning for a meetup to discuss the possibility and the scope of Opensocial. So anybody who wish to be a part can Post Below

Some of the RAW agenda/Topics we are working on:-

What is OpenSocial?
Opensocial Functionality
OpenSocial vs Facebook f8
OS Apps : Working with Flash
Orkut : whats next?
How to adapt/make use of Opensocial into Product(online media)
Who all are on the move..Opensocial/Facebook.

[Feel free to Suggest Topics.. and if you wish to showcase your work or wish to be a speaker. please do ping me or Post below.]

Dates : 3rd or 4th Wkend, January 08

Keep Sharing
- Martin Selva

Next Post : How to Create Open Social Apps for Orkut

I was just going through the Keyword List and found that people are really hunting for a basic Steps to create Opensocial Apps and landing up on this page..

So my Next post will be on "How to Create Open Social Apps for Orkut"

Developer's Poll on OpenSocial

DoodleMe - OpenSocial-App - Review

One more .. Smart OpenSocial App.. from iWiddit Team.
Let me just Copy and Paste What iWiddit says about their DoodleMe opensocial Application :

DoodleMe Board creates a drawing board on your webpage, and allows your friends to publish drawings on your profile. DoodleMe Board requires no plugins, and can work in virtually any web browser. You decide who can publish the board, as well as what color the board should be. Now your friends can leave you messages that you can really see! The board itself features 11 colors, different drawing widths, and ample chalk supply, but most importantly, when the drawing is finished, it can be published for all to see! This application will be configured to work with all opensocial containers. Let your friends draw pictures on your web profile! Get the XML: http://www.iwiddit.com/xml/doodleMeBoard_0.5_rel.xml

Screenshots:

Both images below depict DoodleMe Board running in Google's Orkut opensocial container. Using only thier mouse, visitors to your page can draw pictures, or write messages and save them for you and the rest of your visitors to see, but only if you allow them to.

DoodleMe sounds very known and the name itself says what the app is allabout. So franckly .. you really dont need to go ahead and explain what itz for... Right...by this the game is half won.. now what helps the user to make use of it the User Interface and simplicity in it.

I personally liked the way its done. - Clear and Simple. But i guess a bit of more work on UI front would have helped users.. to play around more. I would have simply adapted Paint Brush Layout. The reason behind is People find it easy to see what they have already tried out or Looked at. Even my mom.. knows how to use Paint Brush :) But i say "It Worth Adding this App to your Profile" - Great Job, once again.

DoodleMe Application URL : http://www.iwiddit.com/xml/doodleMeBoard_0.5_rel.xml

Developer : iWiddit

Web URL : http://www.iwiddit.com/apps/doodleMe_board

My Photo Puzzle - by Dustin Jorge / iWiddit.com

My Photo Puzzle is a simple but very personalized/Customizable Puzzle game. The catch here is.. its not our usual Puzzle game where the SKIN is FIXED and we cant customize it.. Its Dynamic so we can plug in our Image path (web only) and with basic setting a cool Puzzle is ready to be played.

Image 1. My Photo Puzzle

Image 2. I like the way we can customize it.(Please click on the Image to View Large Size Image)

On Game Page / Canvas page.. (Image 1) have marked in red.. can you see that..? well that link takes me to the App details page. Hosted on their server which displays Sharing and Views Count. Chk this out.

(Please click on the Image to View Large Size Image)

Now this is something i always thought of doing it. With the App Info Page i can get to see who all installed my app.. check if its doing good or not with help of Sharing and View Countes. Over a very nice app. must say that the Developer really worked hard to get this up in a situation where we are still facing problem accessing Sandbox.

Gadget/App Name : My Photo Puzzle
Gadget/App URL : http://www.iwiddit.com/xml/myPhotoPuzzle.xml
Publisher : Dustin Jorge / iWiddit.com

Orkut Open Social : Bookmarks

Here are some of the URL's for people who are planning to Develop Open Social Apps / gadgets

1.Anatomy of an Orkut Application :

An Orkut application is comprised of several parts, all of which combine to form a structured user experience. As you develop your application, we recommend this guide as both a checklist of components which should be utilized, as well as a means to understand the relationship between these components:

1. Application Directory
2. Directory Listing
3. My Applications
4. Left Navbar Link
5. Canvas View
6. Showcase View
7. Friend Update
   

URL : http://code.google.com/apis/orkut/articles/anatomy.html (Chkout the Screenshot)

2. Open Social Documentation : The OpenSocial API is a set of common APIs for building social applications on many websites. There are two ways to access the OpenSocial API: client-side using the JavaScript API and server-side using RESTful data APIs.

URL : http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial/docs/

3. The OpenSocial Container Sample : Container is intended to be used for testing gadgets and, for container implementors, to provide a preview of the version 0.5 Service Provider Interface (SPI). It does not provide adequate security for production usage or wide deployment, but can be used for internal testing and demonstrations.

URL : http://code.google.com/p/opensocial-container-sample/

4. Open Social Application Directory : Now this is something you have to bookmark it. Try spending more of your time on this page to get an ruff idea how people are moving into app development.

URL : http://opensocialdirectory.org/wiki/Main_Page

5. Opensocialexa : Open Social is a large step in Web Evolution, it's web2.5!
opensocialexa is the tool you need to analyze your app's in this new world. View who is using your app's, and discover the best app's!

URL: http://opensocialexa.com/