Hi all
I've started work on a new Joomla component / module, and just want to check that what I'm looking for hasn't been done - and if anyone's working on the same thing, maybe we can join forces?
Although it's a standalone Joomla extension and can work without CB, it's going to work best with CB's connections feature.
Basically, what I'm creating is this:
- a user visits the site after x days, and an ajax-powered module displays a summary of what's happened since their last visit - e.g. how many new users have registered, how much new content has been added, how many new posts there are on the forum, etc
- a user logs on, and it becomes more personal. It goes through your list of connections and queries various components to create news, e.g.:
* who's "befriended" who (CB connections)
* who's written in who's guestbook (CB Profilebook)
* who's going to what event (for now, EventList)
* who's posted what on the forum (for now, Fireboard)
* who's commented on what (for now, JComments)
etc.
Think the news feed in Facebook!
So what I'm doing is this:
A "controller" uses a plugin mechanism to get "news" as an xml feed. Each plugin is written specifically for a component - whether it be a core component (e.g. com_content) or a third party extension (for now I'm doing: CB, CB Profilebook, EventList, Fireboard, UDDEIM, JComments).
Each plugin will be responsible for:
- deciding when to aggregate (e.g., "5 of your friends are going to an event" rather than "John Doe is going to an event"
- deciding which information is most "interesting" or relevant - e.g., 2 of your "friends" agreeing a connection with each other, rather than 1 friend + A.N.Other
The component then aggregates this information, deciding how much to display, what's most relevant, and maybe using user preferences to decide which components to display the most news feed items about.
After an initial feed, I want to be able to use AJAX to create a "live" news feed.
Sounds ambitious? Tell me about it! But it's coming along, though any input would be appreciated