Modules, the basic building block

A Zotonic web site is made of different functional parts:

• Controllers, in fact Webmachine resources.
• Templates, all what you see. Templates can include other templates.
• Screen components, scomps, those are templates with their own little controller.
• Actions, everything that you can do with buttons, forms, jQuery effects etc.
• Validators, used to check submitted input elements.
• Css, Javascript, static images. Those are all put in lib directories.
• Dispatch rules. They map a request url to the correct controller.
• And a bunch of supporting Erlang code to make it all work.

A module contains one or more of the above items. All templates, actions, validations, css, javascript, dispatch rules and scomps are contained in modules. Modules have a priority and can overrule components of modules with lower priority.

Modules are directories with at least one Erlang module implementing a gen_server that manages the module. Subdirectories in the module contain all the templates, Webmachine resources, dispatch rules, actions etc.

Modules communicate with each other using notifications. Modules can be activated or deactivated using the admin interface (which is implemented using multiple modules).

Data Model

The data model is inspired by semantic web triple stores. But then adapted to make it work with a relational database and usual CMS interfaces and methods.

All (ok, most) data in Zotonic is a resource. Resources are connected with edges, creating a directed graph of information. Every edge has also a predicate. The predicate defines the meaning of the edge. For example author, as in the author of an article.

For example, a news article is a resource. The image of the news article is another resource, connected to the article with an edge, and so is the author of the article, the place the article is happening etc.

You could say that Zotonic has only two tables. A resource table and an edge table.

Resources are typed using a hierarchical category system. Some predefined resource categories are: text, news, image, video, sound, person, group, predicate, category and other.

A Data Resource

A resource has some fixed fields and can have any additional fields. The fixed fields are:

• Id, an unique integer.
• Title.
• Slug. Used to make understandable uris
• Introduction, a short abstract used in lists.
• Body, the textual body of a resource. A body contains HTML.
• Unique name, used by the system to find resources by name instead of id.
• Featured flag, to show things at important places on your site.
• Published flag.
• Publication period. From when till when a resource is published.
• Uri. The originating uri of the resource when it is imported from another site.
• Authoritative flag. Defines if the resource is imported or created locally.
• Category, defines what the resource represents. For example a person, article, event, image or video.
• Group. Editors work together in groups, all content belonging to a group can be edited by editors in that group.
• Visibility level. Defines if the resource is viewable by the group, community or the world.

All textual fields (except name and uri) can be multilingual. Any resource can have multiple extra data fields. Think of a date range, name or address.

In the next article I will show a bit of a template.

We are not the only ones interested in integrating our content. So far, we’ve started looking at various possibilities- for users and servers signing on to (federated) social networks, for publishing, aggregating, exchanging and subscription to content, and for better ways to describe content and meta-content on the social networks.

Authenticating People: OpenID

To avoid having to create a separate login and password for each social network, we have been integrating the decentralized log-in system provided by OpenID for user authentication.

Servers Communicating With Other Servers: OAuth

Once we have users signed into one social network, we want to allow them to move their data from one network to another. For this we are looking at the open protocol OAuth, which will standardize server to server communication, i.e. the passing of authentication tokens through APIs. This will help make our server-side communication more robust and streamlined.

Representing Information: Atom + RDF

After authenticating, but before we can move content from one place to another, we also need a way to define our content. We’re starting to use RDF as a standard formatting method for our content. We see users and their contacts as another form of content, and are using FOAF to describe their networks. Other forms of content, such as events or projects, allow other standard formatting techniques permissible in RDF- such as DOAF, SOAF and MicroFormats.

Finding Information In The Network: OpenSearch

Since our implementation of RDF will be done in XML, it could be pretty easy to search through the various pages’ content and meta-content. To do this, we’re looking into OpenSearch, which should standardize the presentation of information as well as allow auto-discovery, for instance of things like OpenIDs. We’re still looking into ways to keep our website scalable while using OpenSearch.

Staying Up To Date With Changes: XMPP Publish & Subscribe

Once we have our content properly labeled, we can use standards like Atom1.0 to exchange parts of our content. Specifically, we can use Atom to format newsfeeds and other time-sensitive content, and then use XMPP to announce it. By using XMPP instead of HTTP, we can have persistant connections which will allow the networks to propagate changes as fast as possible.

I was the principal architect and software engineer of anyMeta. In four major revisions it grew from a small library to full featured content management system with over 90 different modules. It is also the first CMS that actively shares information between different web sites using push updates and cross site editorial protocols.

The system allows visitors to actively participate on the website, while the resulting information automatically appears in the right place, within a relevant context. This makes anyMeta extremely suitable for social networks, knowledge management, collaborations, and story telling.

Semantic

As a semantic network anyMeta uses meta data, which means the system is ahead of the current internet developments. This meta data is used to let information automatically appear in a consistent and clear structure, within a relevant context. This will save editors a lot of time. It also helps and stimulates visitors to navigate the website, because the associations between different kinds of information are directly shown.

Social

There are many options for visitors to actively participate on anyMeta websites. They can register as a user and create a personal profile. Administrators can grant users several rights to certain parts of the website. This allows users to add all kinds of information to the web site themselves.

Flexible

The system allow anyone with an internet connection to easily update and maintain the website. Despite the automatic structuring, editors are not totally dependent on the system and its users. Information can also be ordered in a custom way. Besides that, editors can actively manipulate the use of meta data, by offering a set of predetermined keywords. This makes anyMeta very flexible, because the automatic structuring can be supported with an editorial signature.

Open-CI

Especially interesting about anyMeta is the option to exchange information with other web sites. With the use of open standards, the system is able to share information with other systems, without losing its own identity. So the system is not only capable of creating relevant connections within one network, but also between multiple related web sites.

Sustainable

Web sites based on anyMeta can handle large numbers of visitors at once. Pages and information load fast, and editors can publish new information directly on the website. The powerful search functionality and automatic structuring help managing large amounts of information. Because of its semantic structure, it is easy to add new meta data to the system when changes to the website are necessary.

The FRS image editorial and archiving solutions made by BSL Computer Consultancy have now been used for almost ten years by Dutch newspaper publishers, PCM Uitgevers. Other customers include the NIOD which stores more than 100.000 photos from World War II in a publicly accessible FRS system.

The FRS system uses:

• Oracle or Sybase as database
• Verity for the full text indexing
• Cross platform client applications
• Fully automated input and output stations
• EXIF, IPTC extraction and indexing
• Non destructive image editing
• Web based interface

In story telling one story easily triggers one’s memory. Associations connect stories. That’s exactly how the website functions, readers flow from one story to another.

By offering residents a common past the website helps communication between residents. It improves social cohesion and prevents from social isolation. In 2003 the website won a price for the best digital social project. The website has been a source of inspiration for several other story websites.

In March 2008 the Amsterdam Historic Museum, the owner of the website, announced that over a thousand stories were on line. “The website has become a meeting point for the neighbourhood” said a spokes person in the daily Parool.

Client
Amsterdam Historical Museum

In 2008 is de site aangepast en is per project ook het ontwerpteam zichtbaar. De site is interactiever geworden, bezoekers die zich registreren kunnen reageren op projecten.

Directeur Rein Jansma over de site:
“Met het onze website kunnen we onszelf goed presenteren. De keuze voor anyMeta is gemaakt vanwege de grote flexibiliteit en de uitgebreide functionele mogelijkheden. We kunnen zelf, met behulp van eenvoudige invulschermen de site beheren. Het leuke aan de site vind ik dat de site makkelijk up-to-date te houden is, en dat de gebruiker op locatie kan zoeken, kan bekijken wie aan een project heeft meegewerkt, en er op kan reageren.”

Client
Zwarts en Jansma

The site publishes an agenda with news on exhibitions, workshops and excursions of SKOR and other art & public space related organisations. An online photo archive and a project database are elements of the site.

Design
Mannschaft, Rob Meerman

Client
SKOR, Foundation Art and Public Space

Mediamatic Lab werkt in het kader van het Open CI verder aan een pilot (in 2008) gericht op de uitwisseling tussen de websites van 6 partner organisaties. Alleen zo kan een levend en up-to-date overzicht van de creatieve industrie in de regio duurzaam worden ontwikkeld.

Client
Programmabureau Creatieve Cities Amsterdam Area

Mediamatic designed the BiD website including the Bid Challenge. This annual international Business Plan competition has over fifteen hundred participants who submit a business plan. We developed an application to enable screeners and members of the Jury to assess entries to the Bid Challenge online.

The BiD Network was initiated by the Business in Development (BiD) programme of the NCDO; the Netherlands Committee for Sustainable Development. The BiD Network is now part of the BiD Network Foundation.

Client
NCDO, BiD Network Foundation