Cross Site Publishing and Receiving Information

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Revision as of 18:13, 16 August 2010 by TimPatrick (talk | contribs) (Plugins and using the API)

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Introduction

The Cross Site Publishing and Receiving API and GUI (Referred to as `CSPR` from here on) allows plugins to accomplish the following:

  • Publish and receive any type of data among not only Geeklog sites but any application (web or desktop) that support the ATOM protocol and implement the REQUEST commands.

Using the CSPR is extremely easy, and all work can usually be done in a few API calls (for integrating support) or in a few clicks (using the GUI).

Overview, Groups, Feeds, Data

The CSPR contains three main components - repositories, groups and feeds.

  • Repositories are a collection of groups, most likely a Geeklog site (or could be another application).
  • Groups are collections of feeds, usually about a standard topic (eg. News, Alerts, etc).
  • Feeds hold data, and are derived from the group, eg. a `Main Geeklog News Feed` and a `VVT News Feed` for the group News.

Groups and Feeds can either be private or public. Public groups and feeds allow anyone to subscribe to them. Private on the other hand forces subscribers to be approved for access to various feeds. Anyone is able to subscribe to a repository, however depending on the type (Public or Private) a different thing happens. Each subscription is based on the actual repository - a public subscription means that only public groups and feeds are able to be joined, while a private subscription allows both public and private feeds to which the subscription is allowed.

Private subscriptions are assigned security groups. A security group is a collection of feeds that members of the group have access to. Private subscriptions can be assigned more than one security group. This allows an administrator of the repository to break down access into smaller chunks, and if a pay-subscription was wanted by the repository, it could offer different packages which then would match up to security group configurations.

The CSPR is modified through two interfaces. There is a GUI for the server and for the client (publishing and receiving respectively) which allow all basic tasks to be performed, eg. approving subscriptions, assigning security groups, creating groups and feeds, etc. The only thing the GUI does not support is adding data to a feed. The API on the other hand allow total manipulation of every aspect of the CSPR functionality. As well, the API allows plugins to hook into some of the GUI parts (subscribing, joining feeds) so the plugin does not have to recreate the wheel every time, however if the plugin developers so want to, it is easy to do.


Plugins and using the API

NOTE: @Result, directions for including lib files if not integrated into geeklog