Happy New Year, I hope you’ve all had a wonderful holiday. Ash and I did take a short break, although we were both coding under the Christmas tree.
Coding and snacking at the Raw Canvas cafe during the holiday season
Anahita 0.9.4 release is not ready yet, but project has been moving forward with a steady pace, especially that more partners have joined in the Anahita project (You’re welcome to join in too!) and some of our partners have also hired us to develop their social networking projects for them and that helped us to allocate a lot more time to developing Anahita code rather than other client projects that were not social networking related. We are very thankful to their great support and we will never forget the help and courage that they are providing us!
It’s been approximately 50 days since we have started working on the new Anahita 0.9.4 release. We have re-written most of the code from scratch except the html and CSS and the user interfaces.
Our pug Davie is waiting patiently for Anahita 0.9.4 release to be ready!
We are implementing many of the concepts for the first time which is why the development has been going slower than we have originally estimated and also our time estimates have not been quite accurate because of that. Time estimates are often done based on past similar experiences, however since there isn’t much history of past projects for Anahita we could only go by the best of our knowledge and intuition.
For the Anahita 0.9.4 release we have been implementing the Nodes+Graphs+Story Architecture using a Domain Driven Design (DDD) approach.
To give you a quick overview: In the Nodes+Graphs+Stories architecture people, groups, events, pictures, albums, blog posts, stories, etc. are all nodes. The relationship amongst the nodes is maintained by the socialgraph and stories (user activities) propagate throughout the network of nodes based on the Lead-Follow-Mutual direction defined by the socialgraph edges connecting the nodes. All the nodes can be tagged and commented on. Developers can extend basic nodes and create custom nodes for their own unique social applications.
We haven’t been talking about this concept much publicly because we wanted to have a working code in place first. At this moment a lot of the required libraries have been implemented and we are currently reimplementing all the features of the Anahita 0.9.3.5 within the context of the new architecture. As we move forward we will be posting more information about the Anahita’s organic nodes+graphs+stories architecture on our blog for those who are interested.
In the mean time, we have also been migrating from the Nooku Framework 0.6.3 to version 0.7 only to find out that Koowa 0.7 did not provide some of the libraries required for our DDD so the only option was to collaborate with the Nooku team and develop the domain libraries on our own which will eventually become part of the Nooku Framework.
Yesterday, Ash and I did a total assessment for the next 2-3 weeks. Our primary goals are to have:
- these installable packages to our partners: com_socialengine, com_photos, com_discussions, com_invite.
- basic APIs ready so our partners could start developing social applications. Developing an initial list of APIs for developing social apps would be a collaborative effort between the Anahita Core developers and Partners.
Some of the common questions from you
The following are the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions by you
Q: When is the public GPL release available to the public?
No specific date is on our mind. Anahita will be available publicly when we feel comfortable that all the basic building blocks are in place for us to deliver a collection of working components to you and be able to provide decent services and support to people outside our tribe of partners and clients. We think that the 0.9.5 or 0.9.6 will be the public release and to best of our estimates we update the roadmap on a regular basis. Please consider that those dates are not promises and only estimates. At the moment our focus is on improving the technology and helping our tribe of partners and clients to learn and adopt the Anahita platform and framework design concepts.
Q: Will it be free?
Anahita is a commercial open source project. We will be making Anahita Social Engine available for free download (yes free as beer) and Anahita applications, extensions, documentation, etc. will be available via paid club membership while all the codes are accompanied with the GPL license (free as liberty).
We are also focusing on inviting the people who are truly interested in the project and believe in our team’s vision. We think growing and nurturing a healthy community around an open source project is as important as developing the software itself and the very first people within the community will makeup the culture and vision that the community will portray in the future.
Q: how does Anahita compare to the solution X?
We really don’t know and that is because we have intentionally decided to not look inside other social networking projects for a while. So far the only social networking projects which have been our source of inspiration have been Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and companies such as Google, Automattic, 37signals, and Amazon.com. We aren’t developing by feature sets and instead we are more interested in the underlying philosophy of what is working best for some of the existing websites out there. In fact we are more interested in people’s online social patterns and how certain ultra-light tools are being used and leaving the largest impact on people’s lives.
Q: are we developing scripts so people can migrate from platform X to Anahita?
Of course we will. In fact we have lost count of number of inquiries from people asking for migration scripts from their existing community software of choice to Anahita, and clearly there are a large number of unsatisfied people out there!
But please consider this: we have to first build something worth migrating to and developing migration scripts will only be the matter of time when one of our partners, clients, or community members initiate and collaborate with us.
To receive more updates
please keep watching our blog or follow us on the Twitter: @anahitapolis
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“not look inside other social networking projects” – sorry guys I don’t believe it that.
Great update.
Anyway just a heads up, that last sentence seems a bit messed up. .. matter of time when one of our partners, clients, or [something missing?] steps forward.
Did you guys mean partners or clients step forward?
I really like how you guys stand firmly on your goals and ground. I remember talking to you guys few months ago and it seems you guys have not gotten distracted even a tiny bit.
From the post (keywords like social pattern, social engine) I can tell you guys are introducing something larger than typical Joomla components offer out there, but at the same time, aware of any feedback that are mostly asked out of “typical” Joomla devs (things like migration scripts from you know whom etc.)
Its also great to see you guys are inspired by getting the best of basic: extensible, flexible, and most importantly, simple (and I believe we can’t never go wrong with companies like Google, Flickr, 37signals, Amazon as inspiration).
Talking about introducing new concepts within the same playing ground of Joomla (or CMS/platform/framework/whatever we called it), you guys reminded me how and what it takes for Prothemer introduces their Morph product. From my observation and experience, it wasn’t easy for them either. Some examples are like redefining module positions, handle templating within component etc.
I know that Anahita is a totally different thing (Nooku powered, social engine and more) compared to Morph that I mentioned, but I could see the challenges and newness that comes with it are more or less the same as Morph has discovered and learned.
my 2 cents.
Project started in May 2007. Roadmap revised and delayed several times without a release. Looks big but those who are waiting for this should find alternative or wait again for a long time.
I love how you ‘keep it real’…the more time that goes by, the more confident I am in Anahita.
@JomSMan – you are right I must admit I have looked inside the Elgg and BBPress/BuddyPress few times (for BuddyPress forum implementation) however since none of these alternatives provide a framewok and therefore their coding concepts don’t help much. I must admit I really like how wordpress folks get the usability right and I have great respect for the work they do.
@Ajmal – thank you so much for pointing that out. I have completed the sentence. Today was our first official work day in 2010 and all I’ve been doing was writing all day without little proofing.
“I really like how you guys stand firmly on your goals and ground”
Thank you so much. The concept hasn’t changed in fact the more we study the Nodes+Graphs+Stories architecture, the better it is resolving a lot of design questions that we’ve had. The mathematics of social networking concepts is simply fascinating.
“I know that Anahita is a totally different thing (Nooku powered, social engine and more) compared to Morph that I mentioned, but I could see the challenges and newness that comes with it are more or less the same as Morph has discovered and learned.”
Actually there is a very good chance that Morph and Anahita can be combined for some projects. Anahita’s templating does not change the nature of how Joomla works, it only exploits some of the additional features in Joomla and Nooku that have been unused or possibly undiscovered. We can’t wait to see what the Anahitapolis community will create using the Anahita building blocks.
@elbert – actually active coding of Anahita started on late August 2008 and it was later rebuilt using the Nooku framework. Where did you hear about the May 2007 date? because that is wrong.
Please do not forget that Anahita is not one component. It is a collection of extensions, plus a software development API and framework build based on the Nodes+Graphs+Stories design philosophy. Building frameworks is not an easy task and it takes a lot of research and constant refinement. So far we have done over 1500 hours of work and over 2600 subversion commits. Good software development takes time and resources.
@Tiny_Tibbo – thank you so much! Trust me we want more than anybody else to have everything ready. Would love to see what the wisdom of the crowds will do using the Anahita building blocks.
you guys are taking forever. bring in more people!!!
Great update Rastin. Can’t wait for the 0.9.4 release!
@Rastin,
My pleasure and thanks for the update!
“The mathematics of social networking concepts is simply fascinating.”
I wasn’t really planning to reply your comment, but the “mathematics” that you mentioned really gets me right there. Maybe that’s the reason why we could see some of us really appreciate what you guys are doing and some just couldn’t see it; not until it is truly visually available for them. Maybe some of us are just, you know, into “mathematics” or something
Anyway no one could please everyone. Some might criticize things like “May 2007 yada yada yada” but what I see is consistency and passion. Those are what it takes for whatever phase Anahita was in May 2007 until what it is today. Like you mentioned, it takes countless effort, resources, money, and time to even get to current state of Anahita.
There are people that really appreciate what you guys are doing. Keep the greats coming like you guys always do
@markuss – I wish it was that simple! If you have started or managed an open source project in the past we’d appreciate some practical tips.
@srikanth, @Ajmal – thank you so much
@srikanth, @Ajmal, @Tiny_Tibbo
Thank you guys for your kind comments. Words like gives us the energy we need to nurture the Anahita Family and all its members.
Thank you
@jomSMan. Actually we have learned our lesson from the past experiences. There are so many great projects out there each with its own unique vision. By analyzing them (“looking at them”) we are more prone to copy features instead of focusing on our own niche which was the motivation that got us into starting the project in the first place.
Can i migrate from JomSocial to Anahita? Many users wait for this tool.
@Pichai – I can’t see why not, but first things first
“We will be making Anahita Social Engine available for free download (yes free as beer) and Anahita applications, extensions, documentation, etc. will be available via paid club membership while all the codes are accompanied with the GPL license (free as liberty).”
That sounds very good. Better than Jom$ocial. I hope and will pay for a converter from JomSocial to Anahita.
Quote Jom$ocial
“According to new restrictions for customers, that means you were a ‘customers’ until November 2009.
Also, with the $74,50 renewal fee you won’t just have access to support forums, but to downloads/updates/bugfixes too.”
Thank-you for the New Year’s updates. I’m willing to wait in order to avoid later migration issues. I’m moving all of my sites into Joomla! in time for the Anahita public release, and so far, I’ve been grateful to see a few more days added to the timeline. As a beginning Joomla! user, it’s been an exciting learning curve, and I’m learning more everyday.
I should be a good test case of how easy it will be to use the Anahita framework “out of the box”. I’m an artist born in Seattle back in the 50′s, and no way a software expert! I just read the forums, and learn as I go.
I’m going to trust my intuition. Like many of you, I feel I’ve found what I’ve been looking for. These talented, kind, and passionate people are what I wanted to find. I believe their code will reflect their nature. Thank you, everyone.
i am working on a Social project, and while doing my research for the features i need in my site. i came across your site.
i read it and was so impressed by the features this platform has to offer. my site will be targeted towards a specific niche market. my question is, how easy it is to develop applications for anahita’s platform? what development skills are required?. i am sorry i am not a developer, i am just managing the project, and need to know what type of developers would i need to get the job done. also is it possible to become a partner, or is it too late?
thanks
@Stacey – You’re most welcome! we can’t wait to see how you will be using Anahita for your projects, we are working hard to make your experience an exciting one.
@Bilal –
“how easy it is to develop applications for anahita’s platform?”
It depends how comfortable you are with the Joomla+Nooku+Anahita code and understanding of MVC frameworks in general. We will be providing several social apps with the Anahita social engine under the GPL license so you could read the code and experiement. If you like to have an early start learning the API and development in Anahita you could join our tribe of partners where everybdoy help each other out and learn collaboratively.
“is it possible to become a partner, or is it too late?”
No there is always room for more people. You can either come forward as a company or a team with a project name and description. I believe you have already sent us an inquiry. We have a long list of emails in our mailbox, I’ll make sure I write back to you as soon as I get to it.
Ash and Rastin – you guys seem to be on track for a revolutionary product! I’m very excited to see the first release and how the architecture progresses throughout the life cycle.
I’m about to graduate and I have been developing a business plan for the past year based on a social media platform. After months of searching and demoing different products and platforms, Anahita seemed like the perfect fit!
I know you guys are busy, but I had a few inquiries (I can’t remember if I sent them in or not…). Look forward to hearing from you.