Tagged: gantry framework RSS

  • Rastin Mehr 2:39 pm on September 3, 2012 Permalink
    Tags: , gantry framework, ,   

    Anahita Podcast Episode 9 

    Melriches Coffee & Tea House

    Here we are publishing (not recording) the Anahita podcast episode 9 from the Melriches Coffee & Tea House on Davie Street, Vancouver. Last month, we were so busy preparing the new birth release of Anahita that we didn’t get a chance to record a show for you, so this is the first podcast after the Anahita 2.0 Birth release and it was recorded during our last week’s hangout session. In this episode Ash and I are answering questions from two Anahita tribe members @Chaim and @Scott (BeerLovers.com).

    Play

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:28 — 29.1MB)

    In this podcast the following topics have been discussed:

    1. Should you delay the launch of your social network if only a basic implementation is available for some features that you need? A discussion about the private messaging in Anahita.
    2. Will sending out thousands of invitations lead to an engaging community for a new social network?
    3. What justifies businesses to consider a niche market social network while there are large networks such as facebook and twitter available? What type of businesses are more likely to consider a niche market social network and how can you help them?
    4. How to inspire a group of students in a dormitory to pick up playing the Piano and lessons to learn from this analogy to start a community with influential leaders rather than aimless site testers? How do people learn to utilize a new social network from the existing influential leaders on that network?
    5. The pros and cons of having separate actor profiles for people and businesses.
    6. A discussion about the new development cycle that Anahita project has adopted since version 1.6 embryo to be able to have more frequent birth releases.
    7. How do things stand with respect to the Gantry Framework? What is going to replace it, and whether it will be mobile accessible?
    8. Is it possible to represent an installation of Anahita as an individual root actor node and what will be the benefits and possible challenges of that approach?
    9. A discussion about the process of removing Joomla code from Anahita and whether it will affect some of the existing functionalities.

    Questions? Comments? Please feel free to post your comments here about this podcast.

     

  • Rastin Mehr 12:03 am on August 31, 2012 Permalink
    Tags: gantry framework, ,   

    So long Gantry and thank you for the grid 

    Anahitapolis is now using the Anahita Embryo release 2.1 with her own native template framework and the new release of Shiraz template. That also means that we are no longer using the Gantry framework (by RocketTheme) for Anahita and it has been completely removed from the Anahita 2.1 release. The new Shiraz template is now technically an Anahita app that extends a default base. The base template provides all the default LESS files, main grid, and layouts which can all be overwritten in Shiraz or any custom template that you wish to develop. Anahita 2.1 is now extending the latest Twitter Bootstrap library and did I mention that Anahita comes with it’s own native LessCSS compiler to help you compile a single compressed stylesheet that contains all the bootstrap and anahita styling.

    In January 2011 when we released Anahita 1.5 it was mainly a distribution of Joomla! 1.5 with Anahita libraries installed on it. We even had the intention of bringing compatibility between Anahita and the templates and extensions that Rockettheme was distributing. However soon we learned that the best strategy for the Anahita project would be dropping all the Joomla code and rewriting all the required parts using Anahita’s native framework. That also meant the compatibility between Anahita and RocketTheme extensions was going to be broken, because Anahita was no longer a Joomla! distro and she was on her path to become a stand alone technology.

    In Anahita 2.0 we were using very little of what Gantry framework was providing us so it was time to completely remove it from Anahita. I must say that Gantry has been a great concept, however it was really built to compensate with the shortcomings of Joomla! as well as creating an environment for the Rockettheme specific extensions.

    For the past year the Gantry framework has been providing us a 960 grid system and means to manage it. In fact Gantry provides a lot more that are really useful in a Joomla environment, however we have been removing more and more of what was left of Joomla code from Anahita and writing all the required parts using Anahita’s native libraries. So in Anahita 2.0 very little of Gantry was being used while we were carrying around the entire library and codebase. It was time to build our own native template framework suitable for Anahita and say goodbye to Gantry.

    We would like to thank the Rockettheme team for developing Gantry; such a great technology that helped us go through last year. In fact we did get some inspiration from the Gantry while developing the Anahita’s grid management system and bootstrap. We just didn’t need the other 90% of Gantry that we were not using. If you are a Joomla, WordPress, Drupal, or PHPBB3 user, you should really checkout Rockettheme’s products at RocketTheme.com Those people have been building some solid and beautiful templates and extensions and distributing them at very reasonable prices.

    As for the Anahita Embryo 2.1 goes, the packages will be available to the Premium Tribe shortly. As soon as we are confident that the code is stable, we will branch out a 2.1 Birth release and make it available for free to public.

     

     

    • Eric 12:41 am on August 31, 2012 Permalink

      Awesome work guys

    • Rastin Mehr 1:57 am on August 31, 2012 Permalink

      Thank you @Eric

    • Rahul Chaturvedi 5:04 am on August 31, 2012 Permalink

      Rastin and Ash, I know the importance of this and effort and commitment that i have seen from the both of you. Please let me share my admiration for professional consistency and world class thinking from two entrepreneurs who are not just hackers but also genuine thinkers in software design.

    • Rastin Mehr 10:30 am on August 31, 2012 Permalink

      Thank you so much @Rahul it is such a pleasure working people like you guys every day.

  • Rastin Mehr 11:13 pm on January 16, 2012 Permalink
    Tags: , books, gantry framework, ,   

    Anahita Podcast Episode 4 

    Anahita Podcast Episode 4

    This is episode 4 of Anahita Podcast recorded from the Wed. January 11th 2012 Google Hangout session with Scott (from http://www.BeerLovers.com), Rob Saric and Steve from the Anahita Tribes as well Ash Sanieyan, the co-founder and developer of Anahita. In this podcast we’ve had a bit of sound problem. Rob and Steve were sharing a connection and Scott was actually joining us from a coffee shop, so in certain parts of the podcast the audio quality is not as good as it should be. We apologize for that. These sessions are done using the Google Hangout.

    Play

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:23 — 26.7MB)

    In this session we discussed the following topics:

    1. Developing a composer for Anahita 1.6
    2. When will the Anahita 1.6 Embryo and 1.7 Birth be released ?
    3. What are the changes in the Shiraz template for Anahita 1.6 and how technologies such as Twitter Bootstrap and LessCSS are used in the new release.
    4. The state of Anahita 1.6 framework and whether it is the right time for developers to adopt it.
    5. Migration from Anahita 1.5 to 1.7
    6. The Launch of http://www.BeerLovers.com using Anahita (You should check it out)
    7. How the Gantry Framework is currently being used in Anahita
    8. How to seed and grow a newly launched social network? Start focused rather than letting everybody in at the beginning
    9. Recommended the following books:
      1. The Art of Community
      2. The Smart Swarm
      3. Emergence
      4. Nexus
      5. Sync
    10. Some round table discussion on how Google+ is integrating social graph (circles) in their search results.
    If you know any other good books that you have read about social networking theories and community management please post them here as comments.
     

  • Rastin Mehr 4:00 pm on April 11, 2011 Permalink
    Tags: , gantry framework,   

    Anahita Social Networking Engine 1.5.4.1 Birth release is available for download 

    This is a patch for the Anahita social networking engine 1.5.4 Birth release that provides a number of bug fixes as well as recent updates for the Gantry Framework (3.1.11) as well as the recently announced patch for the Joomla 1.5.23.

    You can download both the full package or just the upgrade package from this page.

    How to apply the upgrade

    Please Make sure to make a file and database backup before doing the following 3 steps:

    1. Login  to the Anahita administration back-end
    2. Go to Extend > install/uninstall
    3. Choose the upgrade package from your desktop and press “Upload file & install”

    The following is the change log for the Anahita 1.5.4.1 birth release:


    Legend:

    * -> Security Fix
    # -> Bug Fix
    $ -> Language fix or change
    + -> Addition
    ^ -> Change
    - -> Removed
    ! -> Note?>

    ===Version 1.5.4.1===
    + Updated Anahita with Joomla 1.5.23 Patch
    + Updated Gantry to 3.1.11
    # Fixed Minor Issues with the avatar

     

  • Rastin Mehr 7:01 pm on April 8, 2011 Permalink
    Tags: , , gantry framework, , , , ,   

    Status of Anahita in the first quarter of 2011 

    I love vanocuver

    Vancouver, BC, Canada

    We would like to share with you what we have accomplished during the first 3 months of 2011 and what will be coming next for the 2nd quarter of this year.

    Four Birth Releases

    That’s right we’ve had 4 birth releases since the beginning of the 2011. The first one was the Anahita 1.5 which was made available for download on January 18th. To the surprise of many who were expecting to download just a Joomla component, Anahita was in fact a distro made out of 3 powerful frameworks (Anahita, Nooku, and Gantry) packaged in a stripped down version of Joomla as the container. (Please Read: Anahita is not a joomla extension).

    The other 3 birth releases are Anahita Groups, Discussions, and Photos that we consider the essential apps. In fact right now we have all the stable building blocks for launching a simple but powerful social network that follows the correct NGS (Nodes-Graphs-Stories) architecture.

    Launch of Anahitapolis

    Anahitapolis.com is the home of Anahita project. Some people by mistake use Anahita and Anahitapolis interchangeably. Anahitapolis is the mother ship where the Anahita software is developed, distributed, and supported.

    The Anahitapolis website used to be a Joomla Powered information website plus an Anahita powered social network in the background which we have been seeding with the very first community members. People and companies who were interested in the Anahita project were contacting us, expecting to see a demo, and in exchange they were given actual accounts on a young and thriving social network were all the profiles were real people and organizations.

    Then we decided to merge the information website and the social network. The idea was to power everything with Anahita only. From late December last year and early January we launched the unified Anahitapolis website in 3 stages. On January 18th when Anahita 1.5 birth release was made available, we officially started selling premium memberships plans.

    Would you trust a company that isn’t using their own software? We are very proud to say that Anahitapolis is fully powered by the Anahita software (except this blog that is powered by WordPress). That’s right, we are giving you the  very same software that we are using ourselves to manage Anahita projects and offer support to our premium members.

    The First Tribe

    In the early days of working on the Anahita project we have been keeping a low profile for a while. Despite that some people and companies who were interested in our project found their way through using our network of clients, friends, partners, email or just adding us on Skype! By the suggestion of Mr. Johan Janssens (Joomla co-founder, Nooku founder) we created the Anahita Partner’s Program which essentially granted code and information access to these companies and people for a period of one year in exchange for a fee. They could observe the project as it was going on, ask us questions, provide feedback, etc. The price of the partner’s plan was only $500 however the financial contributions from the Anahita partners grew to the point that almost half of the 2600 development hours were funded by the tribe of partners.

    To show our appreciations to the Anahita partners we started their membership period from the official launch date of Anahita on Jan 15th 2011 and doubled their period of membership (2 years). The partners who publicly announced their support for the Anahita project by having their names listed on our website received 2.5 years of free membership. We also renamed the Anahita Partners tribe to The First Tribe. These people and companies are our heroes and we must say the Anahita project couldn’t have reached where it is today if it wasn’t because of their support.

    We have created this permanent page for the First Tribe members who have publicly supported the Anahita project.

    Integration with the RocketTheme templates and extensions

    In December 2010 we started using the Gantry Framework for the Anahita social networking engine and released the Shiraz template as a blueprint for the Anahita developers and template designers. On Feb. 1st we collaborated with the RocketTheme.com team to make sure their new social template called Tachyon was compatible with the Anahita and current social apps.

    RocketTheme Tachyon Template and Anahita Groups

    RocketTheme is truly the best template club in the world. They are always pushing the limits in what improvements can be done in user interface design, themes, and templates. Their team is so much fun to work with and our collaboration with them has been such a great experience.

    We are also big fans of RocketTheme extensions and a number of them such as RokStories, RokTabs, RokNavMenu, and RokBox are quite compatible with the Anahita and some of them are currently being used on the Anahitapolis website. We would like to continue collaborating with the RT team and make sure that many of their great templates and extensions that can be used within a social networking website remain compatible with Anahita.

    Plans for the 2nd Q this year

    After having 4 birth releases our immediate plan is to invest some time in improving the Anahita templates (Shiraz, Tachyon, etc.) as well as making sure that our other existing embryo (pre-stable) social apps such as Anahita Connect, Subscriptions, and Projects become birth releases.

    We are in preparation to discard Joomla! as the web platform and use the Nooku Server instead. Nooku Server provides a leaner and more efficient architecture suited for building next generation technologies such as Anahita.

    We are also improving and further developing the Anahita’s core so our new collection of social apps and features can be developed.

    As user generated content is growing fast on Anahitapolis website, there is a need for decent folksonomy and content search infrastructure. After the 2nd Q of this year we would like to be able to share, tag, or vote on Anahita story and media nodes as well as having the ability to associate them with geographical locations.

    As always Anahita Premium members are often the first to be notified about the details of all the upcoming projects. We’ve always tried to maintain the culture of “Build first, Brag later” in this project. As we are building and innovating forward, the public will be informed about them as well.

     

     

     

    • Avi 9:46 pm on April 8, 2011 Permalink

      Was hoping for Joomla 1.6 compatibility instead of Nooku fork

    • Rastin Mehr 10:05 pm on April 8, 2011 Permalink

      @avi NookuServer is a far superior option.

    • james 12:00 am on April 9, 2011 Permalink

      Hey Rastin, super post and I am extremely pleased with all the support and efforts from anahita and yourselves – couldnt ask for more to be honest. Looking forward to the Nooku server transition and also 2nd quarter ;)

    • Rastin Mehr 1:27 am on April 9, 2011 Permalink

      @james thank you so much. Let’s make it all happen for the Q2 FTW!

    • Magnus Larsson 7:34 am on April 13, 2011 Permalink

      @Rastin: I would like to invest time and money in developing a new social service based on the Anahita Social Engine. Will the transition from Joomla to Nooku Server be easy to do and fairly smooth or should I wait for the NookuServer release before I start developing. You see, I am not that tech savvy as I would like to be (yet). :)

    • Rastin Mehr 12:12 am on April 14, 2011 Permalink

      @Magnus so far all the updates have been easy to do and fairly smooth. We expect them to only get better.

    • Magnus Larsson 12:50 am on April 14, 2011 Permalink

      @Rastin: Great. That was the push I needed. Time to sign up for a premium account. Feels like if there would be any questions the tight community here at anahitapolis will help and support through the transition.

    • James 2:56 am on April 18, 2011 Permalink

      Hi Magnus, ive been using the Premium account and the updates and support is simply top notch. I too am not massively tech savy (know enough to pull it altogether) and I too am hoping that the transition to Nooku will be simple for us simple folk :)

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