Help:COAP-3180/week1

Homework 1 - COAP 3180 Fall 2 2007

COAP 3180 Course Page

Summary

Finish the classroom activity, i.e.

• Create a public pagecast with Pageflakes
• Build a little dabase with Zoho creator
• Integrate this db within a public Pageflakes pagecast.

Note: If you prefer to remain anonymous, do not leave Name, Firstname, professional email etc. or anything that can identify you on the public page.

Homework tasks

1. Think about a little database (list) of things that you would like to put on the web. Then make a list of properties that describe such a "thing".
   • Examples: A list of CDs, a list things you want to sell, your favorite list of flowers
2. Implement a Zoho creator database that allows to describe each item with a few properties (fields)
3. Add some test data to this database. Revise the database definition if needed.
4. Enter some more data (at least 5 items)
5. Make this Zoho application public (data becomes public on the web)
6. Create a public pageflakes page and import your Zoho creator widget
7. Add an explantation using some Pageflake widget, i.e. describe what your pagecast is good for
8. Add some related news feeds to the Pageflakes page, i.e. the Pagecast should now include the Zoho database plus some useful extra information.

Tips on how to do this are below.

Dates

• This homework is due at start of the week 2 Monday lesson
• The instructor will ask the URL of your public Pageflakes URL
• Each homework counts 10% in your global evaluation. The six best homeworks will be taken into account.

Evaluation

• Task completion (all required elements are present)
• Quality of Zoho database (but don't make it too big !)
• Quality of Pageflakes pagecast

Tip: Quality is essentially related to the idea that your applications are useful to a given range of users.

Tips

Leave all the needed applications open in your browser

Make sure that you are logged to both applications.

• Pageflakes with your login
• Zoho: Switch to Zoho Creator

Tip: It is best to work with 3 different web browser tabs: One for Pageflakes, one for Zoho, and one for this page. If necessary, ask the instructor to explain tabbed browsing...

Help

• Both Zoho and Pageflakes have built-in help
• Zoho also provides videos, e.g. http://creator.zoho.com/collateral/gettingstarted/index.html
• The most important thing to understand about Pakeflakes is that you first should click on the page you want to modify, then hit the big button (top right). Hit it again to come back ...

Make a Zoho widget public

To export a widget from Zoho:

• Click on Edit this application
• Share the application to the public

Share a Zoho application with the public

Exporting Zoho widget code

To get the Zoho widget code for embeding in some other place

• Click on Access this application
• Select Input View
• Menu More Actions->Embed in your Website
• Copy/Paste the code to a "Anything Flake" (see below)

Here is a screendump:

Get a Zoho application's widget code for copy/paste

Configuring Pageflakes

• Firstly (if this isn't already the case) create a new page in Pageflakes or alternatively decide that your default home page will do.
• Make this page public:
  • Click on the big button (top right)
  • Then click in the left menu on Make Pagecase
  • Select "publish Page to the world"
• If you wish:
  • you can invite other people (e.g. classmates) and give them editing rights.
  • You can change the theme and the layout (same menu to the left).

Here is a screendump of the publication dialog:

Pageflakes publish page dialog

Widget import to PageFlakes

To import a Zoho Creator application (database) into PageFlakes

• Create an Anything Flake
  • Hit the big round button on top right
  • Select the Anything Flake from the "Pagecasting & More" column
• Edit the widget
  • Hit the edit button
  • Hit the HTML button on the bottom of this Pageflakes widget
  • Paste the code from Zoho (you can remove the existing code)

Here is a screendump:

Pageflakes - create anything Flake

Note: Once you defined an anything flake like this, you may not be able to change it again. If you don't like the result kill it and make a new one ...

Adding other Flakes

Pageflakes includes thousands of widgets. Most are some kind of newsfeeds or interfaces to various kinds of social software (like YouTube, Flickr, etc.) But there are also a few applications (tools) that may of interest to you.

• If you hit the "Browse All Flakes" button, you can find more widgets by browsing or searching (but finding what you want is not always that obvious ...)

Find more pageflakes

See also the Pageflakes article in this wiki if you want to know a bit more of your instructor thinks about Pageflakes...

Links

Main links

http://www.zoho.com/

http://creator.zoho.com/ (Direct access to creator)

http://student.pageflakes.com/ (variant for students)

http://www.pageflakes.com/

Example Pageflake

• http://www.pageflakes.com/daniel.schneider/ (not really used)