MindTouch Extension

Let OpenID and MindTouch Be Your Passport

September 15th, 2010 | GuestBlogger | MindTouch Extension, Updates

This post comes courtesy of Craig Box, an illustrious member of the MindTouch Community. You can follow Craig here on Twitter. Thanks for the continued support and contributions Craig!

These days, every web site wants you to create an account with them, and because we’re all very security conscious we use a different password for each site we visit. Tracking so many passwords is hard! If you’re trying to get people to contribute to your intranet or extranet, you want to remove as many barriers to entry as possible.

For people with an existing local source of user accounts, MindTouch comes with many different authentication providers, including LDAP/Active Directory, Moodle, Drupal, Joomla and WordPress. What it was missing, however, was a good solution for OpenID.

If you’re still not familiar with OpenID — “a safe, faster, and easier way to log in to web sites” — what you really need to know that you now only need one password for one web site, which is enabled as an OpenID provider. You almost certainly have an OpenID available to you already, if you choose to use it – big names operating an OpenID provider include Google, Yahoo, AOL, Flickr, MySpace and WordPress.com.

How to create a visually-appealing picture slider XML extension for MindTouch Deki

February 27th, 2009 | Corey Ganser | MindTouch Extension

Writing extensions for MindTouch Deki may seem a little on the technical side, reserved for only those with propellers on their hats and advanced knowledge of Ruby on Rails. The good news is, it’s not!

As a request from the web site creation team here at MindTouch, I created an extension using some resources I found on the web that scrolls through a set of 10 pictures, and cycles back to the first one. It also has a set of thumbnails below the picture being displayed, so that a user can click on one and have the slider scroll directly to that picture. In addition, the user can click on the picture itself, and be sent to a designated landing page.

Want to see how it’s done? Click here to check it out: Creating A Photo Slider Extension For MindTouch Deki

An extension like this is useful for enterprises looking for a visually high-impact way to display pictures, and enables them to direct users to the appropriate landing pages based on the user’s actions.

Going forward, I’ll be creating tutorials showing how to create not just extensions like this one, but also how to utilize MindTouch Deki to solve problems and automate workflows and tasks throughout the enterprise. So stay tuned!

Extension of the Week: MySQL

February 11th, 2009 | Corey Ganser | MindTouch Extension

This week’s extension of focus is for MySQL. The MySQL Extension allows you to surface information from a selected MySQL database and display the results or provide the results as a list to be utilized with other extensions.

To get started add the MySQL Extension.

Once installed edit the Deki page you want to aggregate the results on and then click the Extension button in the editor:

This will bring up the extension dialog where you can scroll down and select the MySQL extension and select the function that you want to invoke. In this example we are going to use the mysql.table function to display a set of results in a table.
mysql-ext-screen

Next we will paste the SELECT query that we want the MySQL extension to return. Note: Your SELECT query will vary depending on results desired along with table name.

 SELECT * from tags;

Paste the SELECT query into the query field as seen in the extension screen shot above.

Once you have the query in the field click the Insert Extension button and it will insert the following code into the MindTouch Deki page:

{{ mysql.Table{query: " SELECT * from tags;"} }}

When you click save in the editor it will output the following table:

mysql-tag2

The example in this blog post is just the tip of the iceberg as far as the possibilities with this extension. Any applications that use MySQL as a backend can have information surfaced in MindTouch Deki. If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment or contact us.

Extension of the Week: Xbox Live

January 16th, 2009 | Corey Ganser | MindTouch Extension

The extension I’m focusing on this week is the Xbox Live extension. The Xbox Live extension allows you to include your Avatar or your Game Card widget onto a MindTouch Deki page. This is a good one to get users contributing to Deki along with letting them get comfortable with the Extension dialog.

To get started install the Xbox Live extension.

Once installed edit the page that you want to include the avatar or game card on and then click the extension button in the editor: This will then give you the insert extension dialog where you can select Xbox Live. To add your Avatar or your game card include your gamerTag in the provided field. In this case we are going to use the gamerTag of an avid Xbox player here at MindTouch, wikinaut:

xboxliveava

Then click Insert Extension and it will produce the following code:

Avatar:

{{ xboxlive.avatar{gamerTag: "wikinaut"} }}

Gamer Card:

{{ xboxlive.gamerCard{gamerTag: "wikinaut"} }}

Then click save in the editor and the following will be displayed on the page:

xbox-saved

The Xbox Live Extension is a fun way to increase activity on your MindTouch Deki by allowing your users to add personal touches to their profiles.

If you are interested in writing your own extension, you can easily do it with a little HTML knowledge and the tutorial here. As always if you have any questions/suggestions please leave a comment or contact us.

Extension of the Week: Zoho Meeting

January 2nd, 2009 | Corey Ganser | MindTouch Extension

Happy New Year! The first Extension of the Week for 2009 is Zoho Meeting. This extension allows you to share presentations at anytime anywhere. Zoho Meeting’s support for remote access lends an interactive element to presentations. With the MindTouch Deki Zoho extension you can embed a screen share on a Deki page allowing viewers to view the presentation directly within MindTouch Deki.

zohomeeting To get started, install the Zoho Extension and sign up for a Zoho Meeting account.

Once you have signed up for Zoho Meeting, create a new meeting. The created meeting will generate a meeting key that you will use with the extension. Now go to Deki, edit the page where you want to embed the meeting and click the Extension button in the editor:

Then search for the Zoho extension and add your username for your Zoho account along with the meeting key as follows:
zoho-meeting

Click Insert Extension and it will show the following code:

 {{ zoho.meeting{user: "cjtannu", key: "3337639500000000900517"} }}

Then click Save in the Editor and you will be presented with a login screen where the viewers of the presentation can put their name/email:
zoho-login

The viewers will then click Join and will be on hold until the Presenter share’s their screen:
zoho-present

Using the Zoho Meeting Extension will allow you to have a single location where users can gather to not only attend the screen sharing application, but also capture notes and collaborate.

If you are interested in writing your own extension like this Zoho extension, you can easily do it with a little HTML knowledge and the tutorial here. As always if you have any questions/suggestions please leave a comment or contact us.

Extension of the Week: Facebook

December 10th, 2008 | Corey Ganser | MindTouch Extension

The extension I’m focusing on this week is the Facebook Extension which allows users to have a dashboard view of their Facebook account including the Inbox, Status, Friends, Photos, and more. In order to invoke the Facebook extension first we need to install the WidgetBox Extension as we will be using WidgetBox to invoke the Facebook Extension.

Once installed paste the following code into your MindTouch Deki page:

{{ widgetbox.widget{id: “b8c780c5-0508-4de8-b0b4-d7d2be7d99d5″} }}

This will invoke the Facebook extension and embed it into your MindTouch Deki page as follows:

This widget is cookie based so you can post it on a Deki Page and that allows all users to login. The Facebook Extension is a great way for your users to access their Facebook Profile within Deki.

If you have any questions please feel free to comment or contact us

Extension of the Week: EditGrid

November 19th, 2008 | Corey Ganser | MindTouch Extension

The extension I’m focusing on this week is a new extension for EditGrid. EditGrid is an Online Spreadsheet service delivering Data on Demand. With the EditGrid extension you can embed an EditGrid Spreadsheet into a MindTouch Deki page and then allow users to add to the spreadsheet.

To get started install the EditGrid extension. Once you have the extension installed then go to the page that you want to embed the spreadsheet on, edit the page, and click the Extension dialog button which looks like this:

This will bring up the Extension dialog where you can scroll down to the EditGrid extension. Then select editgrid.widget and add the username for your profile at EditGrid along with the sheet name. For this example we’ll use my EditGrid account which the username is coreyg and the sheet name is MindTouch_Deki Note: You need to include the underscores in place of spaces for the sheet name.

Now click insert extension and the extension will be inserted with the following syntax:

{{ editgrid.widget{user: "coreyg", sheet: "MindTouch_Deki"} }}

Now save the page and you will see that the spreadsheet renders with the ability to be edited by anyone who accesses the page.

Note: EditGrid has permissions for the sheets that can be altered so that people can only read the sheet and not add to it. Also if someone makes a change to the spreadsheet it will not associate the edit with the user editing, it will be associated with the one general user.

EditGrid is a nice addition to Deki as it will allow your users to collaborate around spreadsheets all within Deki.

If you have and questions or suggestions please feel free to leave a comment or contact us.

Extension of the Week: Instacalc

November 13th, 2008 | Corey Ganser | MindTouch Extension

The extension I’m focusing on this week is the Instacalc extension. Instacalc is a fast, easy and shareable online calculator. The Instacalc extension will allow you to include a calculator on any Deki page for quick calculations or Advanced Calculations using variables.

To get started install the Math Extension. The configuration/installation of ImageMagick, MiKTeX, and Ghostscript aren’t required to use the Instacalc part of the extension.

Once you have installed the extension you can invoke it by editing the page and clicking on the extension dialog button which looks like this:

This will load the Extension dialog, as seen below, where you can scroll down until you see the Math option, click on that and then select the math.sheet and paste the following url into sheet field:

http://instacalc.com/?d=&c=UHJpY2U9JDMuNzUgLy9Db3N0IHBlciBHYWxsb258RGlzdGFuY2U9MzAwIG1pbGVzIC8v
TWlsZXN8R2FzPSA5IC8vZ2FsbG9uc3xNaWxlcyBwZXIgR2FsbG9uPXIyL3IzfENvc3QgcGVy
IE1pbGU9JHIxL3I0fHw&s=sssshss&v=0.9

Then click the Insert Extension button and the following code will be added to your page:

 {{ math.Sheet{sheet: "http://instacalc.com/?d=&c=UHJpY2U9JDMuNzUgLy9Db3N0IHBlciBHYWxsb
258RGlzdGFuY2U9MzAwIG1pbGVzIC8vTWlsZXN8R2FzPSA5IC8vZ2FsbG9uc3xNaWxlcyBwZXIgR2FsbG9uPXIyL3
IzfENvc3QgcGVyIE1pbGU9JHIxL3I0fHw&s=sssshss&v=0.9"} }}

On save this will show the following Instacalc sheet which calculates the cost per mile for your car:

You can find more Instacalc sheets or create your own at Instacalc.

If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to leave a comment or contact us.

Extension of the Week: Remember the Milk

November 4th, 2008 | Corey Ganser | MindTouch Extension

The extension I’m focusing on this week is the Remember the Milk extension. The Remember the Milk extension is a new extension that uses the Remember the Milk Gadget created for Gmail. This gadget will allow you to keep track of Tasks along with adding new tasks to your Remember the Milk account. You can embed this on any page and all of the users can use it as it is cookie based. To get started install the extension.

Once the extension is installed, edit the page that you want the extension on. Then click the Extension icon in the WYSIWYG editor which looks like this:

This will bring up the Extension Dialog as seen here:

Scroll down to the Remember the Milk Gadget and click on it and then click on rtm.gadget. Once you have selected it, click Insert Extension. The inserted extension script will look like the following:

{{ rtm.gadget{} }}

Save the page and you will be presented with a login to the Gadget that looks like this:

Enter your Remember the Milk credentials. If you don’t have a Remember the Milk account you can click the “Signup now for a free account” and that will direct you to a registration page.

Once you log in you will see the following interface where you can add and manage tasks:

The Remember the Milk Gadget is a great way to manage your To Do list within Deki. If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to leave a comment or contact us.

Extension of the Week: Google Search

October 30th, 2008 | Corey Ganser | MindTouch Extension

The Extension I’m focusing on this week is Google Search. Google Search allows you to display results of a keyword search within a MindTouch Deki page broken down into the following categories: Web, Local, Image, Video, News, Blog, and Book.

To get started install the Google extension.

Once that is installed we can invoke the extension through the MindTouch Deki Extension dialog. To do this click Edit on the page that you want the extension to be on and then click the Extension Icon in the editor that looks like this:

This will open up the Extension Dialog where you can scroll down and select Google as an option and then select google.search.

Now you can specify the search term(s) that you want to search for on Google along with specifying if you want to only return a certain set of results like Blogs, Books, News. You can select if you want the result to be tabbed and if you want to publish or subscribe to any channels.

For this example we are going to search for MindTouch and keep the defaults for options. Once you type in mindtouch you can click Insert Extension and the following syntax will be shown on the page:

{{ google.Search{search: "mindtouch"} }}

This will return the following:

Adding google.search to your Deki pages will add contextual relevance search results for the content and add more interactivity for the visitors. The method of inserting the google.search extension using the extension dialog is available for all extensions in MindTouch and is an easy way for your users to create dynamic pages.

If you have any questions about this extension please leave a comment or contact us.