Speaking of OpenSocial containers, Shindig is a popular choice, but its PHP version is already compatible with OpenSocial v0.7. Partuza! is an open-source Shindig-compatible social networking site developed by Chris Chabot, the developer of the PHP version of Shindig.

You may be wondering, "If Shindig is a container, then what does Partuza! do?" This time, I will explain how to install it and its relationship with Shindig.

Install Partuza! #

We've previously explained how to install Shindig, so we won't go into detail here. Let's assume that Shindig is installed under ~/shindig and can be accessed via http://localhost:8080/gadgets/….

First, you will need an environment that includes Apache, PHP5 (requires mcrypt), and MySQL5.

Checkout from repository #

Check out the SVN repository on Google Code.

> svn checkout http://partuza.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ ~/partuza

Prepare the database #

Create an empty database with an appropriate database name, username, and password. For now, we'll use partuza, root, and no password. Now, let's dump ~/partuza/partuza.sql.

> mysql -u root partuza > partuza.sql

Set DocumentRoot #

In the Apache configuration (httpd.conf), set DocumentRoot to ~/partuza/html, and then make it accessible via http://localhost/. Of course, you'll need to prepare a domain separate from Shindig, so use a virtual host, etc.

Modify the configuration file #

Edit ~/partuza/html/config.php. Here, set the database-related information you created earlier and the gadget server root URL (gadget_server). The gadget server URL will be the Shindig URL, so it will be http://localhost:8080/.

Copy Database Handler #

Copy ~/partuza/Shindig/PartuzaDbFetcher.php and ~/partuza/Shindig/PartuzaHandler.php to ~/shindig/php/src/social.

> cp ~/partuza/Shindig/Partuza* ~/shindig/php/src/social

Fix Shindig database settings #

~/shindig/php/src/social/PartuzaDbFetcher.php also contains database-related information, so modify it accordingly. Also, modify ~/shindig/php/config.php so that Shindig uses the database handler. Here, set "handlers => PartuzaHandler".

This completes the setup. If you access http://localhost/ and the welcome screen appears, you've succeeded. You can register and use it as a regular Orkut-like social networking site.

The relationship between Partuza! and Shindig #

We've previously explained that OpenSocial gadgets are displayed via an iframe. To put it simply, Partuza is in front of the iframe, and Shindig is behind it. Shindig has previously allowed you to create OpenSocial-like displays using simple HTML by accessing the URL below, but using Partuza transforms it into a full-fledged social networking site.

http://localhost:8080/gadgets/files/samplecontainer/samplecontainer.html

However, as you can imagine from the PartuzaHandler specification, the database is shared. You can see it in action on Chris Chabot's site.

By using Partuza!, you can not only analyze how to incorporate Shindig into a social networking site, but also develop a simple social networking site using it. Please give it a try.