Today, we're releasing a beta of our new open source Facebook Newsroom CMS application framework:
The Facebook Newsroom CMS framework is generic Facebook application code which can be quickly and easily installed, configured and customized for any small organization wanting to establish a sophisticated Web presence within the Facebook community. We hope this framework will drastically reduce the barrier to entry for organizations wishing to leverage Facebook. See our demonstration site at Facebook.
While Facebook has Groups and Pages that are easy to set up, they are also quite limited in functionality. These features are not conducive to community-building, engagement or organizing. Until now, building a Facebook application with broader capabilities required a significant investment of $5 - $15,000 minimum. This framework provides the easiest, most customizable and economical solution for small and/or non profit organizations to run an application on Facebook.
It's essentially a start up kit for small organizations wishing to
build a Facebook application without spending thousands of dollars.
It's also a great starting point which can later be enhanced and
extended with additional features. With just a few hours, a Web developer with basic PHP skills can launch your application. Hosting can even be obtained free for one year at Joyent (waiting list may exist for free accounts).
Since the framework is open source, it can grow over time as the development community contributes new capabilities. You can download the source at SourceForge or learn more at our Wiki.
Available Features
The default framework provides some basic pages (like a basic Web site or Drupal or Plone installation) e.g. Home page, Newsroom, Photos, Wall, Discussion Forum, Invitations page and About page. It also provides basic content management (CMS) features for customizing the site from within a Web-based management user interface which many users are already familiar with. Pages can be turned on or off or content edited in place.
The news features include integration with your organization's own RSS feed (from a blog or Web site) and the NewsCloud Newsroom which provides real time community-driven news content on a variety of topics. The NewsCloud Newsroom can also be fully customized. If you have a Drupal-based Web site, check out the Drupal NewsCloud module.
The CMS supports HTML blocks and iFrames to allow you to integrate advertising e.g. Google AdSense, fundraising e.g. ChipIn, photos e.g. Flickr slideshows and more.
See the generic demonstration site on Facebook for examples.
For updates, please check back at the NewsCloud blog or subscribe to our feed.
Download the code from SourceForge
Drupal Newsroom Module and demonstration site
Requirements
Facebook Developer account
Linux hosting with PHP 5.x (4.x with minor changes)/MySQL 4.x
Possible hosting options:
Joyent
JohnCompanies
Amazon S3 (may be a bit expensive for some organizations)
Questions?
Set up instructions are included in the readme file with the code download. As usual, please contact me via email at jeff@newscloud.com with any questions, bug reports or feature requests. Thanks all!
