Moving towards v1.8

Now that v1.7 has left the building, it could be time for a break but not here at Elgg central, instead, it is straight on with work which will eventually become v1.8 - the interface release!

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Edinburgh Napier Education Exchange

After watching this video about an new initiative at Edinburgh Napier University, I got in touch with one of the team there to find out how things were developing. Colin Gray was kind enough to answer a couple of questions.

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Graphic designers

Over the coming months we are looking to build up a bank of high quality graphic/interface designers who are interested in contract work. Experience with Elgg is a bonus but not a requirement. If this sounds like you, could you send us an email with some samples of your work, rates and availability info@elgg.com. Thanks.

Introducing an enterprise edition of Elgg

Late last year we soft launched a supported version of Elgg aimed at the education market called ElggCampus. Shortly after releasing information about ElggCampus, it became clear that a supported version of Elgg was required by a wider audience so we made the decision to launch an enterprise edition aimed at any individual or organisation requiring a supported version of Elgg.

The enterprise edition of Elgg comes in several flavours; turnkey, dedicated SaaS or on-site. If you would like to find out more, head over to elgg.com. 

Note: If you signed up for a demo of ElggCampus, we will add you to the list for elgg.com and make sure you get an invite shortly.

UPDATE

Initial feedback from potential customers has highlighted some confusion with this offering. Given this, we are going to revisit the language we use. Many thought this was a different version of Elgg, when in fact it is not, it is enhanced in so much as you get support, maintenance etc. but it is still the same Elgg code that can be downloaded here http://elgg.org/downloads.php.

We will look to make things clearer and get better information out shortly.

FURTHER UPDATE

We have now changed the elgg.com website to reflect the various options available and there is a blog post explaining the changes.

v1.7 update

As many of you will know, v1.7 is the next version of Elgg due for release. A few folks have been asking for an update on a potential release date. At this time, we are unable to give an exact date for release as we want to make sure we have tackled all the items we feel are important and ensure it is has been thoroughly tested.

If you have been following the commit timeline, you will know that there has been significant development on the core. The aim is to sort out some of the annoying issues which have persisted in Elgg since v1.0 and to introduce better coding standards. We feel that it is worth taking the time to make sure v1.7 is the most stable version of Elgg so far and a solid platform for you to build upon.

We are currently working with developers in the community to test, debug and patch any remaining or unexpected issues that arise during testing. If you would like to help out, please feel free to grab the nightly build or latest from SVN and report back any issues you find. Patches are also welcome and can be uploaded to Elgg's trac. I need to stress - DO NOT USE THE NIGHTLY BUILD OR LATEST SVN ON A PRODUCTION SERVICE.

We would like to thank everyone for their patience.

Elgg v1.6 rc1

We have just put out v1.6 rc1 for testing. This is an important bug fix/update release. Here is a short run down:

1. Upgraded to jquery 1.3.2 and altered deprecated jquery methods in elgg js
2. Plenty of bug fixes
3. Group access levels apply on all tools
4. URL pass-thru
5. Captcha added
6. KSES replaced by htmlawed
7. Possibile security vulnerability with simple cache fixed

If you would like to provide feedback to help us move towards v1.6 proper, please join the Elgg releases group. Please do not use the release candidate on a production site.

Social Technology and Education

There are a couple of upcoming events scheduled for August 14/15th in Boston which some members of the core Elgg team will be attending.

Firstly, Elgg is one of the sponsors of the Social Technology and Education conference being held at Harvard University, Cambridge. The conference has the following themes and is looking for speakers:

• A Survey of Social Tools and How They Work (Facebook, Twitter, Ning, Flickr, Elgg, etc)
• Case Studies: Social Networks in Schools
• Behavior Management Issues: acceptable use policies, privacy, vandalism, appropriate content, security and more
• Panel: "Co-opt or Compete?" Should schools embrace commercial tools or build their own infrastructure?
• Creating Communities of Learning: How to use tools to advance educational goals
• Technology for Teachers: A session explaining the basic technology terms that will help teachers who want to set up social tools without calling in computer support

Then, on the back of this conference, there is going to be an ElggCamp Boston, so, if you are interested in Elgg, please sign up and come along.

Elgg in higher education

If you are using Elgg within higher education, could you help us gather some stats by taking a minute to fill in this survey. Thanks.

ElggCamp Paris

I've been sent some information about an ElggCamp that is happening in Paris at La cantine on June 13th. There is a growing community of Elgg developers, designers and adopters in France and this ElggCamp will provide an opportunity for those interested in Elgg, based in the Paris region, to meet and share experiences/projects. For more information head over to the event site http://elgg.elgg.fr/pg/groups/623/projet-elggcamp/.

If you are interested in, or are, arranging an ElggCamp and would like it mentioned on this blog, send over any details (dave elgg com).

An update - investment and expertise

The Elgg project continues to grow month on month. This is evident in the volume of downloads, the number of plugins being contributed and the new networks opening daily. To help us continue developing the Elgg project we are in the final stages of agreeing a second round of investment. On the back of Elgg's continued growth, the forthcoming Elgg.com service and high demand for custom networks, confidence in Elgg is high.

We plan on using this injection of capital to expand the technical team and develop a formal partner program to provide commercial support services, training and accreditation to development partners building networks on Elgg. We see strong demand for Elgg networks and are keen to afford supporters and members of the Elgg community with enhanced capability to market their services and promote Elgg as the preferred option for the development of social platforms, both internal and external.

We are delighted to announce that Leonard Lin will be joining the Elgg team on a consultancy basis to advise, and work, on Elgg scaling, authentication methods, code efficiency and direction. Leonard's vast experience gained through the development of upcoming.org, then as a senior hacker at Yahoo and recently as part of the Obama online team will be invaluable to the Elgg project.

The Elgg project is heading into a new phase which we are all very excited about.