- What is I Am Alpha?
- What is a module?
- What do I need to know?
- How do third-party modules fit?
- What's a microformat?
- What if I want to use AJAX?
- Is this a site builder or a page builder?
- Where are the pages I saved in the Playground?
- Do you have a disclaimer?
What is I Am Alpha?
I Am Alpha is a site where developers and other curious folks can play around with the underlying technology behind a whole new crop of cool AIM products. We're not done with it, but we want people to get excited about it, and more importantly, start creating modules! See "What is a module?" for some more details about modules.
What is a module?
A module is a "distinct piece of content or functionality." That's a fancy way of saying it's a very small Web page that can be embedded easily in another Web page. People have attempted to do this in many ways over the years, from tiny JavaScripts that write to the page, to gigantic web service specifications that require complex servers. We've tried to simplify the process of creating and distributing these pieces of content without over-simplifying it.
What do I need to know?
Very little to create a simple module. Start with the Create a Module page and go from there. Creating a static module can be as simple as opening the module skeleton in a program such as the NVu Web editor and adding some text, or as complex as writing a web service and parsing XML with XSL. Here's what we recommend you be comfortable with in order to be a successful module developer:
- XHTML: We require valid documents in order to provide some level of confidence in modules. Most good WYSIWYG or text-based Web editors can provide validation for you.
- CSS: If you want to do something "extra special" with your module's look, you'll want to do it with CSS.
- JavaScript: If you want to build a dynamic module, get data from other sources with AJAX, or use the Dojo toolkit for effects and transitions.
How do third-party modules fit in?
Very nicely. We recognize that people want content from all over the Web, not just from within the AOL family. If some enterprising developer wants to create a Flickr module, then users will be able to import it from the Rogues' Gallery of user-created modules at AIMPages.com.
The Rogues' Gallery houses all modules not created internally at AOL or by AOL partners. It isn't a "second-class citizen" area of the AIM world. But we do warn our users that modules in the Rogues' Gallery aren't created by AOL and we're not responsible for their content. That's just the way of the world.
The module spec is open for all to use, and we'd love to hear about what enhancements/changes folks would like to see (we watch microformats-discuss@microformats.org and modulet-discuss@listserv.aol.com).
What's a microformat?
A microformat is a way to add more meaning to HTML. See the About Microformats page on the Microformats site. To see our microformat, check out the profile.
What if I want to use AJAX?
We thought of that, and the security limitations of XmlHttpRequest. We've set up a proxy server and we allow modules to send requests to outside hosts through it. For more details, see the AJAX section of the Creating a Module page. Then take a look at the step-by-step instructions in Workshop 4.
The proxy is great if your module is consuming an XML API/feed/whatever. However, you can bypass the proxy (a Good Thing®) and many of the security hassles faced by XmlHttpRequest by using JavaScript interfaces on the server whenever they are available. This is how Google Maps works, for instance. For some great references on these techniques, check out:
We enourage folks developing web services to offer them as both XML and as JavaScript. It makes mashups much easier.
Is this a site builder or a page builder?
It's a page builder. Users can construct small sites by authoring several different pages and manually adding links between them using the text editor module. At some point, we'll porbably offer a navigation module that can compile links to all the pages in a user's Web space and present them in an organized manner.
ModuleT is meant to be broadly applicable, too. It's really a transport format for hunks of DHTML. We're still tweaking the spec, so if there are enhancements you'd like to see, ping us.
Where are the pages I saved in the Playground?
That's an excellent question! For this answer, let's pretend that your screen name is alphablogger, and that in the save dialogue on the Playground, you typed alpha.html as your page name. The URL for your saved page should be: http://iamalpha.com/alphablogger/alpha.html.
We're still working on the playground and will have more instruction on that page shortly. Remember, we're looking for feedback, so please post to the message board and tell us what's missing or unclear, and we'll put it in or clear it up.
Do you have a disclaimer?
You bet we do, and here it is!
- This is an "alpha" quality site, meaning things can (and probably will) break unexpectedly, and for no good reason. There may be (and are) bugs, some of them serious, such as the lack of Safari browser support. We're working to fix them. We would appreciate your bugs reports to the message board .
- We reserve the right to remove modules.
- We don't guarantee "production" levels of support, availability ,or quality.
- You should check out the CSS Overview.