Building OpenSocial Apps

Owned by Mark Halvorson (Deactivated)
Last updated: Jan 06, 2011 by Mark Halvorson (Deactivated)Version comment


OpenSocial is based on web standards so if you're a web developer you've got the right stuff already. To get started building social applications, follow these steps:

  1. Brainstorm with a few friends about an app you want to build. (If you need more friends, join a social network!) Take a look through the Social Design Best Practices article, and see how those pointers might apply to your app.
  2. Pick a social network to use for testing and start writing code. See the Container List on the wiki for a list of social networks you can use.
  3. Get comfortable with the API. Work through the OpenSocial Tutorial to get your feet wet and refer to the Articles & Tutorials on the wiki to learn more advanced concepts.
  4. Reach users on more containers. Read up on cross-container development and take your app to new users around the globe.

As you're writing your app, check out the JavaScript API Reference for definitions and more code samples.

If you have questions while building your app, visit the OpenSocial developer forum or sign in to the IRC room at irc://irc.freenode.net/opensocial. Developers in these forums are writing apps for many different containers, and some are implementing containers themselves so sign on and join the conversation.