Seems I'm simply way behind the curve when it comes to following the latest trends on the most popular open-source microblogging script: Statusnet. Unfortunately, Statusnet changed from an AGPL-licensed script to an Apache 2.0 licensed script called pump.io. With that, Identi.ca changed too. The new microblogging community is located at Microca.st. Oops. It seems they dropped the microblogging platform they once had so the microblogs that this blog used to front are gone.

P.S: Statusnet's change reminds me of the Croatian company Shoutem which had a microblogging platform some few years back. Then, voila, it dropped the service and is now a mobile apps company. Is it that the microblogging concept isn't a cashcow model? May be I should leave this for the next blog post.

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This should really scare off any microblog admin into action. If you are running a Statusnet microblog that is using  0.9.1 or older versions of the software then read on. Just check out what this guy can do. Simply put, using his method, one can build a massive collection of backlinks right to their site and get way with some good Google pagerank. Now that is not fair. While many webmasters, bloggers and your microblog included are squeezing out every legit SEO strategy from the man hours you put into your sites, some guy can hop on and steal your pagerank. Please read the article on that site, now. If your Statusnet microblog has been listed there, upgrade it right away. Statusnet is now in 1.0.1 release version.

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UPDATE: StatusNet Cloud Service is now running on the latest release of the script, 1.0beta. One new change that they have introduced into the service is that no free, public, microblogging communities can be created. See this post on the forums. Did I just tweet about it?


This is just a continuation of the previous post on the improvements on the StatusNet microblogging script.

Themes/Templates

In so many cases be it Internetware apps or any other kind of app, form has equal importance to the substance of the program/script. A site's or an app's appearance can make or break the attraction of users.
Previous releases of the script had 7 pre-installed themes: Pigeon Thoughts, Biz, Identica, Mozillaca, default, Cloudy and hack3r themes. But starting from the 0.9.6 release, 6 more themes have added: Clean, Cleaner, Rebase, Victorian, Mnml & Shiny themes. These new themes are much more crisp and glossy than some of the older pre-installed themes. As proof of the "wow-factor" these new templates have, check out the Mannconnect microblog with the Shiny theme. Cool, isn't it?
Oops, I almost forgot this. The navigation bars have also been updated too. There are some new additions to the navigation bars: the "Home" link/tab that points to a user's private timeline and the "Private" link/tab that points to a user's profile. The "Public" link/tab points to the public timeline's page.

Mobile Layout

The mobile Web is the in thing nowadays.Websites, more so social networking sites, that cannot be viewed from mobile devices are losing a critical portion of Internet users. The StatusNet devs have now included an option to convert a microblog's layout to a layout that is "mobile-friendly" - if I can say that. With a simple click on a link, you can change a StatusNet microblog's layout to its mobile layout. Just click on the "Switch to Mobile Layout" link that is right at the footer section of the site and you'll have your site on every iPod, mobile phone.... Good day!

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StatusNet, the open source microblogging script is rolling on and every release some tweaks that are worth a mention. Hopefully, if the devs behind the script continue with this trend , who knows, may be the script would be the WordPress.com of the microblogging world. Since the 0.9.2 release (that is when I started using the script), some changes have been made to the script: the current release is 0.9.9. These changes are noticeable even on the cloud service offered by the StatusNet company. Each release is quietly slipped into the service and only a regular user of the service can and will notice these changes.
The technical discussions of the changes that have been implemented can really put off the less technical persons amongst us. Additionally, some of the changes may be passed off in one general statement under such subjects as "New Themes Introduced!" and this may not help to bring them into light. I'll only focus on the most notable changes here without getting into the technicalities of the changes in the code running under the hood. You can get the latest updates on the script's development on the StatusNet blog.

Private Timelines

If you have ever used a StatusNet-powered site like Nairobi-stique, you must be aware of the feed of all posts of you (the user), and your subscriptions on the site. If you are a member of a group, you'll also see the stream of messages/notices by other group members in this timeline. This is your private timeline. The Public Timeline, on the other hand, streams all the posts of all the users on the site. This feature is similar to the "Home" page once you log into Twitter.
In the older releases, you could access this timeline right from your profile even without logging into the site. But with the current release, you can only view this stream when you log into the site. This is via the link, "Home", that has been added to the navigation bar. In the previous releases, you could access this timeline through the "You and Friends" tab/link on the navigation bar. You can also access this timeline by clicking on the site's log when you log into the site: in previous releases clicking on the site logo pointed to site's homepage only, so, this is one little change too!.

Groups Management

This is one area where important improvements have been made especially when it comes to administration. Groups are the major feature that distinguish StatusNet sites from Twitter. In the older releases, the super-admin had to dig in right into the site's structure just to delete a group, but with the latest release, starting from 0.9.6 , the super-admin can easily delete any group by clicking the "Delete" button right next to the group's name.

Accounts Settings

This is one change that can go unnoticed really, since it is very rare that any user ever changes their account information (an exception: if you always change your avatar, this may not be the case).If you go to your account's settings page (click on the "Settings" link on the navigation bar), you'll actually see 3 little buttons with the options for deleting, deactivating and recovering your account. These buttons were not there in the older releases of the script.

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