Concursive has begun upgrading customers with ConcourseConnect 6. What's new is a focus on building modern web pages, easier customization and more options for mobile.
First off, we've redesigned our rendering engine with ZURB Foundation in mind. HTML output is now much simpler and cleaner. Our portal technology nests rows and columns, and uses the Foundation grid system to create powerful multi-device layouts quickly and easily. Foundation gives our sites a responsive framework so that web pages look good on desktop, tablets and phones. Implementing Foundation also allowed us to refresh our templates with a new, modern look. Under the covers there's Foundation web components and JQuery. We've updated the HTML content editor to TinyMCE's HTML5 editor. The Concursive image library plugin for TinyMCE has been redesigned with thumbnails and enhanced capabilities for colors, fonts and sizes. All of Connect's modules and portlets have been updated for Foundation.
Next, we wanted customers and partners to be able to customize Connect using configuration packs and plug-ins. Connect achieves this through run-time discovery of configuration files, components and portlets. Adding your own functionality has never been easier.
Finally, with ConcourseConnect 6 you can launch Apps, mobile-first. User registrations, user settings, push notifications and module functionality are all accessible via the restful API.
ConcourseConnect is the customizable and configurable platform for Connect Communities and Hubs. ConcourseConnect is also packaged for Concursive's Team Collaboration and Intranets and includes everything you need to start your own community.
Inquire about your own customizable community or launch your own social business community site with ConcourseCloud which has just been updated to ConcourseConnect 6.0.
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app
You may have heard about Concursive's community, social, and e-commerce feature-set which includes user profiles, activity streams, blogs, calendar events, wikis, forums, tagging, bookmarks, and more, but did you know that when when users interact with a Concursive-based app or site, they are interacting with a service? Concursive has made substantial progress in the web world in the last 7 years to make essential app functionality a part of its customizable platform.
Whether you are going mobile-first, web-first, or launching both, the Concursive platform at a high level solves common problems easily via configuration. Developers concentrate on the parts that make their app unique, while still using APIs and design patterns encouraged by the Concursive framework which work on both mobile and web.
There are many out-of-the-box examples which would otherwise range from easy to difficult to implement on your own:
- A user account system which handles usernames, passwords, invitations, settings and password reset functionality across mobile and web, optionally integrating with Facebook.
- Managing user permissions. Through a badge system users can be identified with multiple roles and responsibilities.
- Managing user groups and whether those groups are private, public, or publicly visible but with authorization by a user manager for additional access.
- Setting up your own spaces. We include spaces for groups, ideas, projects, accounts, businesses, organizations and programs. Create anything, even spaces for trees or stock quotes. Any topic you want your users to collaborate around.
- Geolocation services which easily access Google, MapQuest, and Open Street Maps to geocode locations and display them on devices or web maps. The Concursive API can order all locations by nearest-to-you.
- Storing user generated images in the right size and format to the device or browser needing them.
- Interfacing with video services like YouTube to obtain meta-data, thumbnails and embed codes for videos.
- Importing data from RSS feeds is as easy as entering the feed's URL. The connectivity is scheduled, queued and downloaded into the database. RSS feeds can be integrated into blogs, activity streams or displayed on their own.
- Indexing all data is done immediately so that it's easy to query, search, sort, geolocate and filter user-generated content, photos, and text captured from uploaded documents.
- Sending a push notification is as easy as providing the user IDs and the message to send. The platform uses the right mechanisms for the right platforms for those users.
- The platform has its own order processing system which integrates with Authorize.net, Chargify and iOS in-app purchases to track and verify purchases.
- The services are location aware, based on the user's context, and accesses the data the user is allowed to access.
Those are just several examples which are transparently used on every Concursive installation. Once the platform is installed, your enhancements go into a configuration directory for customizing the user experience, email messages, background jobs, additional APIs, automated workflows, page layouts, CSS, and code.
Learn more by reviewing the ConcourseConnect feature summary.
This post was inspired by Brent Simmons and his experience with app development.
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Concursive is pleased to announce the latest version of ConcourseSuite CRM. Our award-winning CRM has been improved with new features and performance enhancements. Working with customers has allowed us to incorporate new functionality around account management, mailing lists integration, rental products and order management.
Read about the new ConcourseSuite CRM 7 features in the ConcourseSuite CRM Blog.
Learn about ConcourseSuite >
Download ConcourseSuite >
Purchase ConcourseSuite >
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ConnectElements is for creating private groups and projects in a flash! The ConnectElements app helps businesses, organizations, teams, or even individuals better connect and collaborate with colleagues, clients, partners and friends.
The app has features within each group and project space for posting activity updates, creating calendar events, sharing photos, and managing tasks. Once a group is created, the founder of that group can invite others – an email is generated and the recipients follow the instructions to join in. Users can use either the mobile app or the web site to participate. Download the app to get started or head over to ConnectElements.com to learn more.
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fratsoro is for fraternities and sororities wanting a mobile app that goes way beyond the brochureware most have or the sprawl of Facebook. It helps greek organizations better connect, communicate and collaborate with their broad network of stakeholders in an approachable, easy-to-use, cohesive environment entirely optimized to their specific needs.
The app has public-facing features whereby houses can share a range of information. From the basics of who they are, to ever changing updates on social activities, to promoting upcoming house activities.
But fraternity and sorority life is also greatly about private communications, activities and working together. Accordingly, the fratsoro app provides private spaces that support house officers in their duties as well as areas for the broader house membership. These spaces are by invitation only, are easily managed, and provide tools including calendars, activity streams, photos, member lists, and alerts.
fratsoro is built on ConcourseConnect. The app is the first app to use Connect's team management, profile space creation, and user settings APIs for mobile. The feature-complete APIs enable any app to take advantage of mobile collaboration and social networking.
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The MODSIM World Exhibition & Conference brings together a diverse community of individuals with a common interest in using Modeling & Simulation to solve complex problems in a variety of fields including defense, healthcare, cybersecurity, manufacturing, and transportation.
The app features push notifications from event organizers, a map of the area, and updates to the agenda. There's also a social aspect where attendees and fans can share photos and take part in discussions and surveys about the event.
Technically, the app is built on a ConcourseConnect Hub, called ModSim Connected, run by Concursive Corporation and the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Concursive platform is dynamic enough to power mobile communities for events, non-profits, and enterprise customers.
Edit: the app has been updated for MODSIM World 2014 and users can update their apps for the latest version.
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The team at MakeRacket made the SXSW Party Mapp to be a fun, simple app that helps you find good parties going on during the SXSW Interactive and Music festival, both Official and UnOfficial. According to Carlos of MakeRacket, "I mean, we were making a list anyway, so why not share?"
The app is built on a powerful, flexible, and scalable mobile platform from Concursive Corporation. The Concursive platform is dynamic enough to power mobile communities for bands, non-profits, and enterprise customers.
Working together, MakeRacket and Concursive conceived, designed, built, and submitted this app in days, and yet, it is capable of managing data from thousands of users. Please note that "SXSW" and "South By Southwest" are registered trademarks of SXSW Inc.
"Silly App. Serious Power."
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Having a platform for designing social-local-mobile hubs is very convenient. While Concursive has enabled thousands of private business in deploying their own collaboration and customer relationship management solutions, we've also helped businesses and organizations in launching community driven hubs, with all the features of collaboration: activity updates, blogs, wikis, document sharing, and project planning tools to name a few.
Soft launching this month is BeFit757, built on top of Concursive's platform. Joe Antle, Concursive Vice President, says "BeFit757 is the most complete solution for helping connect health and wellness providers to groups of people, employees and colleagues, who are pursuing formal wellness programs."
The public solution works like this:
Businesses and Organizations list themselves at BeFit757.com – this sets up a profile for the business or organization. Profiles are then filled out online, either by the profile manager or site staff. Profiles include text, graphics, video and links. The profile content explains the mission and background information.
Once the profile manager has been trained, the business can order a mobile app which connects to their profile. The profile manager is in control and creates push notification challenges to the app users. These are goals or challenges in which the manager sets using their expertise and users can choose to accept and participate.
To get started with BeFit757, download the BeFit757 App from the Apple App Store. It will show you the challenges and link you to the companion wellness apps as well.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/befit757/id586353625?ls=1&mt=8
Joe adds, "Formal efforts such as those sponsored by affiliate groups and trade associations, employers, providers seeking to add a group dimension to their offerings, and health insurance companies wanting to support and add a collaborative element to their wellness initiatives are especially likely to benefit from the affordable, easy to use and group focus of BeFit757."
I think this is a unique and well thought out example of a community that can grow.
Be fit and stay healthy!
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16 social networking apps, different social networks
Going social doesn't mean just a web site these days – it also means mobile and local. Each social network we bring online, using our ConcourseConnect social platform, features a mobile API for third-party clients. There's sharing to Facebook, Foursquare Check Ins, Topics and Voting, plus much more! Here's just a sampling of some of the communities built on ConcourseConnect and an overview of how they use mobile:
Connecticut Innovation iHUB: CTiHUB currently has two apps. A main app for the CTiHUB community to connect and collaborate, and a second app for the SBIR and Global Trade Summit. This second app is attached to the iHUB but is focused on providing an awesome experience for their biggest event of the year. See what's happening with the news feed, see the latest photos, see the sponsors, see the businesses participating on a map, and see the event agenda. It's our first event app.
d'Art Center: Norfolk's d'Art Center app features over 40 artists in a unique downtown location. Check In with this app, learn about the artists, see the latest photos and see what events are coming up. This is one of our directory-style apps to showcase a number of artists (entities) all coming together and featured in a single app.
There's more to explore. See Concursive on the app store!
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Today we have an awesome rebranding of our site… but it's more than just that. It's a declaration that Concursive is a top contender in the Social Mobile Local (SoMoLo) race with a proven process, reference customers and a compelling platform for Social Hubs. Our leadership and commitment to communities didn't happen overnight. We followed the right trends, used the right technology and streamlined the go live process, giving Concursive's platform the right ingredients for a successful community.
Trends: Social and Collaborative – Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0 and Social Media; Mobile; and Local.
Following trends isn't something one wants to get caught up in alone, however adapting and evolving over time and using trends as an indicator of direction can be beneficial because it's not always clear at the time if something will present an advantage over previous methods.
Some trends that provide a clear advantage: social businesses and mobile applications.
On social business, Nilofer Merchant wrote The New How to share the secrets of unlocking collaborative innovation. In her blog Rules for the Social Era, Nilofer writes a series of posts on being fast, fluid, and flexible in the social era… allowing everyone to own a part of the big picture, and to embody a culture of innovation.
At the recent AIIM 2102 conference, Dion Hinchcliffe's Keynote “Mobility First: New Opportunities" was covered by Keith Swenson who noted "the shift to mobile computing is the most dramatic technology transition in history. Ever."
Concursive is well informed about these trends and you can use the Concursive mobile app for news and links on social business topics and more, while on the go.
Technology: Built for communities from the ground up – profiles, RESTful API, geolocation, search, CRM and more.
Having a successful software stack for Social Hubs means that the technology is flexible, secure, scalable and maintainable… Concursive's stack meets all those requirements. Concursive's feature stack is there to enable you to build what you want using Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, Mobile and Local capabilities the way you see fit. Just want a mobile app? no problem. There are thousands of ways to configure your Social Hub and each is fully supported. Concursive also has Social Hub templates so that your Social Hub is based on years of experience.
Process: Getting started with Concursive can happen blindingly quick. Once you've seen our examples, learned about the components, and reviewed Concursive's information on getting started, all it takes is contacting us.
Think Concursive for Your Social Hub.
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