Ning Apps Documentation

With over one million social networks created on our platform to date, Ning Apps on Ning have access to an expansive and ever-growing audience.

Ning Apps are able to appear as a dedicated navigation tab and across all member profile pages.

These applications support a subset of OpenSocial 0.8 APIs and core Google Gadgets, with limited support for the legacy (iGoogle) APIs – you can find the list at our API page.

What Ning Apps Can and Can Not Do

What Ning Apps CAN Do

• Build a functional application with different views: Ning Apps lets you build a functional application that let's you integrate with different parts of the social network including profile pages, as well as a dedicated separate page available from the main navigation.
• Access & Integrate your third-party information with the members of a social network: If you have a database/content storage solution that is accessible via REST APIs, you can create a user interface that is directly accessible from all social networks on Ning.
• Get limited information about a social network into your application using Javascript: Ning Apps are based on OpenSocial standards which include methods to extract profile information.

What Ning Apps CAN'T Do At This Time

• Retrieve member data from custom profile questions or features such as photos, videos, forums, etc.: This type of information falls outside the scope of the OpenSocial API. The Engineering team is currently looking into ways of expanding the OpenSocial specification by adding methods to access all member content on your social network.
• Integrate with existing features: There is currently no filter or plug-in system for Ning Apps that would allow you to extend or enhance the built in features.
• Let you query member or network information directly from your server: Since this form of remote access is part of the OpenSocial v0.8 specification, we plan to provide OpenSocial REST APIs in a subsequent release.

Differences Between Profile and Ning Apps

If you've previously created a Profile App on Ning, here's a handy chart outlining the differences between Profile and Ning Apps:

	Profile Apps	Ning Apps
Primary View	Profile	Canvas, available from main navigation
Supplementary Views Supported	Canvas (1), About View	Profile (Optional), Canvas (Multiple), About View
Who adds an application	A member of a social network	Network Creator of a social network
Canvas view contains tabs in the navigation of social network?	No	Yes
Activity Streams via	Writes to the "Recent Activity" module on a member's specific profile page	Writes to the "Recent Activity" module of the main page of a social network
Alert Messaging via requestSendMessage	Has the ability to message all friends of a member of a social network	Has the ability to message all members of a social network

Support Resources and References

• Contact the Ning OpenSocial Team through the Ning Help Center
  
• OpenSocial APIs Supported by Ning
• Ning Certificate for Signed Requests - Read more about Validating Signed Requests
• OpenSocial Tutorials v0.8
• Gadgets XML Reference Page
• OpenSocial API Blog
• Social Design Best Practices
• Frequently asked Questions about OpenSocial
• OpenSocial Developer Forum
• Orkut's Guide to Localizing OpenSocial Applications
• Gadgets and Internationalization

Policy Based Links

• After Your App is Submitted
  
• Ning Terms of Service
• Ning Applications Terms of Use
• Third Party Application Developer Terms of Service
  
• Privacy Policy
  
• General Guidelines for Developing on the Ning Platform