Weblogs: Atom

I'm excited about Atom and the AtomAPI. Although my initial reason for participating in the Atom project was to get some experience in working with XML formats and web service. Some of the biggest names in the XML world are working together, and I get to watch it happen and learn like crazy.

I've been developing a better, more complete, PHP AtomAPI implementation. My main goals were to create a modular, extensible and pluggable AtomAPI service framework. With that done, and eventually relegating the blogging component to a mere pluggable service, I've spotted some interesting AtomAPI services.

Now I'm even more excited. I'm excited because the AtomAPI is proving itself to be the crucial piece of my long-term project. That project is the creation of a centralised browser-based way of managing the heaps of information I collect and hoard. This is my cross between a Content Management system, an intelligent agent platform, a browser watcher and a storage for good usenet posts and emails.

If I could have the cross between a wiki, web-based email, a usenet client, an interest-based website suggestor, a website creator, an archive, an ebay and Google News watcher all linked together with one application, then my project would be done. Atom gives me the infrastructure to merge wikis, email, usenet, website editors, and archives into one standardised interface - the AtomAPI.

Each of the above services can be implemented as an AtomAPI service inside my PHP framework:

• A wiki is nothing more than a linkable Atom "Notepad".
• Emails and Usenet are merely POP/IMAP to Atom and NNTP to Atom gateways.
• An archive is just a "Save this web page content to my Atom Service".
• An ebay watcher is an EbayAPI -> Atom interface (plus $100 for self-certification of an EbayAPI app).
• Google News is now just another POP/IMAP to Atom interface thanks to Google's news notification service.
• A website editor is now just a bog standard date-independant blog backend.

I'm only working on the server part of the AtomAPI implementation at the moment. I would still need a good GUI based client. My thoughts here are to a Mozilla based Atom client. Extensible, pluggable and modular are also going to be main requirements there. I'd like the choice of an outliner, a wiki-like editor and a source based html editor as part of the client. Different editors for different types of content.

I hold no delusions that the client will be simple, but that's something I can take my time with, since I'll want to be using it constantly, it can be developed, tested and debugged while I'm using it. It will grow with my ideas. I get the chance of learning Mozilla application development. Its something I have on my skills to-do list, and I see rich-client browser based apps as the future of the web application development.

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