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Integrating Drupal and Native
Applications: The Story of the Elle
Décor Lookbook AppJames HeiseSenior Director, Business DevelopmentJuly 2012
Jim MacInnesTechnology ManagerJuly 2012
• Appnovation Overview
• What was the project?
• What Technologies were used
• Project Architecture
• Cool Features of the App
• Demo of the Application
• Managing Content with Drupal 7
• Solving Performance Issues
• Questions
Agenda
Appnovation is one of the World’s leading Open Source Solution Providers.
• Founded in 2007 by Arnold Leung, CEO as a Drupal
development shop
• Privately held with ~55 employees in Vancouver, BC,
Atlanta, GA and London, UK
• Broad base of customers across Canada, United States and
the UK
• Focused on delivering Consulting Services and Application
Development
• Hand selected, highly skilled, and 100% on-shore delivery
team
• Recognized as a leading edge Open Source Solution
Provider
• Extremely competitive billing rates
We Deliver Open Source Solutions
Who we are
Consumer Facing and B2B Websites
Mobile Web and Integrated Apps
Cross Platform HTML5 Solutions
Enterprise Document Management
eLearning Platforms
Corporate Intranets
Appnovation provides unparalleled expertise in creating
What we do
What we use
We specialize in the use of leading open-source technologies
Appnovation is the only company in the world that is
an Acquia Enterprise Select Partner and a Alfresco
Platinum Partner. We are also the lead supporter, and
top provider of Sproutcore HTML5 development
services worldwide.
We work with media and publishing, consumer
brands, government organizations, technology
companies, advertising agencies, and non-profits.
Who we work with
Some of our Clients
Some of our Clients
Traditional WaterfallDiscoveryTechnical PlanningInformation ArchitectureDesignThemingBackend DevelopmentQuality AssuranceDocumentation and TrainingMaintenance and Support
Development Process
Agile MethodologyIterative Development
Velocity TrackingProduct OwnersScrum Masters
Daily ScrumsShort SprintsSprint Demos
Test Driven DevelopmentQuality Assurance
What Was the Project?
Project
• Appnovation and Acquia’s customer Elle Décor had decided they wanted to develop and iPad app for their extremely popular resource the “Elle Décor Lookbook”
• The Lookbook allows users to browse hundreds of images from their archives organized by room and style
• Users are also able to save their images to share easily with other friends and colleagues even if they don’t have the application
• Users also can also access editor curated Lookbooks and a selection of best advice from ElleDecor.com
What Technologies Were Used
Technologies
• When the project was first discussed we looked at building a multiplatform app using HTML5 technologies and wrapping to android and iOS
• It was decided to focus on the iPad market exclusively due to the iPad tablet market share and existing relationships with Apple
• We decided to use an iOS and Drupal integration that allowed Elle Décor to take advantage of iOS native capabilities and performance as well as taking advantage of the content management capabilities of Drupal
Technologies
• This type of integration would allow for several key
Features:-Elle Décor would be able to manage content in the application without having to resubmit the app to the app store -We also used to Drupal to allow for dynamic web sharing of Lookbooks while not requiring any type of user logins-We decided to engage Acquia to provide the hosting and support platform for the Drupal piece of the application.
Project Architecture
Architecture
• Application is a pure iOS app built in ObjectiveC• It communicates with Drupal using JSON REST
interface• JSON REST API was provided by a custom
module• Assets can be edited/managed on Drupal using
the Drupal Web admin UI• For Elle Decor, no authentication was required
for end users (simplifies the custom REST API)
Cool features of the App
Cool Features
• Extremely responsive photo galleries• Ability to Create and share your own design files
(Lookbooks) with others that might not even have the app
• Sponsored Lookbooks with hotspots on the images to learn more at the sponsor’s website about the product in the image
• Ability to add notes and information to images saved in my design files
• Great selection of articles from Elle Décor with some sponsored content
Demo time
Managing Content with Drupal 7
Drupal as a JSON Server
• There are several ways that you can use Drupal as a JSON Server• Using the Views Module• Using the Services Module• Developing a Custom Module
Why Drupal
• Very Flexible in providing a JSON Rest Interface
• REST interface can be linked to Drupal’s existing Node System
• Provides a great out of the box backend admin tool for content management
• Provides a web based interface for legacy browsers
Solving Performance Issues
Performance
• Initially performance was an issue with the Application
• Solved issues through code re-organization (reduced the amount of database lookups)
• Improved Speed using a Varnish Caching Server• Deployed the Drupal instance on the Acquia cloud• Appnovation also Engaged Acquia PS for a full
performance review of the App• Apple Approval went very smoothly and the app now
resides in the app store with a 4+ rating and great reviews
Questions?
Iain MacNeilVice President of [email protected]
+1.778.862.5162
James HeiseSenior Director, Business [email protected] +1.604.833.1486
James HeiseSenior Director, Business [email protected] +1.604.833.1486
Iain MacNeilVice President of [email protected]
+1.778.862.5162
