Microsoft® Popfly™ Explorer Documentation
Microsoft® Popfly™ Explorer is an add-on component for Microsoft Visual Studio® 2005 and 2008 that enables you to create and
share Visual Studio® projects on the Popfly Space network. To use Popfly Explorer you must already have a Popfly account, which can be
created by signing in through the Popfly website.
Supported Systems
Popfly is supported on the Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 product line:
- Visual Basic® Express 2005 and 2008
- Visual C#® Express 2005 and 2008
- Visual C++® Express 2005 and 2008
- Visual Web Developer® Express 2005 and 2008
- Visual Studio® Standard 2005 and 2008
- Visual Studio® Professional 2005 and 2008
- Visual Studio Team Suite 2005 and 2008 products
We have tested Popfly Explorer on Windows® XP Service Pack 2 and Windows® Vista®.
My Popfly Page
Each Popfly member has their own Popfly web page. This page is accessible through Popfly Explorer. Right-click on your account name and click View My Popfly Page. A web browser window will open to your Popfly page.
From your Popfly page you can see your Popfly web presence: your banner picture, friends, and three most recent projects.
From your Popfly page you can navigate to your Projects page, where you can see a list of all projects you have created.
On a Project Details page you can view any comments on your project.
Projects
My Projects
In Popfly Explorer you can see what Popfly creations you have saved, including mashups and web pages created online. To see all of your projects,
expand the Projects folder under your account name in the Popfly Explorer window.
Note: You can't open and edit a mashup project in Popfly Explorer - only through the Popfly website. You can add a mashup to a webpage.
Also note: If you edit and save a web page project in Popfly Explorer, it will be saved as a website project. You will no longer be able
to edit that web page through the Popfly website.
You can run website projects that you created in Visual Studio through the Popfly website only if the project is shared.
Other types of Visual Studio projects are visible from the Popfly website, but they must be run from Popfly Explorer.
Create New Visual Studio Project and Saving it to Popfly
Create a project as you normally would in Visual Studio: On the File menu, click New Project. In
Popfly Explorer click the Save <project name> to Popfly button or click Save <project name> to Popfly
through the Popfly menu.
You will be prompted to save your work to your computer if you haven’t already done so.
Popfly will then save your project to a specific location on your computer, and it will be reloaded from this location in your Solution Explorer.
At the same time, your project will be saved to your Popfly Space. Your project will appear in your Projects list.
Note: A Popfly Visual Studio project contains a single solution.
Add Reference Assemblies to a Project
Reference assemblies are not automatically added to your Popfly Space when you upload your project. To upload your reference assemblies,
it is recommended that you create a "References" directory and move your reference assemblies to that location. Ensure that your project is
updated to refer to the assemblies in your project's "References" directory.
Add a Mashup to a Web Page
Mashup projects are visible in Popfly Explorer so you can embed them in a web page. To add a mashup to a web page, first open the web page
for editing. Select a mashup in the Popfly Explorer window, and then drag it on to the web page. If you drag on an unshared mashup you will be
asked if you want to share it. Note: If you want your mashup to appear on the web page (even when debugging) it must be shared.
An iframe will be added to your web page. The URL for the mashup will appear in the iframe - you won't see a preview of your mashup.
You can resize the mashup by dragging on the iframe border.
Open Project
To open a project (yours or someone else's), select a project and either double click on it or click Open Project from
the Popfly Explorer window or on the Popfly menu. If a local copy of the project exists on your computer, you will be
asked if it is ok to delete it and open the version that is saved on Popfly.
After opening a project, the Solution Explorer window will appear, and will display the contents of your solution.
Save Project
Local (on your computer):
To save a local copy of your work, click the Save button on the Visual Studio toolbar or click on Save
in the File menu.
To Popfly:
To save a copy of your work to Popfly, click Save <project name> to Popfly in the Popfly Explorer window or
through the Popfly menu. You will then be able to access your project from any computer with an internet connection
and Visual Studio with Popfly Explorer installed.
Your project will be saved to a specific location on your computer, and will be reloaded from this location in your
Solution Explorer. At the same time, your project will be saved to your Popfly Space. Your project will appear under
your Projects list.
Find Project
To find a shared project click Find Project on the Popfly menu or in the Popfly Explorer window. There are three search options for finding projects: search my projects, search Popfly projects, and search Popfly users.
Entering a blank search term will return all results to a maximum of 100. Select and open a project to open a copy in your
Solution Explorer. You can save a local copy or save a copy to your Popfly account.
Share Project
Shared projects are shared with the entire Popfly community. To share a project that you have saved to Popfly, right-click on the project
name and click Properties. In the Properties window, there is a Sharing Level.
By default, projects are not shared. Click on the Sharing Level and select All Popfly Users to share your
project.
When you save a website project you will be asked if you want to share it. You will need to share it in order to view it on the web.
Delete Project
To delete a project from Popfly Space, select the project in Popfly Explorer and click Delete <project name> from Popfly on the Popfly
menu or right-click on the project and select Delete <project name> from Popfly.... Your project will only be deleted from Popfly Space;
any local copies of the project will remain.
Rate Project
In Popfly top projects are highlighted on the Popfly home page. To determine the top projects, a very scientific method is applied: Popfly
members rate projects from 1 to 5. The projects with the highest average rating are highlighted. You cannot rate your own projects: That would
be cheating.
In Popfly Explorer you can only rate projects that belong to your friends. Select a project that belongs to a friend. In the properties window
you will see the average rating and your rating. Click My Rating to rate the project. A value of 1 is the lowest rating, 5 is
the highest.
If a rating is displayed for a friend or another Popfly member, this rating is an average rating of all of their shared projects.
Friends
Add a Friend
To add a friend click Add a Friend... on the Popfly menu or by right-clicking on the Friends directory
in the Popfly Explorer window. You can search for a Popfly
member by entering all or part of their account name. Select the Popfly member you want to add as a friend, and click
Add to Friends.
A friend request will be sent to the Popfly member. The Popfly member can either accept or reject your invitation to be their friend.
If your request is accepted, the Popfly member will appear in your friends list the next time you refresh your friends list. If your
request is denied, you won’t receive a message.
Friend Requests
When another Popfly member requests to add you as a friend you must approve their request before you are added as their friend.
Incoming friend requests are found in the Incoming Friend Requests directory, which is located in the Friends
directory in Popfly Explorer.
You can approve or deny a request to be your friend. To do this, right-click on the name of the requestor, and select either
Accept Friend Request or Deny Friend Request. If you deny a friend request, no rejection message will be sent.
Your Friend’s Popfly Page
To view a friend’s Popfly web page right-click on their account name in your friends list and click Show Friend’s Popfly Page.
A web browser window will open to your friend’s page.
Sign Out from Popfly Explorer
To sign out click on Sign Out on the Popfly menu or from the Popfly Explorer window.
Give us Feedback
You can post questions to the Popfly forum here.