hsn - the political network

The Policital

Network A new place for politics

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Executive Summary

A universally connected social network for politics - a concept designed and developed by Neal Harrington.

The original purpose of the project was to create a place to allow collaboration and participation at the intersection of consultants, campaigns,

candidates and voters; with the goal of empowering citizens to have greater influence over the electoral process. Designed to meet the specific

and unique needs of each type of user within the platform, the network fulfills these requirements by providing several unique and proprietary

functions to each user type.

Some were designed to emulate the functionality of features from LinkedIn, Elance.com, and various other social networks. Others evolved

overtime as we developed the technology, one of which leverages human interests, behavior, and competition in an entirely new way. The idea

is to monetize advocacy by allowing candidates and qualified site members to connect, negotiate and affiliate with each other for the purpose of

taking action for the stated connection.

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Expanded Revenue Model Merging all three Harrington product offering will diversify and expand lines of revenue to the following:

TPN Rewards System – Stars Candidates buy stars from the TPN to reward to TPN Members (Citizens) for successfully completing an activity or activities agreed to through the affiliation process.

TPN Members may redeem stars earned for cash or TPN credit

The TPN profits from the difference

Example:

1. TPN sells “Candidate A” 100 Stars at $1.10 = $110 2. “Candidate A” affiliates with “TPN Member A” and negotiates/agrees to write 10 blogs promoting “Candidate A” for 10 stars – or the cash equivalent of $10. 3. “TPN Member A” successfully completes the task affiliated to Candidate A and is rewarded the 10 stars. 4. “TPN Member A’s” account is credited with $10 in their account which they may wire transfer for free one time per month – similar to how PayPal works

TPN Membership Fees Service Providers

1. Monthly from Free to $45 – Look at Elance Membership Plan

TPN Candidate Member Services 1. Broadcasting Features 2. Video Conferencing Features 3. Online Payment System Management

TPN Service Provider Transaction Fees 1. The TPN provides a platform for political professionals, vendors and candidates to conduct business. Service Provider fees range 6.75 to 8.75 percent.

TPN Advertising

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ADVOCACY POINT System All the MEMBERs who register can earn POINTS for their activities on the site.

For instance, if a MEMBER posts a Blog, for every reply to the blog the MEMBER will earn 2 POINTS.

Also the MEMBER that makes the reply will earn 1 POINT. This will help to motivate MEMBERs to check for new content on the site and add to it proactively.

Points for Assignments Assignment: An Assignment is a task assigned by the CANDIDATE to the MEMBER, which is directed to achieve the agreed to: ‘TARGET POINTS’ for the Assignment to be completed successfully.

An Assignment has a Start-Date and an End-Date. The end date is the date before the MEMBER must complete the agreed to “task” in order to receive the agreed upon “TARGET POINTS”.

All the points earned by the MEMBER for the Assignment will be added to CANDIDATES account, which in turn will increase CANDIDATE rating.

For all assignments the MEMBER receives ‘STARS’ awarded by the CANDIDATE

After successfully completing the assignment, the MEMBER can redeem the STARS for money.

When a MEMBER is awarded an ‘Assignment’ by the CANDIDATE, the MEMBER initiates activities to earn points for that Assignment.

We coded a system to allow MEMBERS and CANDIDATES to manage their affiliations, assignments, points, and stars earned A MEMBER

For example,

1. If a MEMBER is to post a Blog for an assignment given by the affiliated candidate, the MEMBER selects the ‘Assignment Name’ when posting the blog to create and maintain a log of all the actions for that Assignment and the points earned. To begin an Assignment, the CANDIDATE and MEMBER follow an affiliation process.

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Affiliation Process Flow

Scenario I:

CANDIDATE searches MEMBERS

CANDIDATE sends request to a MEMBER, sends expected target points along with the request.

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MEMBER accepts/rejects.

If MEMBER accepts the request, TARGET POINTS and awarded STARS are agreed upon.

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CANDIDATE agrees and fills Assignment Form.

Assignment is listed in ACTIVE ASSIGNMENTS list.

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MEMBER starts blogging for the Assignment. Selects Assignment Name for which he is blogging

Once the Assignment is Completed successfully (i.e. TARGET POINTS are achieved before Assignment End Date) it is listed under CLOSED-SUCCESSFUL Assignments.

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Scenario II:

MEMBERS Searches CANDIDATE

MEMBER sends request to a CANDIDATE, sends expected target points along with the request.

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CANDIDATE Affiliates/Rejects.

If CANDIDATE accepts the request, TARGET POINTS and awarded STARS are agreed upon. CANDIDATE fills Assignment Form.

Assignment is listed in ACTIVE ASSIGNMENTS list.

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POLITICAL SERVICE PROVIDER NETWORK (Elance.com) 1) Get Services - Companies those who want with other vendors to complete their project

2) Provide Services – Provide services to company to complete their project

Process: a. Candidates and Campaigns place projects on TPN and invite bidders either privately or publicly

b. Service providers / Vendors bid for the project

c. Candidates and Campaigns select the best suitable vendor for their project

d. TPN receives a transaction fee based on the total project cost which is a percentage of the total fee. TPN also generates revenue through the registration fees of both type

users (Vendors & Providers)

Services Module Services Module is a system to manage services provided by Service Provider User for Candidates and Co-Service Providers. A service provider can add, promote and buy services, whereas Candidates can buy services. When a SP logs in he will get an option to post services clicking on this will take user to Services Landing page/ My Services Page.

On this page, SP can post new, edit and delete services. Clicking on post a service will show an option for adding a new service.

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When SP posts a service, it will be available for Candidates and other service providers to buy. A service provider can promote his services with “promote services”

These promotions will flash on services listing page and Service provider listing page.

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A service provider can see the services posted by him any time by clicking My Services.

My Promotions will take Service Providers to the list of service Promotions posted by them.

A Service provider can see and buy services posted by others by clicking on show services

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When a Candidate logs in, he will get an option of avail services, clicking on which will take him into listing of service providers page. A candidate can click on the service provider and

view their profile. He has option to filter it category wise.

Show services will take the candidate to services listing page.

Clicking on the avail service button will add the service to the candidate/Sp’s cart.

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Once the purchase is completed, Candidate/SP can click on checkout, which will take him to the cart page.

Here user can verify his order and place the order.

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E-Commerce 1. Payment Gateway Integration: Any Payment Gateway Of your Choice can be integrated to receiving payments for registration

2. Gold Membership: Members can avail advanced feature if they are paid members. We recommend PayPal or Credit Card Payment for Gold Membership.

Software Requirement:

Software Requirements

Operating System: Unix-type - Flash Media Server /RED 5 for live video streaming

PHP: version 4 or higher

Curl Enabled on the server

MYSQL: version 4.1 or higher

PHP GD Library: GIF/JPEG Read/Write support

PHP GD Library: Free Type support

Ability to setup cron tasks

FFMpeg Enabled Server

Hardware Requirements:

Hardware Requirements From 0 to 10,000 users Shared Public Host Processor: 800Mhz Memory: 128Mb Storage: ~10Gb

From 10,000 to 50,000 users Shared Public Host Processor: 1.4Ghz Memory: 256Mb Storage: ~20Gb

From 50,000 to 120,000 users Shared Private Host Processor: 1.4Ghz Memory: 256Mb Storage: ~35Gb

From 120,000 to 500,000 users Dedicated Host Processor: 1.8Ghz Memory: 512Mb Storage: ~50Gb

From 500,000 to 1,000,000 users Dedicated Host Processor: 2.8Ghz Memory: 1Gb Storage: ~120Gb

Over 1,000,000 users Dedicated Load Balanced (2) DB/HT Processors: 3.0Ghz Memory: 3Gb Storage: ~240Gb

Note: Hardware Requirements are approximate. Based on a ~5% simultaneous users load average with a ~15% simultaneous peak load (~10,000 to 30,000 hits peak)

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Banner Advertisement Ability for users, admin & also third party trade organizations to easily broadcast their advertisements on the site

Functional Specifications:

Add new ad Use can have multiple ads of different sizes/packages

Manage ads Edit/remove banner ads/text or view all ads depending upon type

Payment Gateways PayPal, 2checkout or offline payment method supported

Search & Manage ads Search ads depending upon size or stats

Select Ad Slots User can select from a variety of ads slots to upload his ads

Type of Ad User can upload banner (Images/Flash files) or text ads

Ad Packages Unlimited ad packages are supported for users to choose from

HHN – 150V- Banner Ad Package HN – 150V Banner Ad Package



HHN – 610H- Banner Ad Package HN – 610H Banner Ad Package

This package includes: HOME page listing • 1 Banner Ad (230 wide x 150 high) • Direct-Link to your company website SUBSCRIPTIONS & PRICES 1 month $80 USD 3 months $220 USD 6 months $360 USD 1 year $500 USD

This package includes: HOME page listing • 1 Banner Ad (230 wide x 300 high) • Direct-Link to your company website SUBSCRIPTIONS & PRICES 1 month $160 USD 3 months $440 USD 6 months $720 USD 1 year $1000 USD

This package includes: Network page listing • 1 Banner Ad (230 wide x 600 high) • Direct-Link to your company website SUBSCRIPTIONS & PRICES 1 month $40 USD 3 months $110 USD 6 months $180 USD 1 year $250 USD

This package includes: Network inside Header listing • 1 Banner Ad (610 wide x 65 high) • Direct-Link to your company website SUBSCRIPTIONS & PRICES 1 month $40 USD 3 months $110 USD 6 months $180 USD 1 year $250 USD

Pay Per Options User can select from PPM, PPC or time based slots (Pay per impression, pay per click or for pre-determined time span). User can buy more ad impressions/clicks if desired.

Extensive real time stats exhaustive Real time Ad stats including impressions/clicks received, click through rates, most displayed/clicked ads, total/approved/unapproved banners, day to day tracking of above stats for each banner.

Transaction history View transaction history

Admin Section:

Manage Advertisers View all advertisers with their records of approved/unapproved paid/not paid ads, current balance amount, transaction history, stats history, etc

Configure ads slots Add/Remove/Edit Ad Slots

Banner ads Management Admin can approve/disapprove a banner, view/search from list of all banners, edit/delete banner, check the stats for a banner & other details

Text Ad Management Admin can approve/disapprove a text ads, view/search from list of all text ads, edit/delete a text ad, check the stats for a text ad & other details

Approve/disapprove ad Admin has the rights to approve/disapprove each ad

Ad packages Management Admin can add new ad package depending upon type of ads (PPM/PPC/timed) & then set the price, package name, size, etc. Admin can also edit/delete existing packages

Clean-up routine Admin can set-up clean up units to remove images/banners that are not used, banners ads & their stats older than 1 year

Stats Real time extensive Stats per advertiser/ad

Email Advertisers Option to email all advertiser or a particular advertiser

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Features & Functions: Normal User: Individual members | Free Membership – Standard Features available to all | Gold/Premium Membership – Special

features provided to paid members User Profile: Ajax Driven Profile allows Users to post information and control all their favorite videos, Music, Photos, Blogs, Forums, Contacts, Like minded Groups and friends at a single glance.


User Showcase Display - My Video| My Photos | My Blog | My Campaigns| My Party | Events

User Profile Display/Edit Options

Add Photo Ability to Add Head Shot Image

Add Contacts with ability to

display connections & degrees of

separation

Ability to Add Contacts from the site depending upon display connections and degrees of separations. Our Contacts module keeps track of the friends & their network

using ‘bread crumbs’ i.e. the path to trace the connections till that user. This will be traced up to 3 degrees like done in LinkedIn.com. See image below.

Invite Friends Ability to Invite friends from Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail

My Friends Displays the list of present friends or network

Advanced Profile Search Searches other profiles based on selected criteria’s

Admin Section:

Add Users Ability to setup various configuration based on users

View Users Capability to View and search users

Make Featured Ability to highlight user on the site

Edit Ability to edit user settings

Delete Delete users

Groups: Per individual topics/section/ groups/ can be formed. Members can create a group event and post group messages.


Create Groups Ability to create your own Campaigns – Public or Private / Open Join Or Invite only

Join Groups Ability to Join groups of your interest

Invite Friends Ability to Invite friends from Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail to join your group

Group Announcement Ability to broadcast Messages

Group Search Searches other groups based on selected criteria’s

Group Updates Ability to see updates of the recent activities in the group by members

Group News Ability to post news by RSS

Groups Discussions Ability to start a discussion & place comment on them

Admin Section:

Add Group Category Ability to add New Category

View Groups Displays All Groups

View Group Categories Displays All Groups based on various categories

Edit Edit Groups

Delete Delete/Block Groups

Forums Members can create their new category and sub categories to add new forum topics. Members can view all topics and forum stats. Members can now set as forum moderators by admin and have additional privileges to edit/delete existing posting.


View All Forums Displays all posted forums

Add Forums Ability to add forums

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Vote Vote a thread of particular discussion

Advanced Forum Search Searches Forum based on selected criteria’s

Admin Section:

Add Forum Category Ability to add New Category

Add Forum Sub Category Ability to add Sub Category

View Forums Displays All Forums based on various categories

View Sub Category Displays All Forums based on sub categories

Forums Category List List Forums based on Category

Edit Edit Forums

Delete Delete/Block

Blogs Members can start their own online blog with unique blog URL. Ability to create blog categories. Blog search function. This module is updated with favorite blog section which can be viewed from

user's profile.


Post New Blog Ability to post new blog

Favorite Blogs Displays users favorite blogs

View All Users Blog Displays all user blog

My Blogs Displays all individual user’s blog

Advanced Blog Search Searches Blog based on selected criteria’s

Personal Blogs page SEO naming convention (Either of 3) writer name / category/ title date will be provided.

Admin Section:

View Blogs Displays All Blogs based on various categories

Add Blog Category Ability to Add Blog categories

View Blog Comments Displays all blog comments

Edit Edit Blogs

Delete Delete/Block

Promotions/Articles Members can add their promotional and Marketing Materials to the homepage of the site.


Article Archives Displays Articles

Add an article Ability to add an promotional article to the homepage of the site

Advanced Contest Search Searches Contests based on selected criteria’s

Admin Section:

Add Articles Ability to add New Article

View Articles Displays All Articles

Add Paragraph Ability to add Paragraph

View Paragraph Displays all Paragraph

Mark Active Article Activate Article to be displayed on the homepage for promotions

Delete Delete

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Video Gallery (FLV Player)

Members can upload and share videos of their choice in almost any format. Members can rate and post comments for any videos uploaded. Videos are converted on to the Flash FLV format and played through a Flash video player. Top Videos can be placed on the homepage.


Video Categories Displays Video’s For Select Category

Upload Video Ability to upload video in any format

Manage Video Ability to Rate, comment, Categorize

My Videos Ability to set personal video only

Invite Friends Ability to Invite friends from Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail to check your latest video

Editor's Pick Rating based on editor’s choice

Most Viewed Auto Display of highest viewed videos

Create Video Albums Ability to create multiple video albums

Manage Video Albums Ability to personalize and delete categories

Dedicate Video to a friend Ability to leave a video on friend’s page on a designated area

Admin Section:

Add Video Category Ability to add New Category

View Video Displays All videos

View Video Category Displays All Videos based on various categories

View Video Listing View Videos based on ratings, set video ratings

Edit Edit Video title and comments

Delete Delete/Block Groups

Feedback Members can comment, view recommendations, view reviews and add information to existing or new topics.


View Comments Displays Comments

View Recommendation Displays Recommendations

View Reviews Displays Reviews

Add Information Ability for the users to post Information

Admin Section:

View Feedback Displays All Feedback

Edit Edit Feedback

Delete Delete/Block

Events Members can add events to their calendar and also have the option to view posted events. Members can also create new public and private events.


Today's Events Displays Today’s Events

Future Events Display forth coming Events

Past Events Display past Events

Manage Group by Invitation Ability to invite groups to participate in events

Post Event Ability to post new events

My Events Personalize user events in their Calendar

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Admin Section:

Add Events Category Ability to add New Category

List Event Category Displays All Events based on Individuals, Groups, Private & Public

View Events Displays All Events

Add Events Ability to add events

Edit Edit Events

Delete Delete/Block

Polls Ability for admin &/or users to post new polls, check the results online.


Post new polls Create a new poll

Vote for a poll Select out of given alternatives and vote

See all Ability to check all polls and also list them

View results Ability to see results of a poll

Admin Section:

Mark poll as active Select a poll as featured on homepage

Delete Delete/Block

Photo Gallery (Flash) Members can upload unlimited number of photos to their site. Module Supports download option of allotted categories for downloading. Any number of albums can

be stored and their photos can be viewed through slideshows.


Create Albums Ability to create Multiple albums

Upload Photos Ability to upload photos

Download Photos Ability to allow selective downloads

My Image Categories Ability to personalize photo or photo albums

Manage Albums Ability to change names and delete

Photo Rating Rate each photo or Album based rating

Advanced Photo Search Searches photos based on selected criteria’s

Leave a photo Can leave a photograph that will be displayed in the designated area on friend’s pages

Admin Section:

View Albums Ability to add New Albums

View Photos Displays All Photos

Add Categories Ability to add New Category

Edit Edit Photo titles, Names, Allow/Disallow Downloads

Delete Delete Photos

Messaging Ability to send & exchange messages with users, Consultants, Candidates, Donors…etc within the community


Inbox Displays All messages

Group Box Displays messages received from groups

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Compose Ability to compose message online

Admin Section:

Announce Messages Send a Broadcast to all users in form of text message

Delete Delete/Block

File Sharing Members can upload and share file of all formats and unlimited sizes. File access permissions can be set for individuals or groups. File sizes and formats can also be

restricted by admin.


View Attachments Displays attached files

Upload Attachments Ability to upload files based on permissions

Advanced file Search Searches files based on selected criteria’s

Admin Section:

View Files Displays All Files

View User Settings Displays All User based on various approvals

Edit Edit File Size as per individual users

Delete Delete/Block

News Ability for users & admin to update news easily & broadcast or block it


View News Displays All news

View Detail News Displays details of a particular news like title, description, author

Ability to import news through RSS Provision to import news from RSS feeds (like LinkedIn)

Tags & Keywords Ability to add tags & keywords

Admin Section:

Announce News Enter a News item

Delete Delete/Block

Manage News Edit news item easily

Communication Modules

Invite- Connect Ultimate business promotional tool allows members to connect / invite friends and associates to their network. Import contacts from most e-mail clients. Invite friends/Business associates form your email contacts: Outlook, Thunderbird, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL , ………..more

Email a Friend Ajax based

Email your friend with a messages to invite them to join your group: Invite friends/Business associates form your email site account to join the group

Chat Flash Members can select chat rooms to talk to other members with option of private rooms. Smiley's, Avatars, background colors makes the flash module one of the most exciting features for users. Module also supports ability to configure chat rooms and sound controls. Can be used for Private Chats, Support Team & Sales Team Chat System. Chat provides Monitoring facility. No chat room limits.

General Administrative Control

Administrative Admin section allows live facility to control the entire site and its individual modules. The section allows up-grading of new features, modules and software. The admin section could be also controlled remotely by administrator. Admin section is a heart of the entire product.

Promotional Newsletter Newsletter and email campaign are a proven way to stay in touch with existing clients and add new clients. You can now easily send newsletter from the admin section.

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www.harrington-network.com

Candidate Profile

Detailed Candidate Profile

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Latest Activity

Creating / Editing Profile

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Biography

Occupation

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Education

Military

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Contact

My Account

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Privacy Settings

Change Password

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Affiliations

Closer Look at the Assignment Window - Active

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Closer Look at the Assignment Window – Closed (Successful)

Donations

Donation Detailed View

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Candidate Dashboard

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Search Profiles

Detailed Search

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Extended Detailed Search View

Clicking on the affiliated link begins the star negotiations between Candidate and citizen activist

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For Members who are not affiliated, you may send a request

Connections

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Network Statistics

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Groups

Create a Group

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Detailed View of creating Group

Created Group

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Raise Your Voice

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My Voice

Raising a Voice

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Detailed View of a Voice

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Discussions

Start a New Discussion

My Discussions - Started

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My Discussions – Replied To

Discussion Topics View

Polls

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View Poll

View Results

Create a Poll

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Media-Videos

Media – Photos

Instant Messaging

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Make an Impact – Events

Creating an Event

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Created Event – Confirm

Invite Contacts to Event

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Make an Impact – Advertising

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The Political Network code is in an Object Oriented format. The code base was constructed this way to

allow future changes, modifications and expansion easier and more efficient.

Changes Applied to the core architecture of

HARRINGTON-NETWORK

The new Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern divides an interactive application

into three components. It was originally developed to map the traditional input, processing and

output roles into the GUI realm:

Input --> Processing --> Output

Controller --> Model --> View

The model contains the core functionality and data. It is independent of specific output

representations or input behavior.

The view displays information to the user. A view obtains data from the model. There

can be multiple views of the model.

The controller handles user input.

Views and controllers together provide the user interface.

The model, view and controller are intimately related and in constant contact. Therefore, they

must reference each other. The picture below illustrates the basic Model-View-Controller

relationship:

Figure 1 – HARRINGTON MVC relationship

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The purpose of the MVC pattern is to separate the model from the view so that changes to the

view can be implemented, or even additional views created, without having to refactor the

model. Note that the model may or may not reference a persistent data store (database).

Note that although this pattern only shows three components it is possible to divide any one of

them into smaller sub-components.

We are using the X-template engine to implement the MVC architecture. The template html code

is saved in an .xtpl file which is called from a .php which takes care of the business logic.

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Example

Code snippet from a .xtpl file that generates form for posting a blog

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Code snippet from a .php file that controls the business logic to display a form for posting a blog

in BLOGS module

Design Patterns

An important property of all design patterns is now independent of a particular application

domain. They deal with the structuring of application functionality, not with the implementation

of the application functionality itself.

Data Access Object (DAO)

An example of this design pattern is where an application is deployed with a variety of database

engines and where each of these engines has its own set of APIs. If all these APIs were to be

isolated within a single object, one object per database engine, then switching from one database

to another would be as simple as switching from one DAO to another.

Another variation is where the data may come from a variety of differences sources, such as

DBMS, LDAP, XML repository, et cetera. By routing all access through a DAO the client need

not be concerned about the physical location of the data, or which APIs to use in order to access

it.

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Code snippet from a .php file that manages module DAO interface the business logic to display

a form for posting a module

hsn - the political network

Technology