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
Popfly. To use Popfly Explorer you must already have a Popfly account, which can be created by signing in through the Popfly website.
EditSupported Systems
Popfly is supported on the Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 (beta 2 and later) 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
We have tested Popfly Explorer on Windows® XP Service Pack 2 and Windows® Vista®.
EditMy 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.
EditMy 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.
EditCreate New Visual Studio Project and Save 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
to Popfly button or click Save 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.
EditAdd 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.
EditCreate New Popfly Web Site
If you are running Popfly Explorer with Visual Web Developer, you can create new Popfly Web Site projects and host on Popfly. On the File menu, click New Web Site and start from the Popfly Web Site template. You can add HTML pages, JavaScript, CSS, JPG, GIF and other typical web files to your site. The “default.htm” page is the default page visitors will see on your site. Save the project to Popfly, share it, and you can then view the web site on Popfly.
EditCreate New Popfly Block
If you are running Visual Web Developer, you’ll find a Popfly Block entry in your New Web Site dialog. It launches the New Popfly Block wizard. With the wizard you can select from several templates or import a web service WSDL into a block.
Save the project to Popfly, and you can press “F5” to launch the block in Popfly mashup editor and debug the block in Visual Studio. You can set breakpoints and step into your code to trouble shoot your block.
EditAdd 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.
EditOpen 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.
EditSave Local
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.
EditSave To Popfly
To save a copy of your work to Popfly, click Save 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.
EditFind Project
To find a shared project click Find Project... on the Popfly menu or in the Popfly Explorer window. You can search for all project types or a specific Popfly project type. Searching for any keyword will return all results to a maximum of 100. Select a project in the search results to see its description, tags, and a preview if available. If your current Visual Studio edition supports the project type, you can open the project to open a copy in your Solution Explorer. You can save a local copy or save a copy to your Popfly account.
EditShare 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.
EditDelete Project
To delete a project from Popfly Space, select the project in Popfly Explorer and click Delete from Popfly on the Popfly menu or right-click on the project and select Delete from Popfly.... Your project will only be deleted from Popfly Space; any local copies of the project will remain.
EditRate 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.
EditAdd 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.
EditFriend 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.
EditYour 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.
EditSign Out from Popfly Explorer
To sign out click on Sign Out on the Popfly menu or from the Popfly Explorer window.
EditGive us Feedback
You can post questions to the Popfly forum here.