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Joomla multi-cloud files sharing Plug-in: Share your cloud files from S3, Cloud Files, Box.net, MobileMe, SkyDrive + more

Similar to the WordPress plug-in we released that enables you to share files stored on various cloud files, we have also now done a similar plug-in for Joomla. The plug-in will enable you to share  your cloud files on your Joomla site.


How does this work ? SMEStorage provides a  gateway in which we sync your file meta-data but all files continue to reside on your storage platform. In this way we are able to offer value added services and clients to your existing storage provider, and provide a single cloud file system which enables you to manage all you files in one file tree.


One of the many value added services we provide is the ability to share files. There are many ways to do this, including RSS, email, Twitter, URL with Private contacts etc, and the Joomla plug-in is now another way.  Also note that files that have been made public, and can therefore be shared on Joomla, can still be encrypted, so you can have private files publically available that you can choose ony to share with your userbase.


To get started, download and install the plug-in, and then register for an account on SMEStorage. Select the account that matches your cloud provider. In the process of setting your account up you will do a file meta-data sync and your files will then be available in the Cloud File Manager. From the File manager you can choose to make the file public. This post steps through how to do just that. Once the file is public you can choose to make it visibile on your Joomla site.


If you want to encrypt your files then upload them via SMEStorage to your cloud provider of choice and choose encryption at the point of upload. Don’t worry if your underlhying cloud provider does not support encryption it does not need to. Remember your password for the file though as we don’t keep it ! Once the file is uploaded to your cloud provider via the SMEStorage cloud gateway you can make it public and it will be available just like any other file.

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SME Cloud Storage API now supports Microsoft Live SkyDrive

One of the added benefits of the Microsoft Live SkyDrive support that we recently announced is thatit becomes accessible via the SMEStorage rich multi-cloud API becomes available for developers who want to access Microsoft Live SkyDrive programmtically. On the API’s Google Code site, as well as a detailed manual, there are PHP, PERL, and .Net examples and sample applications, and soon there will follow fully featured .Net & Cocoa libraries. Remember also, that the sames API also supports Amazon S3, Box.net, RackSpace Cloud Files, MobileMe, WebDav, Gmail Clouds, Email Clouds, FTP Clouds as well as Google Docs and Evernote. Expect to see support for at least two more storage clouds before the end of the year.


Many of the above storage clouds not only lack a proper file system (file support, but no folders, with only basic operations) but some, such as MobileMe, SkyDrive, GMail etc, lack any sort of API at all. That’s why we built the SMEStorage Multi-Cloud File System. We built it to enable us to have a universal API to support the storage clouds we plugged into our platform for our own purposes. Indeed it is what all our client tools are based on.


Given that is it is proven and more feature rich than the alternatives we made the decision to make it available as a generic storage cloud API for those wishing to use the SMEStorage platform as a Gateway to support multiple Cloud platforms in their applications or services. It supports multiple connections and multiple users and it does not impact the actual files themsevles as they are still stored on the original cloud service. SMEStorage merely keeps information about the metadata of the files and enables a file system, with services, on top of the remote storage cloud.


In the case of SkyDrive the lack of an API means our implementation is tightly coupled to Microsoft’s web implementation. Any major changes could render the API temporarily inoperable, but we are committed to make the necessary changes to continue support of this Cloud Provider as we move forward in our pursuit of supporting all major storage clouds.

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SME release WordPress multi-cloud Backup Plug-In

We’ve now released a WordPress multi-cloud backup plug-in which can be downloaded at the WordPress Plug-ins directory. This add-in enables you to backup your WordPress Blog tables to your primary supported backup cloud. We currently support Amazon S3, Mosso Cloud Files, MobileMe, Box.net, GMail-as-a-Cloud, Email-as-a-Cloud, FTP-as-a-Cloud, Microsoft Live SkyDrive, and any WebDav enabled cloud.


SMEStorage functions as an abstraction that enables you to work with any of these clouds. Your files remain stored on your cloud provider and the value we bring is that we build a sophisticated file system with additional cloud services on top of your current cloud storage provider. This is exposed using our multi-cloud API, and enables us to bring value added services, such as the WordPress multi-cloud Backup Plug-In. 


Once you have registered for a SMEStorage account (and there are many free plans) all you do is install the plug-in, go to Tools->Backup from WordPress Admin, enter your SMEStorage log-in details, ensure the plug-in is set to backup to SMEStorage rather than to email or file, and click ‘Backup’. The Backup will then run and your Backup can be found in the root node, “All Files” in your SMEStorage Cloud File System.


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Use your Google Apps Cloud Email to store, share, and manage files

One of the most requested features from users was to support Google Apps email accounts for file storage as we do with GMail. To that end we have upgraded our base Gmail provider so that it provides support for storing  files on Google Apps on email as it also does with normal email accounts.


It’s is very easy to sign up and start using this:


1. Register at SMEStorage


2. When you have registered, login and enter the Gmail account username and password you wish to use


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3. Choose whether to save the username and password or enter it each time you use SMEStorage on a session basis.


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4. You can now upload files through SMEStorage to Gmail. At this point you can choose to encrypt the files using a private encyrption key that only know (it is not save).


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5. You can see these file in SMEStorage with a ‘G’ to designate they are stored on Google


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6. If you now click on the file you can download it, get a unique url for it, or, as this is an image file, you can choose to view it, or edit it with Picnik. If the file was an MP3, you chould choose to stream it and listen to it from the browser, or if was an office file you could choose to view or edit it via Zoho online office. You can also decide to make the file a ‘public file’ which will result in the file being able to shared via RSS or Facebook, or you can set workflow rules against the file.


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6. If you login to you email account you will see the file


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7. If you view the individual email you will see file details. The filename becomes a subject in the email so it makese files easy to locate if you are using GMail search tools.


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You can also use other SMEStorage client tools to work with your application including windows tools, a Firefox plug-in, iGoogle and iPhone web applications etc.

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