About Our App Store

When we decided to build our new Drupal 7-based platform, one thing we knew was that we could never by ourselves build every bit of functionality the platform ideally should have.

We knew we would need to engage the participation of others if we were to have a successful, fully-featured service. Building on top of an open-source solution such as Drupal meant that our architecture would be familiar to others and thus easier to build for.

Next we needed a way to easily accept developer contributions and then to make them available to our customers to plug into their own sites. So we built an App Store.

Within the framework of our App Store, any developer can submit an app using our API guidelines and developer sandbox. An app is similar to a Drupal module but within a wrapper that enables SubHub to track it and, if appropriate, to charge for it. The app wrapper also makes it possible for SubHub’s customers -- who are assumed to be non-technical -- to easily add the app to their site.

Apps do not need to be based on Drupal modules; as long as they follow the API guidelines, they’ll work. This enables us to plug in functionality from many non-Drupal sources including some of our early apps for MailChimp, Disqus, Twitter and others.

The launch of our App Store coincides with much discussion in the Drupal community regarding the potential for a community-wide app store for Drupal modules. The concept is similar -- could an app store provide an easier way for developers to distribute, and charge for, their Drupal modules?

We’ve very interested in this discussion, but at the moment our App Store is not a Drupal App Store -- it’s a SubHub App Store. Our SubHub platform just happens to be built on top of Drupal.

At the same time, it benefits us to make SubHub’s App Store as accessible to and integrated with the Drupal community as we possibly can. That way, there’s more of a chance that Drupal developers, and others, will want to participate. 

Toward that end, we’ve engaged with other influential members of the Drupal community to consider what the framework of a Drupal App Store might look like. We’d like to see if some of the work we’ve done can contribute to a broader solution. If developers can build apps that will be compatible not only with SubHub’s own platform but with any Drupal distribution, everyone wins. 

That’s what we’re aiming for. Watch this space.

DrupalCon London

We're really excited about showing off our App Store and demonstrating the apps we've built at DrupalCon London.

Most importantly, we're looking forward to talking about why we want to get Drupal developers involved with SubHub!

You'll be able to find us at 'lucky' table 13. We'll bring treats . . .

DrupalCon London 2011

August 23-25

Fairfield Halls,
Park Lane,
Croydon,
CR9 1DG