Featured Site: SoSo Network
Where? http://www.sosonetwork.com/
Developer: Genexis Consulting

The Site

SoSo Network is an innovative review portal that connects consumers with business owners and friends. The site enables consumers to get ratings on businesses and services they need, but with a unique social networking twist. "Traditional review sites can be rather dry and uninteresting," says Alfred Wong, Technical Director at Genexis Consulting, creators of SoSo Network. "Consumers tend to visit these sites only occasionally, when they really need information. We wanted to create a more exciting, interactive environment for consumers so that they would be encouraged to return. A 'stickier' site is also more attractive to advertisers and participating businesses." The result of Genexis' efforts is an attractive blend of business directory, opinions, maps and directions, and online communication that should keep consumers and businesses alike coming back. Visitors can read or submit reviews, group reviews according to their source (e.g. trusted "friends" or expert "gurus"), or blog about their experience with a business. Participating businesses can also take part by responding to a positive or negative review. "SoSo Network is engineered with a focus on collective intelligence and community in mind, it gets better and more useful over time," says Wong.

SoSo Network is built on a wide range of Microsoft® technologies including the Windows Live network of Internet services. Visitors can join the SoSo community using Windows Live ID identity and authentication system, find locations and directions to a business with Virtual Earth, chat online with Windows Live Messenger, upload and watch videos using Silverlight Streaming, or participate in a blog using Windows Live Spaces.

Why the Windows Live Platform?

The Windows Live platform is a great example of Genexis' belief in cutting-edge software technologies. When asked about the benefits of deploying Windows Live services, Wong quickly cites speed and flexibility. "We see a great reduction in development time with Live Services," he says. "We save huge amounts of effort re-using code developed by ourselves or others." Other advantages of the Windows Live Platform include:

• An existing base of over 380 million Windows Live ID users encourages visitors to login with existing credentials, reducing the barrier to join the SoSo community.
• Services are easy to use, enabling fast integration into the website.
• Developers and consumers inherit new features automatically when Microsoft extends Windows Live services.
• Clear, easy to use SDKs and APIs provide helpful reference information.
• A strong third-party Microsoft Partner developer network and online support are a good source of expert advice and code samples.

Programming Environment

Wong's team of developers use the latest Microsoft development technologies, including Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 and 3.5, Visual Studio 2008, ASP.NET 2.0, ASP.NET 3.5, ASP.NET AJAX, Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008.

Under the Hood

The following code snippet shows how SoSo Network connects to Microsoft Windows Live ID.

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)   
{   
    string app_id = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["wll_appid"];  //Get WLL Application ID from Web.Config   
    string token = Request.QueryString["token"] as string;   //WLL ID Context - SoSoNetwork Usage   
    string return_url = Request.QueryString["ru"] as string;   //return URL Context - SoSoNetwork Usage  
    string app_context ="";           
    string liveid_login_string = "http://login.live.com/wlogin.srf?appid="+ app_id + "&alg=wsignin1.0";   
    server_url = Request.Url.GetLeftPart(UriPartial.Authority);   
    if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(token)) app_context += Server.UrlEncode("tok=" + token);   
    //Add SoSoNetwork Return URL   
    if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(return_url)) app_context += Server.UrlEncode("ru=" + return_url);   
    //Add Context to Live ID return URL   
    if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(app_context)) liveid_login_string += "&appctx=" + app_context;  
    // Redirect to Windows Live Login otherwise do nothing   
    Response.Redirect(liveid_login_string);   
}