The Shopit application that has become so popular with Facebook and MySpace is now available on the hi5 networks. I am a computer science student at the University of California, Los Angeles interning at Shopit and have been working over the past several weeks to bring this application to a true OpenSocial environment. OpenSocial initially had some stumbles but has now shown that it is capable of hosting robust and unique application experiences with easy portability.
The application provides users with a dashboard to view all the current incoming or outgoing orders, see the latest products, add or remove products, and even make purchases from start to finish all from within the hi5 network. This combination offers both a easy and friendly interface as well as a viral market for both buyers and sellers.
The biggest feature of any social application is sharing and with the Shopit application it is as easy as clicking share, selecting your friends, and watching your business spread. You can just as easily let your friends know when you’ve found a great deal. Save money on the products you need just by watching your notifications in hi5.
As an intern in a continuing learning experience I have found the development and testing of this application to be exciting. I was able to watch the power of the sharing features grow as I built them beneath my fingertips. The hi5 API is becoming more and more complete ever day as it moves towards OpenSocial 0.8 and a more finalized REST interface. Although I’m still awaiting a PHP client library.
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the application and finds those great deals. I will be heading off to explore Europe in my first backpacking experience next week. Thanks for your interest in my efforts. I’d also like to give a big thanks to Sameer and Eric, and the rest of the hi5 team for their continued help.

-Matt Snider

We’ve completed the scheduled maintenance on our Our MySpace application. And don’t fret, your Shopit store will appear exactly on your MySpace page as it did before.

In an effort to comply with all of our partners’ Terms of Service, we will be closely monitoring all the products and services that are added to Shopit. If you have any questions about this or the MySpace application, please let us know. Thanks for your patience.

Our MySpace application is currently down for maintenance. We just wanted to give you a heads up and let you know that we’ll be back up and going shortly.

Thanks for your patience!

That’s right, your favorite social commerce site is changing it up…only this time with style (bling bling)

Style. We all have it. You’re style, his style, my style, her style. Sounds like a “Cat-in-the-Hat” book gone wrong. But it’s true. And when it comes to style, we try to keep up with the times. Of course, in our case, were not talking about fashion. Were talking about the big old “WWW”, the matrix, the spider confection we call the Internet in all it’s web page glory. On the Internet, styles tend to change dramatically, and as such web companies need to stay on top of upcoming trends, semantic technology, and user wish lists.

That’s where you come in. The user. The Site. The Magic. We want your ideas for design.

So don’t be shy. Send ‘em over. We need them, we crave them, we want them. Because once we know what you want, we can do something great. No matter how large or small, your ideas for this web site are what make it tick. Have an idea for your profile? Share the love. Want to see a new feature for the site? Pass it on. Something not working they way you think it should? We can dig it.

You are the citizens of Shopit, and we are your public servants. So let us serve you what you crave by dishing out a sizzling redesign that puts the It in Shopit. BOOM!

-Alessandro
‘the’ designer

Your products come in all kinds of shapes and forms and now you can let your customers know it right from the Shopit Social Applications.  That’s right, we’ve added Colors and Sizes to our apps, that lets you create the right options for all your products.

How it Works

1. Click on the “Add Colors and Sizes” link when you’re adding a product.
2. Add as many colors and sizes as you want by entering the quantity, size, and color for your product.

• Tip:  You can add either a size, a color, or both!

The number of Shopit stores is rising steadily! In order to accommodate this pace of growth, we’ve moved to a new data center. Members of our team worked hard last week to make sure the transition went smoothly. Shopit and every one of its storefront profiles are now living in a much more robust environment. That means a better experience for you, whether you are buying or selling from our free stores!

We have also been working on upgrading our site’s functionality. Be sure to check out:

- Edit Multiple Items: Those of you with extensive catalogs of products will appreciate the new tool to edit multiple items at once under ‘Add/Edit Products’ in My Shopit. The direct link is:

http://www.shopit.com/index.php?Action=MyShopIt.Catalog

- Logged in Home page: Your new logged in home page gives you a much better idea of what is happening within the Shopit community. Modules like the new Friend Update and the ‘Latest on Shopit’ feed mingle with other features you are used to, like Featured Commercials and Newest Stores. Log on to the site to get a feel for it:

http://www.shopit.com/index.php?Action=Main.Login

Please let us know if you’d like to see any special features on the site. We’re definitely open to your input! Post a comment to this blog or email us at support@shopit.com.