Summary
With this iteration, we have started to flesh out our Trackstar application with functionality that has come to be expected of most user-based web applications today. The ability for users to communicate with each other within the application is an essential part of a successful issue management system.
As we created this essential feature, we were able to deeper look into how to write relational AR queries. We were also introduced to content components called widgets and portlets. This introduced us to an approach to developing small content blocks and being able to use them anywhere throughout the site. This approach greatly increases reuse, consistency, and ease of maintenance.
In the next iteration, we'll build upon the recent comments widget created here, and expose the content generated by our widget as an RSS feed to allow users to track application or project activity without having to visit the application.