I am delighted that Cash Costello undertook the task of writing this book. Cash typifies the very essence of open source. He contributes on every level to the Elgg project: bug reports, core patches, plugins as well as offering advice and support in the community. Therefore, it is fitting that it is he who authors this edition.
As an updated version of the first Elgg book, this is an excellent resource for those interested in Elgg development due to its attention to detail, clearly written style and knowledgeable author.
I would like to give a special mention to Brett Profitt, Elgg’s lead developer, and the technical reviewer of this book. Brett has played a key role in the continually improvement of Elgg and over the past 20 months or so his efforts have had a hugely positive impact on the wider Elgg community with more members now participating in Elgg’s development, promotion, and support.
Elgg has come a long way from the very first version. Having started as a proof-of-concept, Elgg has grown into a leading social networking engine that is powering a range of socially aware applications. At the time of writing, Elgg had been downloaded around 500,000 times with over 900 plugins contributed; prompting more than two million downloads. As the community becomes ever more involved, I feel the future is bright for Elgg.
Dave Tosh
Elgg Co-Founder