Developers and publishers looking to implement Google Friend Connect more deeply into your web site or social media experience? Google has just launched an API yesterday for Friend Connect which you should be made aware of.
While it’s always been easy to add social features to your site with Google Friend Connect, it just got a little more flexible with the introduction of the Friend Connect API. This API lets you access the core features of Friend Connect to use them on your site in interesting ways.
Friend Connect lets you instantly awaken and strengthen the community that visits your website in way that is easy (just copy-and-paste some code) and open (we use OpenID, OAuth, and OpenSocial). The combination of ease and openness puts you and your visitors in full control of your social information, activities, and relationships throughout the web.
Whether you’re a site owner or developer, the new Friend Connect APIs offer something for anyone who is interested in helping the web become more social:
- Site owners – Integrate Friend Connect more deeply into your site. JavaScript APIs allow you to integrate a social community directly within the markup of your page, and our REST APIs allow you integrate existing login systems and your existing data with new social data and activities. These are your visitors and this is your site, so you should be able to add social features the way you want.
- Plugin developers – Make plugins to integrate with popular content management systems, bulletin boards, or any open framework. To get you started, we have created open source plugin samples for WordPress, Drupal, and phpBB.
- Gadget developers – Make OpenSocial applications with greater control over how data flows across servers with signed requests. Use server-side authentication mechanisms so that a site with Friend Connect can act as an OpenSocial container.
