This plugin provides robust, secure JSON REST API for SocialEngine. REST API provides a standardised programmatic interface between your SocialEngine based website and outside applications, thus enabling all types of integrations with external applications and development environments. With this plugin, your website's SocialEngine installation can also be used as a backend for native mobile apps.
Provides a standardized programmatic interface between your SocialEngine based website and outside applications.
Enables all types of integrations with external applications and development environments. [See "Use Cases" tab above for some of the numerous possibilities.]
Your website's SocialEngine installation can also be used as a backend for native mobile apps.
Multiple API Consumers / Clients: Multiple API clients can be created to simultaneously consume your API. This supports the numerous possibilities that can be achieved with the API.
Supported Modules / Plugins: This API directly supports all SocialEngine core features, all SocialEngine official plugins, and selected SocialApps.tech plugins. [See "Supported Modules" tab]
-
We're developing APIs for more SocialApps.tech plugins and will be releasing them in subsequent upgrades.
-
3rd-Party Plugins' API: A big plus point of this API system is that it can easily be extended to other 3rd-party modules / plugins by following 5 well defined steps in the administration of this plugin.
Single Sign On (SSO): With this feature, multiple applications / integrations consuming your API are able to easily maintain user session.
API General Specs:
-
REST API: This API uses standard HTTP methods such as PUT, GET, POST and DELETE.
-
Stateless: API is stateless as per norms, i.e., API clients need to include state information (OAuth token) in their requests to the server and vice versa.
-
JSON: Uses JSON for data exchange.
-
Familiar directory-structure-like URL structures.
Secure API: We've done the best to ensure that this API is highly secure:
-
OAuth: API uses the popular OAuth open standard for authorization for client as well as user authorization. Every user is assigned a unique, client-specific OAuth Token for identification.
-
SSL (HTTPS) support: API requests and responses work well on HTTPS. We recommend all API requests to be sent on SSL.
-
API Consumer Key and Consumer Secret: Every API Client is assigned a unique Consumer Key and a unique Consumer Secret. All API requests from a client should be signed with their respective credentials.
API documentation: Very well documented API. The API documentation is easy to understand and follow. Enables a developer to start building with it quickly. [See documentation demo]
- Create, manage, disable / enable API consumers.
- View respective OAuth tokens for the various API consumers.
- Revoke API access for a user via a particular API client.
- Enable / disable API caching.
From small pages & integrations to large applications, this API opens up truly exciting possibilities for your SocialEngine based website. It allows you to authorize applications and services to securely connect to your website and use your content in new ways and offer new functionality:
- iOS / Android Applications: You can have a single, or multiple iOS / Android applications for your website depending on your strategy. Facebook has multiple apps like Facebook, Facebook Messenger and Facebook Groups. A new API consumer can be created from administration of this plugin for each app. [The SocialApps.tech mobile apps: "iOS Mobile Application - iPhone and iPad" and "Android Mobile Application" use this API too.]
- Integration with external mobile applications, web applications, services, development environments, etc: The possibilities are endless. This API enables your website to be part of the interactive web. Though we haven't tried such things ourselves, this API will also enable stuff like:
- Creating IFTTT Recipes related to any of your website's features.
- Creating a Facebook Canvas app.
- and many more..
- Creating single page applications with Backbone.js, AngularJS, etc related to any of your website's features. Viral call-to-action campaigns can be created with your website's data to get new signups and content.
- With an authenticated API consumer, API interaction is very simple like:
- To get your website's recent blog-posts: Send a GET request to:
- To get your website's recent events: Send a GET request to:
- To get all groups with the search term "football": Send a GET request to:
- To update a user with User ID 8: Send a POST request (with user account parameters) to: [where 'oauth_token' and 'oauth_secret' are oauth credentials of User ID 8, obtained via the login API call.]
- and so on..
This API directly supports all SocialEngine core features, all SocialEngine official plugins, and selected SocialApps.tech plugins. We're developing APIs for more SocialApps.tech plugins and will be releasing them in subsequent upgrades. A big plus point of this API system is that it can easily be extended to other 3rd-party modules / plugins by following 5 well defined steps outlined the administration of this plugin.
- SocialEngine Core Modules / Functionalities: Login, Signup, Member actions (add friend, accept friend request, remove friend, etc.), Members, Profiles, Notifications, Messages, Requests, Likes & Comments, Share, Activity Feeds and Subscriptions etc.
- Official SocialEngine Plugins: Blogs, Photo Albums, Videos, Classifieds, Groups, Events, Music, Polls, Forums.
- Advanced Activity Feeds / Wall Plugin
- Reactions and Stickers Plugin
- Advanced Videos / Channels / Playlists Plugin
- Geo-Location, Geo-Tagging, Check-Ins & Proximity Search Plugin
- Stores / Marketplace - Ecommerce Plugin
- Multiple Listing Types Plugin
- Directory / Pages Plugin
- Groups / Communities Plugin
- Hashtags Plugin
- Advanced Events Plugin
- Advanced Members Plugin - Better Browse & Search, User Reviews, Ratings & Location
- User Profiles - Cover Photo, Banner & Site Branding Plugin
- Content Profiles - Cover Photo, Banner & Site Branding Plugin
- Suggestions / Recommendations / People you may know & Inviter
- Advertisements / Community Ads Plugin
- One Time Password (OTP), Mobile Verification and Secure Login Plugin
- Crowdfunding / Fundraising / Donations Plugin
- Advanced Comments Plugin - Nested Comments, Replies, Voting & Attachments
- Advanced Search Plugin
- Advanced Events - Recurring / Repeating Events Extension
- Advanced Events - Events Booking, Tickets Selling & Paid Events Extension
- Directory / Pages - Photo Albums Extension
- Directory / Pages - Offers Extension
- Directory / Pages - Videos Extension
- Directory / Pages - Reviews and Ratings Extension
- Quick & Single Step Signup Plugin
- Members Verification Plugin
- Groups / Communities - Reviews and Ratings Extension
- Groups / Communities - Reviews and Ratings Extension
- Groups / Communities - Offers Extension
~ The API currently does not support the subscription step in signup. Work on this is planned in the next upgrade.
~ If there is a 3rd-party plugin installed on your website that alters the default signup process of SocialEngine, then those alterations will not be supported in the signup API.
~ The API currently does not support payments.
