Viddler

Have no idea what an API is but would like to learn more? I’ll be hosting an API Webex next Thursday, October 6 at 2pm EST. Its free! Register here.

After reading Noah Lorang of 37signal’s post API design for humans I got to thinking… how human is the Viddler API?

We agree with Noah. It is now more important than ever to have a solid API, documentation, and example code at the ready if you’d like your platform or service to be used by others in their applications. We’ve always held this to be true and that is why we’ve always strived to have a comprehensive API and a site dedicated to developers and their use of our API.

So, lets take an honest look at ourselves using Noah’s post as our lens to see how the Viddler API stacks up to being friendly for humans.

Clear documentation

Noah points out that even if the API is a mess clear documentation can make up for it. Lets go through Noah’s definition of what he considers clear API documentation to see if Viddler makes the cut with a “rating” of how we did.

• Examples that show the full request. (3 out of 5 stars) Noah cites two good examples of how to show the full request. Viddler’s documentation aligns with his second example in that we show the request URL with the expected response. While we include the full request for most methods we do not include them for every method. We’ll update our documentation today to include full request examples for all methods.
• Examples that show the expected response (4 out of 5 stars) We have expected responses for every method of our API. We also have a fairly comprehensive API Explorer that allows you to choose any API method, type in a few arguments and get a live response from the API in any of our supported formats. I could have rated us 5 out of 5 on this one but I’ll tell you why I didn’t; we don’t feel like we’re done with our API Explorer. We’ve got some planned updates to it that should make it even easier to use. So stay tuned for those updates!
• List of API error codes, what they mean, and the most common cause of receiving them (5 out of 5 stars) Our documentation includes a thorough description of each error code you could receive and their possible causes. In fact, our API doesn’t just return an error code when something goes wrong it includes the entire description and possible cause with the response.
• Communication of versioning and depreciating schedules (5 out of 5 stars) We think we’ve given people very fair warning about the depreciation of the first version of our API. In fact, it has been a year since we announced version 2 of our API and we still haven’t fully gotten rid of it (though we will be sometime this year so please, please move your applications over). We’ve tried to over communicate this update so that people have ample time to update their applications, wrappers, plugins. Something else that Noah mentioned is showing developers how to upgrade from version 1 to version 2 of our API. We’ve done this in a few ways; first, we’ve got a transition guide, and second we’ve actually built a “transition wrapper” in PHP to help people move from one version to another. We hope this has been sufficient.

Authentication methods

Noah pointed out that while there are several ways to handle API authentication (OAuth, User/Pass, HTTP Basic Auth, etc) each of them have their plusses and minuses. So he’d prefer it if an API offered multiple types of authentication. As of today Viddler’s API only uses user/pass with a token that we call sessionID for authentication. We know we have work to do in this area and we plan on adding additional methods of authentication to our API in the future.

API design best practices

Finally Noah muddles through some underlying design practices for REST APIs and mentions that while he doesn’t care if an API is a fully RESTful API in the strictest sense he does prefer that it follow at least a few general rules. Again, lets go through these and see how the Viddler API’s underlying design stacks up to his preferences.

• Not SOAP (5 stars) Our API is not SOAP.
• HTTP verbs mean something (5 stars) The Viddler API makes explicit use of GET, POST, PUT based on the method being called. This way the developer is sure that when using GET no data will be affected but when using POST it will be.
• Sensible resource names (unsure stars) I’m not sure how to rate this one. Noah likes resource names to make sense and so do we. He cites URL examples like /posts/23 instead of /api?type=post&id=23. Our URLs are sort of a mix. The method and format is in the URL but the arguments are in the query string. E.g. api/viddler.users.auth.json?user=USERNAME&password=PASSWORD I’m not sure how Noah would grade us on this one.
• XML and JSON support (5 stars) We support XML, JSON, and PHP formatted responses with our API. We considered supporting LOLcats like Flickr but who has the time?
• Abstraction where useful In short, this means that there should be methods for common tasks rather than relying on the developer to have long workflows for simple things. A good example of this, on the Viddler API, is the viddler.videos.comments.add and viddler.videos.comments.remove methods. These are two common tasks that are wrapped neatly into their own methods so that developers can add and remove comments quickly without a lot of code.

Noah’s post was a great opportunity to take an honest look at how Viddler’s API and documentation look to a human outside of Viddler’s offices. We have a few things to work on but overall we’re proud of how our API is performing for our customers and we hope you are happy to use it.

Have no idea what an API is but would like to learn more? I’ll be hosting an API Webex next Thursday, October 6 at 2pm EST. Its free! Register here.

On September 28th and 29th, Viddler will be participating in the Digital East 2011 Conference in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

Our very own Co-founder and Vice President, Donna DeMarco, will be sharing her special brand of thought leadership as she presents on Strategies for Selling with Online Video at the E-Commerce Marketing Trends session on September 29th. Take advantage of a special Viddler registration discount to hear Donna and other industry experts representing brands such as Google, Yahoo!, LivingSocial, Gowalla, Yelp!, CNN, AdAge, and Cisco a over the course of the event. We hope that you will be able to attend and visit with us.

For those who can make the Digital East 2011 conference, Viddler is offering an exclusive VIP promotion code to all of our users to receive $25 off registration. Enter VIP code: VIDDLER25 when you register.

Click here to register!

If you can not attend, please visit the Digital East Video page to participate and interact with the conference attendees. A representative from Viddler will be present at Digital East both days to record live answers on hot topics at this years conference. Make sure to visit the page and record some of your own thoughts directly from your webcam. Viddler’s Digital East Video page allows you to virtually interact with the attendees of the conference no matter where you are located.

We hope you enjoy the event.

 

Viddler provides all Business Accounts with full access to use the Viddler API. What is an API? What can the Viddler API do? Our very own Director of Product Development, Colin Devroe, will be going over all the basics of using the Viddler API in this upcoming webex.

Learn the basics:

* Authenticating
* Uploading a video
* Editing a videos metadata
* Recording a video using a webcam
* Making a list of videos

At the conclusion Colin will answer some user submitted questions. Please send all questions to webex@viddler.com with the subject “API Questions” before October 5, 2011.

Registration Opens: September 26, 2011
Registration Closes: October 5, 2011
Webex Date: October 6, 2011 @ 2:00pm EST / 11:00am PST

Space is limited so please register today to secure your spot!

Epicenter Consulting develops software that takes your business to the next level. Epicenter is a boutique web application development company focused on changing the way their clients think about the web by putting users, business, and innovation first. Epicenter offers service solutions such as custom business software, product design, strategy consulting, software architecture, web application development, and e-commerce strategy. We recently had the pleasure of visiting Clark and Ben of Epicenter at their NYC HQ to talk about what makes Epicenter unique and how Viddler contributes to their success by displaying all the dimensions of their new products.

Viddler’s Flash video recorder makes it very simple to allow a user to record video straight to Viddler using their webcam on their computer. This process bypasses Viddler’s uploading and encoding procedures and recorded videos are available immediately after recording for playback.

Viddler’s in-video tagging and commenting feature allows you and your viewers to interact within the video. By using our full player, you are given the option to leave a text or video comment and a tag right on the video timeline. By making your video public, you give your viewers the ability to interact with your videos by leaving comments or even video comments directly on the timeline. Video comments are recorded directly from your webcam so they appear instantly with no encoding time. In order to segment your video based off of the content being displayed, tags are a great way to organize your video into chapters. Talking about your product in the video, what a great time to leave a link to your product landing page directly on the timeline. All tags and comments are than cataloged below the video so they can be easily followed. Use your creativity to utilize the feature in countless ways. Watch the video below for a full description and test out leaving a comment!

Viddler provides all Business Accounts with fully detailed analytics. As online video is becoming more integrated into all businesses, it is vital to be able to fully understand the impact your videos are having on your audience. In order to optimize your video production, it is essential you have all the data to understand exactly how your videos are performing. Our very own Solutions Specialist, Darryl Rentz, will be discussing the benefits of utilizing analytics to analyze the performance of your online videos and giving a full walk through of all the features Viddler’s analytics platform provides.

Learn about:

*Properly understanding your analytic data
*Optimizing your online video performance
*Exporting your data for presentations
*Monitoring the attention span of your viewers
*Identifying your audience by country
*Breaking down analytics by date range
*See exactly where your videos are being viewed

At the conclusion Darryl will show a full walk through of a Viddler Analytics dashboard. Darryl will also answer some user submitted questions. Please send all questions towith the subject “Subscription Questions” before September 21, 2011 to webex@viddler.com.

Registration Opens: September 14, 2011
Registration Closes: September 21, 2011
Webex Date: September 22, 2011 @ 1:00pm EST / 10:00am PST

*Space is limited so please register today to secure your spot!

Vidgets are a great way to organize a set of videos and embed them on your site or blog. By creating a playlist in “Your Videos” you can then create a Vidget in various different styles.  Check out this great video that walks you through how to create a Vidget and showcases all of its unique features. Also view how other Viddler users integrated Vidgets into their site or blog.

Viddler in collaboration with TechMedia is excited to present the Digital East 2011 Community Video Page.

The Digital East 2011 conference, taking place just outside Washington DC on September 28-29th, promotes thought leadership on the latest digital marketing and business best practices through presentations from over 100 industry experts representing brands such as Google, Yahoo!, LivingSocial, Gowalla, Yelp!, CNN, AdAge, and Cisco among others (including Viddler!).

Visit the Digital East 2011 Community Video Page to record your thoughts on the hottest topics in digital media including online and mobile advertising, analytics, e-commerce, and social media. Every week we will ask the community a question. Record your answer and become a part of the Digital East community by interacting with thought leaders and other conference attendees.

Read the weekly question and click the “Record your answer” button. Enable your webcam. Record, save, and upload your answer to the video page. Interact with other videos through Viddler’s in-video commenting feature by clicking the + icon within the player or just click the “Like” button. Check back every Monday for a new topic of discussion and new question. Please make sure to state who you are and where you are from!

 

 

For those who can make the Digital East 2011 conference, Viddler is offering an exclusive VIP promotion code to all of our users to receive $25 off registration. Enter VIP code: VIDDLER25 when you register!

Click here to register!

While you’re there be sure to check out Viddler co-founder Donna DeMarco’s presentation in the online video strategy session.

If you are interested in building a custom video page for an upcoming event please email ian@viddler.com.