Introducing Post To

Donny Mack (DM) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:14:00 GMT

In a nutshell, Post To enables you to provide your application users the ability to post things to MySpace. In our initial launch we’ll be offering the following Post To targets:

-    Posting to the viewers profile
-    Posting a bulletin
-    Posting to the viewers blog
-    Adding a comment
-    Sending a message

Each of the targets can accept different levels of text and markup. For instance, some will accept HTML while others don’t and this is sometimes controlled by the end users privacy settings. Because of this we recommend thoroughly testing your applications.

This should go without saying but, SPAM will not be tolerated!

Overview

Post To is one of our first features that will enable you to not only help your users communicate with friends but also to start virally spreading news of your application. With just a few lines of code you can start pushing content to your users profile and friends.

Post To works by allowing you to pass a few parameters to a JavaScript function that then displays an overlay over your application (see screenshots below) . The user can then perform different actions based on the target invoked and then submit or cancel the action.

Finally, Post To is currently only available on Canvas pages.

Invoking Post To

Below we’ll go through the basics of using Post To starting with a working out of the box code example. For information on things not covered please see the http://developer.myspace.com/community/myspace/referenceIntro.aspx

Sample Code

var os_token = MyOpenSpace.MySpaceContainer.OSToken;
var osContainer = opensocial.Container.get();

// gets all supported post to targets
var supported = osContainer.getMySpaceEnvironment().getSupportedPostToTargets();
var recipientPerson;

// need a person object for add comment and send message

function init() {

dataReqObj = osContainer.newDataRequest();

dataReqObj.add(osContainer.newFetchPersonRequest(opensocial.DataRequest.PersonId.OWNER));

dataReqObj.send(ownerResponse);

}

function ownerResponse(data) {

recipientPerson = data.get(opensocial.DataRequest.PersonId.OWNER).getData();

loadSupportedTargets();

}

function loadSupportedTargets() {

var temp = "<select id=\"supportedTargets\">";

for (var i = 0; i < supported.length; i++)

{

temp += "<option value=\"" + supported[ i ] + "\">" + supported[ i ] + "</option>";

}

temp += "</select>";

document.getElementById("selectInsert").innerHTML = temp;

}

function invokePostTo(){

var target_is_supported = false;

var target = document.getElementById("supportedTargets").options[document.getElementById("supportedTargets").selectedIndex].value;

var subject = "subject text";

var content = "content text";

// make sure that the selected target is enabled

for (var i = 0; i < supported.length; i++) {

if (supported[ i ] === target) {

target_is_supported = true;

break;

}

if (target_is_supported) {

// create a new message object passing in the content to be posted and then set the subject and target fields

var message = opensocial.newMessage(content);

message.setField(opensocial.Message.Field.TITLE, subject);

message.setField(opensocial.Message.Field.TYPE, target);

// show post to

osContainer.postTo(os_token, message, recipientPerson);

}

init();

</script>

<br>

postTo

opensocial.Container.get().postTo(os_token, message, opt_person, opt_callback);

os_token: The token string, this gets passed up so we can verify who's sending the request.
Message: an opensocial.Message object. The content to be posted, the message type refers to the target of the post.
opt_person: an opensocial.Person object. An optional opensocial.Person object, used when a recipient is required, e.g. when posting a comment, this person will get the comment.
opt_callback: Callback function, right now just for success/fail. - not yet implemented.

openSocial.Message

Below is the function for creating a new opensocial.Message object:

var message = opensocial.newMessage(body, opt_params);

The Post To opensocial.Message message allows for three fields:

1. opensocial.Message.Field.TYPE

A supported PostTo target type from MyOpenSpace.PostTo.Targets enum. You can check if a particular target is supported by invoking: opensocial.Container.get().getMySpaceEnvironment().getSupportedPostToTargets()
Currently supported targets:
-    MyOpenSpace.PostTo.Targets.PROFILE
-    MyOpenSpace.PostTo.Targets.SEND_MESSAGE
-    MyOpenSpace.PostTo.Targets.COMMENTS
-    MyOpenSpace.PostTo.Targets.BULLETINS
-    MyOpenSpace.PostTo.Targets.BLOG

Example:
message.setField(opensocial.Message.Field.Type, MyOpenSpace.PostTo.Targets.PROFILE);

2. opensocial.Message.Field.TITLE

A title for the post – this is not used in every target

Example:

message.setField(opensocial.Message.Field.TITLE, “Hello World”);

3. opensocial.Message.Field.BODY

The content you want to post.

Example:

message.setField(opensocial.Message.Field.BODY, “Hello World”);

Note: Body can also be passed in the constructor.

Target Screen Shots

Below are screen shots of the various targets with links on where you can find the corresponding MySpace feature

Posting to Profile
Posting to the users profile copies functionality found here: http://profileedit.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.interests

Posting to Bulletin

Posting a bulletin copies functionality found here: http://bulletins.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=bulletin.edit

Posting to Blog

Making a blog post copies functionality found here: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.create&editor=true

Posting a Comment

Posting a comment copies functionality found here: http://comment.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile_commentForm&friendID=20599042

Sending a Message

Sending a message copies functionality found here: http://messaging.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=mail.message&friendID=20599042

Sample Application

Chris has created a handy sample application for you to see Post To in action. You can install it here: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=364361327

MDP JavaScript Container : Send Message

Introducing Post To