Sharing on orkut just got easier!

Monday, November 23, 2009 at 12:15 AM

Posted by Srikanth Belwadi and Siddharth Naidu, orkut team

As part of our continous efforts towards giving orkut users more ways to share interesting content with their friends, we are happy to announce the launch of the orkut Share API. The API allows website owners to enable their visitors to share the content on their website, with visitors' friends on orkut.

Users can share the content and optionally promote it to make recommendations to their friends, which then appears in their activity updates. Every such shared item has the potential to spread virally and get wider attention from orkut users, increasing the traffic to the website.

Web publishers can post orkut share buttons like the one above on their page using a simple JavaScript library. We also support the JavaScript and HTTP APIs for a more direct interaction of sharing-related UI actions with the server. These options combine to give web publishers, flexibility in the way sharing features are implemented. The user experience remains consistent and secure in each case.

Some of our early access developers like addthis.com, have already started supporting orkut in their list of services. If your website has implemented sharing functionality using the 'addthis' button, you can simply configure orkut in the destination network list.

Details of orkut share API and sample code can be found here.

So spread the word, have fun sharing!

The new orkut - more for apps!

Monday, November 2, 2009 at 10:58 PM

Posted by Ridhima Kedia and Shishir Birmiwal, Software Engineers

We just launched a faster, richer and more intuitive experience on the new orkut. You need an invite to see the new orkut - we will send out invites to developers this week.

OpenSocial applications take center stage as part of this redesign. You can now customize your 'About me' section with OpenSocial apps and even make your favorite app the default view for 'About me'. When your friends visit your profile, your app will showcase your personality (whether your daredevil race car avatar or your smiley face today). Apps on profile view also move above the fold and have a larger area for display.

Few tips to leverage the redesign -

1. Currently we support a small profile view size of 540 x 280. With the redesign you have a wider profile view size of 660 x 225. As we roll out the new orkut, both these views will be supported. To take advantage of this, you can add another profile view using the view name profile660.

</ModulePrefs>
<Content type="html" view="profile660">
<![CDATA[
<h1>Profile view for the new orkut!</h1>
]]>
</Content>

For users with the new orkut, the new profile view will be used, while old users continue to see the old view. Currently the new orkut supports both views, but as the redesign rolls out fully, the new view (profile660) will be standard and the old view (profile) will be phased out.

2. Build a profile view that allows users to showcase their personality. If your app is a game, let the users showcase their high scores in profile view. If your app promotes self expression, then let users pick the expression they want to showcase on profile view.

The new orkut is a work in progress - we will continue to act on user feedback to improve it even more. OpenSocial apps are a key part of our strategy and you will see this reflecting in many parts of the new orkut going forward.