Did we know which Microsoft’s Windows Live has been actively embracing the rising Activity Streams open standard?
About the month ago, we trafficked to Portland, Oregon, USA to experience in the “Federated Social Web Summit” orderly the day prior to OSCON by Evan Prodromou as good as the group from Status.net. We outlayed the sunrise with any member demo’ing their plan or custom for about 5 minutes. Below is my try to re-format my display as the blog entry.
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My name is Rob Dolin as good as I’m the Program Manager upon the Windows Live Social team. I’m additionally the co-author of the Activity Streams in Atom spec. You can find me on identi.ca as @RobDolin (and the couple of other places.) In the subsequent couple of minutes, I’ll try to fast explain:
- What is “Windows Live” (from the viewpoint of federated amicable activities)
- Where wake up streams show-up
- How can your plan or have use of review activities from Windows Live
- How can your plan or have use of write activities to Windows Live
- How can Windows Live approach users to your plan or have use of
Windows Live as an activities generator, store, as good as display
Windows Live includes the set of web services, Personal Computer apps, as good as mobile apps:
- Web services: Hotmail, SkyDrive, Profile, Groups, Spaces, …
- PC apps: Messenger, Writer, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Mail, …; together “Windows Live Essentials” (WLE) – Download the WLE Beta
- Mobile apps: Messenger for iPhone, Messenger for Windows Phone, http://m.live.com/, SMS Messenger
If we usually do the single thing to get the clarity of how Windows Live integrates activities, we suggest downloading the WLE Beta as good as using Messenger.
Activity streams integrated around Windows Live as good as alternative Microsoft services
The wake up tide from Windows Live (sometimes referred to as “Messenger amicable updates”) is integrated around Windows Live services as good as apps.
Windows Live Messenger
Windows Live Messenger has the brand brand brand brand brand new (default) full window perspective which dedicates some-more than 2/3 of the shade to the Windows Live wake up stream:
Windows Live Hotmail
The brand brand brand brand brand new Hotmail homepage additionally includes the vast area dedicated to the Windows Live wake up stream:
The Windows Live wake up steam is not only displayed in Windows Live branded properties, though it’s integrated in to Outlook, MSN, as good as the stirring Windows Phone 7:
Outlook Social Connector
If we implement the Outlook Social Connector for Windows Live Messenger, you’ll be means to see brand brand brand new amicable activities of your contacts when we email with them:
As we can see above, the Windows Live activities tide doesn’t only embody activities from Windows Live, in Douglas’s box above, it includes photos he usual upon Flickr. Users can move activities they have finished from opposite the web in to the Windows Live activities stream. I’ll insist some-more subsequent about how we can capacitate your users to share activities from your have use of or app in to Windows Live.
MSN
There’s additionally the brand brand brand brand brand new amicable procedure upon the MSN homepage. On the USA homepage of MSN, this is in the right column:
Windows Phone
The arriving Windows Phone 7 has the brand brand brand brand brand new “People” perspective which is powered by Windows Live Activity Streams:
How to Read Activities
On any the single of the hundreds of millions of Windows Live users’s form pages, there is the couple to an Activity Streams (Atom) feed of which user’s publicly usual activities. You can simply get to this from your web browser by clicking the orange RSS/Atom icon:
This will take we to the feed of the user’s publicly usual activities upon Windows Live. Try it upon your own Windows Live profile: http://profile.live.com/.
You can perspective this in the web browser or your the one preferred RSS reader. And if we perspective the source of this feed, you’ll notice which it includes the <activity:verb> as good as <activity:object> elements of Activity Streams in Atom:
In further to this couple upon form pages to open Windows Live activities, developers can additionally review non-public activities (if the user gives permission) by the brand brand brand brand brand new “Messenger Connect” API’s. I’ll speak some-more about these subsequent as good as we can sense some-more about these during http://dev.live.com/.
Activities in Windows Live from 75+ partners as good as growing
Since Dec 2008, users have been means to move their amicable activities from dozens of services opposite the web in to Windows Live. This has enclosed services we expected know good identical to Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Pandora, Hulu, as good as WordPress:
And this includes services from all around the universe identical to AlloCine, Arto, Azbuz, Biip.no, Bilddagboken, Blingee, as good as more:
All of these integrations have been powered by open standards together with RSS 2.0, Atom 1.0, MediaRSS, Activity Streams in Atom, as good as during base, XML. In the subsequent couple of paragraphs, I’ll fast insist how we can supplement your plan or have use of to write activities to the Windows Live wake up tide so which they show-up in Messenger, Hotmail, MSN, Outlook, as good as Windows Phone.
How to Write Activities
There have been 3 ways to capacitate your users to move their activities from your plan or have use of in to Windows Live:
- Badge
- Feed
- API
Writing Activities to Windows Live around Badge
The easiest approach to write an wake up to Windows Live is to have the user click the “badge” link. For example, try clicking this link: http://profile.live.com/badge/?url=http://status.net/2010/06/28/federated-social-web-summit-2010-announced. This takes we to the page (below) where we can supplement your own user summary as good as endorse which we wish to share which sold URL. As the developer, we can reinstate the “url” QueryString parameter with whatever URL your user has indicated he or she wants to share.
The http://profile.live.com/badge/ page will pre-populate the page title, description, as good as screenshot picture for we from the page, OR we can pass these in as QueryString params to privately stock them. You can additionally pass the lapse URL as the QueryString param so the user gets redirected behind to your site after they share the link.
More sum upon the “badge” have been at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowslive/ff796213.aspx together with representation formula we can fast cut as good as pulp in to your own website:
Writing Activities to Windows Live around Feed
If your have use of has RSS, Atom, MediaRSS, or Activity Streams (in Atom) feeds, we can capacitate your users to discuss it Windows Live to check their wake up tide feed from your service. To set-up your service, we get an Application ID as good as fill-out the comparatively elementary form at: http://manage.dev.live.com/
As shown below, this will ask we for the little simple info identical to your Home page URL, Sign-up URL, Support URL, as good as of course, Feed type:
You’ll additionally discuss it Windows Live how to harmonise the URL to collect your feed. For e.g. below, Windows Live asks users to come in the “User name” as good as afterwards uses the “replacement patterns” we specify:
Windows Live gives we the accumulation of choices for “User submit label” as good as has these values translated in to over 40 languages so we don’t need to know how to ask the Hungarian user for their email address.
After you’ve set-up Windows Live to know how to check your service’s feed, we can approach users to the page where they can supplement your service: http://profile.live.com/services/add.aspx?AppID={YourAppID}&ru=http://www.YourService.com/return. You can even pass the “ru” QueryString parameter to mention the “return URL” for Windows Live to approach users to after they have continuous Windows Live to your service. To get started, go to http://manage.dev.live.com/.
For any user who connects your service, Windows Live will begin polling comparatively often (every 30-60 minutes) as good as afterwards begin polling reduction often for reduction active users upon your service.
If your have use of already has RSS, Atom, or Activity Streams feeds, this is expected the easiest approach to assistance your users move their calm in to Windows Live. To get the nicest seeking formula (i.e. photos treated with colour as photos, etc.) we competence only need to supplement the couple of <activity:…> elements as described in the “Choosing your Activity Type(s)” territory below.
Writing Activities to Windows Live around API
Finally, your have use of can additionally write activities to Windows Live around the “Messenger Connect” set of API’s. You’ll set-up your tie to Windows Live as good as likewise indicate your user to an add.aspx page passing-in your AppID. The user will agree to have we write activities upon their seductiveness (and presumably do alternative things identical to review as good as write SkyDrive photos or Messenger contacts ) as good as the user will be returned to your site (or customer application) along with the token we can have use of to have calls upon the user’s behalf.
To pull write activities to Windows Live, you’ll have HTTP POST’s where the physique of your ask is in the Activity Streams in Atom format. The subsequent screenshot from the online documentation describes how this gets rendered:
While there have been potentially hundreds of <activity:verb> + <activity:object> combinations from Activity Streams, Windows Live supports the vast apportionment of the many usual combinations:
More sum upon edition activities to Windows Live around API can be found at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/ff748785.aspx.
Choosing your Activity Type(s)
(This territory was combined during the idea of my colleague, @AngusLogan)
Whether you’re essay around feed or essay around API, if we select the specific pairing of <activity:verb> as good as <activity:object-type>, users will potentially see your wake up seeking differently. For example:
A “Post” of the “Status Update” is displayed in Messenger as: 
A “Post” of the “Photo” or the “Post” of mixed “Photo” objects in the aim “Album” looks like:
A “Post” of the “Bookmark” looks like: ![clip_image001[6]](http://windowsteamblog.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Blogs-Components-WeblogFiles/00-00-00-59-34-metablogapi/4152.clip_5F00_image0016_5F00_7F8D5875.png "clip_image001[6]")
And the “Post” of the “Blog-entry”: 
There have been about the dozen some-more variations as good as we can see examples of what all of these demeanour identical to upon the web as good as what the XML for these looks identical to at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff748785.aspx.
Thank you, more?
I goal which we found this blog entrance both utilitarian as good as informative. To sense more:
- Download Windows Live Essentials for Personal Computer and/or Messenger for iPhone
- Connect the little of the services we use: http://profile.live.com/services/
- Check-out Messenger Connect as good as all of the good report during http://dev.live.com/
Leveraging Activity Streams, we can review activities from Windows Live in to your app or service; as good as write activities from your app or have use of to Windows Live so your users as good as their friends will see them in Messenger, Hotmail, MSN, Outlook, Windows Phone, as good as more.
Thanks really most for celebration of the mass as good as for your seductiveness in Messenger Connect—
–Rob Dolin
Program Manager, Windows Live team
P.S. If we enjoyed this blog entrance as good as would identical to to see some-more blog entries along identical topics, greatfully leave the criticism explaining what you’d identical to to sense some-more about.