Plaxo's Personal Card: Plaxo-enabling the rest of the world

[09.15.04] Plaxo-enabling the rest of the world

For those of you unfamiliar with web services, partners download our WSDL file which describes the services our API offers (e.g. fetching your address book, sending out an update request, adding a new calendar appointment). There are web service packs for most popular languages (e.g. Java, C++, PHP) that will translate the WSDL into local code, so when you Plaxo-enable your application, it looks like you're just calling your own subroutines to talk to Plaxo. Behind the scenes, those functions are generating XML which is passed up to our server. Our server looks up the data in the database and performs any necessary actions, then sends XML back as a response, which turns into the return values. Partners don't need to know any of those gory details though, they just call the functions and get the data.

For security, all API calls are made over SSL so the user's password and data are encrypted during transport. We authenticate both the partner and the Plaxo member, so no one can touch your account without your permission.

We look forward to a day when you only have to maintain a single address book and it follows you around everywhere you go. Our API is a step in that direction, and we're encouraged by the adoption we've had so far. Help us get the rest of the way there by Plaxo-enabling your own service or telling the company that provides it that you want access to your Plaxo data!

Thanks,
The Plaxo Team

Posted by Joseph Smarr at September 15, 2004 @ 09:01 AM | permalink

We announced today that five partners have already signed up to Plaxo-enable their Web sites and applications using our SOAP API: ColSpace, Global Systems, Greenlight Wireless, ModoMail, and Trekmail. This means that our members can access their Plaxo address book, calendar, tasks, and notes from within these services. While we've focused so far on integrating with Outlook and Outlook Express, our goal is that your up-to-date Plaxo information should be available to you in all of your favorite apps. If you're interested in Plaxo-enabling your Web site or application, please contact us at partnerships@plaxo.com. For those of you unfamiliar with web services, partners download our WSDL file which describes the services our API offers (e.g. fetching your address book, sending out an update request, adding a new calendar appointment). There are web service packs for most popular languages (e.g. Java, C++, PHP) that will translate the WSDL into local code, so when you Plaxo-enable your application, it looks like you're just calling your own subroutines to talk to Plaxo. Behind the scenes, those functions are generating XML which is passed up to our server. Our server looks up the data in the database and performs any necessary actions, then sends XML back as a response, which turns into the return values. Partners don't need to know any of those gory details though, they just call the functions and get the data. For security, all API calls are made over SSL so the user's password and data are encrypted during transport. We authenticate both the partner and the Plaxo member, so no one can touch your account without your permission. We look forward to a day when you only have to maintain a single address book and it follows you around everywhere you go. Our API is a step in that direction, and we're encouraged by the adoption we've had so far. Help us get the rest of the way there by Plaxo-enabling your own service or telling the company that provides it that you want access to your Plaxo data! Thanks, The Plaxo Team