Social Media

Twitter

• This sample shows a couple of Twitter APIs

• No code needs to be written: Twitter does all the work.

• The display to be generated is set by a Twitter Widget ID

• To create a Twitter widget, sign onto Twitter

• Go to https://twitter.com/settings/widgets

• In the above image, the top widget is a Follow widget

• Beneath that, is a Timeline widget.

• There are many, many options to explore on Twitter's site.

Facebook

• The above image is a dump of the Facebook graph.
• The complete FaceBook API is rich and complex.
• Docs are at https://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/javascript/
• To get a Facebook graph of a facebook account, first make the request:

Function btnRetrieve_onclick()
  GetJSON("https://graph.facebook.com/" & txtId.value, "callback=?", gotResult)
End Function

• GetJSON is a wrapper for an Ajax call
• We put the name of the person we want in the URL
• We supply the name of the function to call on return ("gotResult").
• This is an asynchronous call: we can do other things while waiting for the result.

Function gotResult(data)
  txtData.value = ""
  If data["error"] Then
    txtData.value = data.error.message
  Else
    For Each item in data
      txtData.value = txtData.value & Eval("item") & ": " & item & vbCRLF
    Next
  End If
End Function

• The data returned will be a JSON object, stored in data.
• This code dumps the name and value of the fields in data.

PayPal

• The PayPal control allows you to collect money from PayPal for sales, subscriptions and donations.
• Much easier to set up and use than a credit card.
• First, set yourself up as a PayPal Merchant.
• Assuming you already have a PayPal account, go to the Merchant Services tab on the main screen.
• On the left, click on a tab called “Website Payments Standard”.
• Once you are set up as a merchant, you will need to set up your product.
• Use the Merchant Services page: Choose the “Buy Now button” option.
• Enter a number of fields, including item name, item ID (a reference number for your own use), price, currency (21 choices!), shipping and tax info.
• Once complete, click on ‘Create Button’.
• It will go to a new page, showing the code for the button.
• You’re interested in the string just after “value=”.
• Copy into hostedButtonID in the control’s properties.
• When the user taps on "Buy Now", PayPal takes over using the information you set up in hostedButtonID.