The AOL APIs: Web AIM

The AOL Web AIM API provides capability to integrate AIM into Web pages. Web AIM is still a "beta" product, but its capability seems fairly well-developed at this point. The introduction to the Web AIM API at the developer.aim.com/webaim site defines Web AIM's chief benefits by saying the API lets you:

• Make it easy for your users to communicate with other AIM users directly on a web page without leaving the site
• Show your users a list of all of their buddies or buddies that are also members of your site
• Show information about your users such as Away Messages and AIM Profiles, right on a web page

One of the easiest ways to get started with Web AIM is to apply one of the pre-constructed AIM Whimsicals widgets. By adding just a few lines of code to your Web page (assuming you've already registered to obtain a Web AIM API key), you can activate:

• a Buddy List widget
• an Instant Messaging widget
• a Presence widget

The widgets are customizable using themes. There are preconstructed themes you can download and apply on your web page; or you can create your own theme.

Resources

The Web AIM Reference page is your starting point for detailed information on the Web AIM API. There you'll find links to the documentation for the following API components:

• Server APIs
• Javascript
• CSS

If you're seeking hands-on guides for applying the WebAIM API, take a look at the WebAIM tutorial articles we've published on dev.aol.com:

• "Adding Web AIM Presence and Buddies to Your Web Pages" by James Turner
• "WebAIM Part 1" by Christian Wenz
• "Using WebAIM with ASP.NET 2.0 and ASP.NET AJAX, Part 2" by Christian Wenz

A search for "WebAIM" on dev.aol.com will also bring up various blog posts regarding the WebAIM API, including my initial investigation of Web AIM Whimsicals "Fun with Web AIM Using Whimsicals".

-- Kevin Farnham
O'Reilly Media