We will certainly retain the administrative ability to create source parameters when circumstances warrant an exception. But on the whole, we will prefer that applications use OAuth to create and manage their communication with the site, even in the scenario you mentioned.
Doug Williams Twitter API Support http://twitter.com/dougw On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 10:12 PM, Damon P. Cortesi <[email protected]>wrote: > > Doug, > > What about applications that do not post through the API, but still > want a source parameter? Or is this type of behavior going to be > discouraged in the future? > > As an example, TweetStats does not require you log in to retrieve the > data necessary, but I do have "promotional" links on the site that > append the source parameter so it appears to come "from TweetStats". > It's an extra bit of link juice (although I include a link in the > tweet anyway, not all applications may) and it also allows me to get > an idea of how many people use that link. > > Will this type of source specification still be allowed? Or in the > future will I just need to sign up for OAuth and use that source > parameter even if my application doesn't need auth? > > Thanks, > > dpc > > On Apr 8, 7:14 pm, Doug Williams <[email protected]> wrote: > > Applications wishing to append the "from [MyApp]" to tweets have > > traditionally been able to register for a source parameter. This > application > > is then manually approved, and specified in a header parameter (named: > > source) during the HTTP request. When OAuth is used for API > authentication, > > we can implicitly determine which application is updating on a user's > > behalf. This allows us to use the application's name as the source > parameter > > and bypass the messy registration and authorization cycle. > > > > Beginning late this week or early next week, application developers will > no > > longer be able to request API source parameters. Instead, new source > > parameters will only be available for OAuth applications, and will be > > managed by the developer through the registration and management > interface (http://twitter.com/oauth_clients). > > > > Three key points: > > 1) We ARE NOT deprecating Basic Authentication in the near term. We ARE > > trying to reduce the API team's administrative load. > > 2) We are trying to encourage OAuth adoption. > > 3) Just for kicks, I'll restate #1: Basic Authentication will continue to > > work as it currently does. Registered source parameters will continue to > > work as they currently do. > > > > The FAQ [1] has been updated to reflect this change. > > > > 1.http://apiwiki.twitter.com/FAQ#HowdoIget%E2%80%9CfromMyApp%E2%80%9Dap. > .. > > > > Thanks, > > Doug Williams > > Twitter API Supporthttp://twitter.com/dougw >
