oEmbed

oEmbed is a format that allows users to embed content, such as photos or videos, into web sites. oEmbed starts with a content “provider” wanting to allow API users to embed content. Let's use Flickr as an example content "provider". To do this, Flickr deploys an oEmbed API. Then an API user or content "consumer", who wishes to share a picture from Flickr gets the URL of picture they want to share and passes it to Flickr's oEmbed API:

Now the content "consumer" can take returned information about the Flickr image and display on web page using JavaScript, PHP or other language. This is just a simple example of using oEmbed to display a Flickr image, much more is possible with oEmbed. Some oEmbed providers include:

• YouTube
• Flickr
• Viddler
• Qik
• Revision3
• Hulu
• Vimeo
• oohEmbed
• Poll Everywhere
• My Opera
• Embedly

There are several language libraries for deploying oEmbed APIs:

• PHP: php-oembed
• PHP: Services_oEmbed
• Perl: Web-oEmbed
• Ruby: oembed_links
• Python oEmbed
• Django: djangoembed

oEmbed APIs, bundled with simple, configurable JavaScript widgets give API users a simple way to embed and syndicate content to other web sites. Even for non-developers.

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