2013/UK/Webactions Implementation

From IndieWeb


Notes from etherpad https://etherpad.mozilla.org/indiewebcamp-webactions

An IndieWebCampUK 2013 hack session.

Webactions Implementation (Day 2)

9701659258_ecdf647707_n.jpg 9701663386_093476589d_n.jpg

WebActions hack session


Possible design principle: "If in doubt, mimic the UI of the platform you're POSSEing to". If we are going to adapt to the culture of the platform that the user is arriving from (source platform), it is not enough to adopt the symbols/verbs used on the source platform without implementing the semantics/behaviour of the source platform *exactly*.

e.g., if we choose to adopt the symbol of โ€˜favouriteโ€™ from Twitter, it must behave *exactly* like a Twitter favourite. Otherwise, it will confuse and it would be better that we adopt/implement our own culture. "Post" is almost too technical a term. "Share" was more human, but has been diluted by Android overuse (every app claims to "Share").

"Publish" may be a more general user-friendly term for "Post".


Where to get Tweet Action images - ok to reference the static version on Twitter because that uses their CDN.


Aside: While talking through how web actions are implemented on his site, Tantek ran into an issue with the display of the tweet button...

It looks like there could be a couple of different reasons for the issue:

  • patchy network
  • adblock plugin

It seems that the JavaScript is overwriting the original DOM before getting a successful response from Twitter, so the tweet button is not displayed. A possible solution might be to wait until getting a successful response from Twitter before overwriting the DOM node.

We should have a chat with Ben while he's here.

I remember struggling with generating Twitter button dynamically. Ended up removing generated markup, appending div to DOM and finally calling twttr.widgets.load();

See Also