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API Overview - Available Calls

General Requirements

Answerbag provides all of its core question and answer data through a set of Read-Only API Calls, and it also provides Write API calls that allow the writing of content to its database. The Write APIs require that you registered and authenticate your users with Answerbag (which can also be done through APIs). Each call to the API must include your partner ID and your partner authentication key. This key is unique to your partner account, and the API will not work without it. With this key, you can access our basic read-only feeds such as category lists and question lists.

Each call must be submitted as a POST. The POST must include the following values with every request:

partner	string	The id of your partner account.
api_key	string	The API key found in your partner profile page.

CURL example:

curl -d "partner=partnername&api_key=e12345678901234678901234567890" http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/question_search/car

Read-Only Calls

• Questions in a Category
  Returns a list of questions for a given category.
• Answers to a Question
  Returns a list of the answers for a given question
• Comments to an Answer
  Returns a list of the comments for a given answer
• Subcategory List
  Returns a list of subcategories for a given category
• Question Search
  Returns a list of questions that match a query string
• User Profile - Coming soon.
  Returns user profile data based on a unique user identifier
• Leaderboards
  Returns a list of leaderboard entries. A leaderboard may return a list of users or a list of questions.
• Top Users
  Out of the top 1000 users on the site, returns the top 5 that are members of your partner site.

Register / Log In Calls

We provide functions that allow you to register and authenticate your users with Answerbag, at which point they can use the API to its full extent. You may create an account for your users on Answerbag by calling Register at any time before you submit content to the API for them. Register will return to you a username and an authkey for the user, which are required to accompany all Write Calls. If you do not wish to store the user's authkey, you may call Log In with the user's password to retrieve it at any time.

• Register
  Create an account on Answerbag for your user
• Log In
  Authenticate your user with Answerbag

Write Calls

Once your user is logged in to Answerbag, you can submit their content by including the user authkey in the POST request using the format below. The authkey is obtained from Log In.

authkey

string

The key of the current user

• Post a Question
  Send a question posted by your user to Answerbag
• Post an Answer
  Send an answer posted by your user to Answerbag
• Post a Comment to an Answer
  Send a comment for an answer posted by your user to Answerback
• Rating an Answer or Question
  Returns the new rating of the question (or answer)

Change Log

7/5/2007

Added top_users call.

6/6/2007

Added leaderboard call.

Add number of questions to the subcategory call.

Added mode=answered,unanswered to questions call.

5/30/2007

Added sort option to questions api call.

Added number of pages to questions and answers api call.

5/22/2007

New Comment Submission Api Calls.

New errors added for commenting api.

5/3/2007

Registration

Added a gender field.

4/18/2007

Registration

Functionallity change Please see the Registration section for new variable names.

A full date is now required for Age certification. This replaces the age_cert_flag. The registree must be 16 years or older.

Users must agree to the the Terms of Use and Privacy policy.

3/22/2007

Answers to a question

Includes display_name along with every answer.

1/31/2007

Registration

No longer checks for duplicate user names

Returned result of nickname is deprecated

Login

Email is now used instead of nickname for login

Requires email to be passed (nickname is deprecated)

Only the authkey is required for any write pages

Returned result of nickname is deprecated

All Write pages

Username is deprecated and is not needed any more

Questions in a Category

Returns a list of questions for a given category. Includes, for each question: id, question text, the user who asked (or last answered) it, the date it was last updated, and a link to the answers.

The first 25 questions in a category are displayed. By default, the the page defaults to 1. An optional "?page=n" parameter may be passed to go to that page number.

The sorting of the questions can either be based on recency or rating. Use the ?sort parameter to choose between new and best. The default is to sort by best. (highest rated)

You can change the mode to only show unanswered or answered questions. ?mode=unanswered, ?mode=answered

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/questions/[categoryid]

Examples:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/questions/24

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/questions/24?sort=new

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/questions/24?page=3

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/questions/24?page=3&sort=best

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/questions/24?page=3&mode=unanswered

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/questions/24?mode=answered

Result

categoryid	int	Numeric category id.
name	string	Category name, used in navigation.
title	string	Title of the category.
summary	string	Quick summary of a category for more context.
pages	int	Number of pages in this category.
questions	container	Container for a list of questions within the category. question Container for a question. id int Numeric id of the question. questiontext string Text of the question. submittedby int The user that submitted the question, or, if it has been answered, who last answered it. display_name string The display name of the user that submitted the question, or, if it has been answered, who last answered it. date date When the question was posted / last answered. answerlink string Link to the followup feed to get all the answers to this question. rating int User rating of this question. answers int The number of answers to this question. avatars Container for submitted by avatar information 64 The location to the large avatar. 50 The location to the medium avatar. 30 The location to the small avatar. 15 The location to the tiny avatar.

Answers to a Question

Returns a list of categories within a given category. Includes, for each question: id, question text, the user who asked (or last answered) it, the date it was last updated, and a link to the answers.

As of June 9, 2008, you may pass the sort option through the query string (only supporting "new" currently) to get answers with the newest listed first.

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/answers/[questionid](?page=n)&(sort=new)

Example:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/answers/251

Result

questionid	Question id.
questiontext	Text of the question.
submittedby	User id who submitted the question.
partnerid	Partner id of the submitting site.
display_name	The display name of the user who submitted the question.
date	Date the question was asked.
categoryid	Category id the question was posted in.
category_link	Link to the parent category.
rating	Rating of the question.
pages	Number of pages of results.
hash	Number of pages of results.
answer_count	Number of answers for this question.
hasflagged	1 if the user has flagged the question already. 0 if not.
user_rating	Rating given to the question by this user. 0 if nothing.
video_embed	Embed code for the video that accompanies the question, if it's a video question.
avatars	Container for submitted by avatar information 64 The location to the large avatar. 50 The location to the medium avatar. 30 The location to the small avatar. 15 The location to the tiny avatar.
answers	Container of answers answer Container for answer data answerid Numeric id of the answer. answertext Text of the answer. submittedby Numeric id of the user who submitted the answer. partnerid Partner id of the submitting site. display_name The display name of the user that submitted the answer. rating User rating of this answer. date Date the answer was submitted hasflagged 1 if the user has flagged the answer already. 0 if not. user_rating Rating given to the answer by this user. 0 if nothing. videos (optional) - container for a list of videos that accompany an answer sourceurl Source of the video included with this answer images (optional) - container for a list of images that accompany an answer sourceurl Source of the image included with this answer avatars Container for submitted by avatar information 64 The location to the large avatar. 50 The location to the medium avatar. 30 The location to the small avatar. 15 The location to the tiny avatar. hash Hash that must be included when rating answers, as a precaution to prevent abuse.

Comments on an Answer

Returns a list of comments within to a given answer.

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/comments/[answerid]

Example:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/comments/251

Result

commentid	Comment id.
commenttext	Text of the comment.
userid	User id who submitted the question.
partnerid	Partner id of the submitting site.
display_name	The display name of the user who submitted the question.
date	Date the question was asked.

Post a Comment on an Answer

Returns the comment id of the new comment, or an error code.

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/postComment

Required fields

answerid	int	The numeric id of the answer that the question should be comment on.
comment	string	The text of the comment. Maximum 1000 characters (after character encoding)

Result

commentid

Comment id.

Error codes can be found at the bottom of the page.

Subcategory List

Returns a list of categories within a given category, as well as data for this category. Includes, for each question: id, question text, the user who asked (or last answered) it, the date it was last updated, and a link to the answers.

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/categories/[categoryid]

Example:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/categories/251

categoryid	Numeric category id of this category
name	Name of the category.
title	Category title, usually gives more context than just the name.
summary	Quick summary of a category for more context.
questionslink	Link for questions within this category
questions	Total count of the questions in this category.
parent_category	Link to get more information about the parent category.
parentid	ID of the parent category, if one exists.
parent_name	Name of the parent Category.
subcategories	Collection of subcategories of this category. categoryid Numeric id of this subcategory. name Name of the subcategory. link Link for subcategory data. questions Count of questions for this subcategory.

Question Search

Returns a list of questions that match given search terms, ranked by relevency.

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/question_search/[searchterm]

Example:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/question_search/britney+spears

Results

results

container for search results result container for a result questionid int ID of the question question_text string Text of the question rating string Rating of the question.

User Profile

Returns the activity on a user profile.

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/profile/[userid]?options=[comma list of options](&page=n)

Example:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/profile/251?options=questions,answers,comments

Options

questions	Questions this user has asked.
answers	Answers this user has submitted.
comments	Comments this user has submitted.
ratings	Ratings this user has submitted on other people's questions and answers. Only available for first person profile.
feedback_answers	Answers in response to questions this user submitted.
feedback_comments	Comments on this users answers, as well as follow up comments to this users's comments.
feedback_ratings	Ratings on this users questions and answers.

Result

question

Container for question data questionid Numeric id of the question. question_text Text of the question. answerid ID of the answer, if applicable. Not always set. action Action that was taken that caused this item to show up in the last. userid userid of the user that posted this item. display_name The display name of the user that posted the item.

Leaderboards

Returns a list of leaderboard entries. A leaderboard may return a list of users, or a list of questions, as there are boards for both. Please check the boardtype for each api call before using the results. Currently there is only 1 board - points (1).

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/leaderboard/[boardid]/?period=[lastweek,alltime]&page=[1-40]

Example:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/leaderboard/1

Result

boardid	Board id.
boardtype	Type of board. The results will vary depending on the board type.
points_type	How points should be interpreted. Possible values: (int, percent).
boardresults	user user container userid display_name levelpoints levelnum points Number of points for this board. ordernum Rank of the user prevpoints Previous weeks points prevordernum Rank in the previous week orderdiff Difference in points from this week to last avatars Container for submitted by avatar information 64 The location to the large avatar. 50 The location to the medium avatar. 30 The location to the small avatar. 15 The location to the tiny avatar.

Post a Comment on an Answer

Returns the comment id of the new comment, or an error code.

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/postComment

Required fields

answerid	int	The numeric id of the answer that the question should be comment on.
comment	string	The text of the comment. Maximum 1000 characters (after character encoding)

Result

commentid

Comment id.

Error codes can be found at the bottom of the page.

Top Users

Out of the top 1000 users on the site, returns the top 5 that are members of your partner site.

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/top_users

Example:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/top_users

userid	Userid
display_name	Name of the user.
points	Points this user obtained.
avatars	Container for submitted by avatar information 64 The location to the large avatar. 50 The location to the medium avatar. 30 The location to the small avatar. 15 The location to the tiny avatar.

Register

Receives user's registration information. Returns the username and authkey or an error message.

Example:

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/register

Data passed as POST:

partner=[partnerid]&api_key=[api_key]&username=[nickname of registrant]&email=[email of registrant]&age_cert_flag=1&password=[password of registrant]

Required fields

username	string	The desired username for a user. (required)
email	string	Email address of the user. (required)
password	string	Password for the user.(required)
date_year	integer	Birth year of the user. (required)
date_month	integer	Birth month of the user. (required)
date_day	integer	Birth month of the user. (required)
		The user needs to be 16 years or older in order to sign up with Answerbag.
gender	integer	0 for Unknown, 1 for Male, 2 for Female
mailing_list_flag	int	1 if the user has opted in to our mailing list.
newsletter_flag	int	1 if the user has opted in to our newsletter list, 0 otherwise.
referrer	string	Referring page - can be left blank.

Result

authkey	string	Authorization key to perform actions as this user. It must be included with all subsequent requests.
userid	string	User ID of the new account.

Log In

Receives user login information. Returns the username and authkey or an error message.

Example:

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/login

Data passed as POST:

partner=[partnerid]&api_key=[api_key]&email=[user email]&password=[user password]

Required fields

email	string	The email of the user. (was username which is now deprecated)
password	string	The user's password.

We will return a key for this user that you should include on further requests. It is not necessary to include the user's password after the login, as we can determine by the username and the token who the user is.

Result

authkey	string	Authorization key to perform actions as this user. It must be included with all subsequent requests.
display_name	string	The display name of this user
userid	int	Userid of this user.

Post a Question

Receives the text of a question, with associated information. Returns the question id with a success message, or an error.

Example:

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/postQuestion

Data passed as POST:

partner=[partnerid]&api_key=[api_key]&authkey=[user key]&categoryid=[category id]&questiontext=[url encoded text]

Required fields

categoryid	int	The numeric id of the category that the question should be posted in. You cannot post a question to the root category (1)
questiontext	string	The text of the question. If we detect a duplicate, we will not add the question to our database. The maximum length is 255 characters, and must be at least 10 characters.

Result

number	int	The number of the status
status	string	If it is submitted or exists.
questionid	int	The ID of the question submitted or the existing question
video_url	string	For video questions, the URL of the player. If you post the entire embed code, we will strip out the URL and convert it to one of our known formats. 255 char limit on the url.

Post an Answer

Receives the text of an answer, with associated information. Returns the answer id with a success message, or an error.

Example:

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/postAnswer

Data passed as POST:

partner=[partnerid]&api_key=[api_key]&authkey=[user key]&questionid=[question id]&answertext=[url encoded text]

Required fields

questionid	int	The numeric id of the question that the answer should be posted to.
answertext	string	The text of the answer. Max length:

Result

number	int	The number of the status
status	string	If it is submitted or exists.
questionid	int	The ID of the question the answer was submitted to
answerid	int	The ID of the answer submitted or the existing question

Rating an Answer or Question

Returns the new rating of the question (or answer).

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/rate

Examples:

URL:

http://www.answerbag.com/api/1/rate

Data passed as POST:

partner=[partnerid]&api_key=[api_key]&authkey=[user key]&answer=45&hash=[hash]&rating=up

partner=[partnerid]&api_key=[api_key]&authkey=[user key]&question=4&hash=[hash]&rating=down

Required Fields

questionid OR answerid	int	Question id OR the Answer id of the item being rated.
hash	string	Hash that must accompany the rating. This is requried as a security measure to curb malicious scripted rating.
rating	string	How to rate the question/answer. "up" or "down".

Result

rating

int

The new rating for this item