In addition to our Express and String products, we offer a full-fledged Translation API to any developers and companies interested in integrating with our systems. We’ve seen some great plugins and applications get built on top of this platform, but one of the chief questions we’ve been getting from customers is, “what is my API key?”
A little back-story is probably in order: API keys are a little bit like IDs that plugins and applications rely on to tell myGengo that you’re, well, you. Without it, we’d have no way to say, “all right, this translation is done, let’s return it for this user." These keys aren’t exactly user-friendly, apparent only as long combinations of random characters that make no immediate sense. If you’ve used one of our plugins, you likely know what we’re talking about here.
We listened, though, and set out to fix it.
Log In to myGengo from Plugins and Applications!
We wanted to provide a flow that people would instantly understand and feel comfortable with, so we opted to take a cue from some established flows other companies have set up. Facebook, Google and Twitter (among others) all offer a “sign in with” feature that explains to you what permissions are being granted, and allows developers to get the requisite data they need to make things work on your behalf. From this point forward, we expect most plugins and applications to integrate this for all users. Developers, you can get documentation here!
New plugins and applications built on the myGengo API will have a button (like below) that will guide you through authorizing them to make requests to myGengo for you.
Clicking on this button will bring up a window like the following. If you’re not already signed into myGengo, you’ll be prompted for your username and password first.
Once you’ve allowed the application to access your account, you’re good to go! No more finding API keys and putting them into random forms.
We've already integrated Passport into the myGengo WordPress plugin, so anyone who installs it from now on won't need their API keys. But if you just want to give it a test run, check out our Best Practices page for a live demo and documentation.
What’s Next?
We believe this will enable an overall better experience for our customers interested in using third party plugins and applications built on the myGengo API, but this is just one step of many. We’re always working with third party developers to try and provide the best experience possible! Watch this space for more announcements about great plugins and applications that integrate the myGengo API.
If you’re a developer, we’re still offering cash prizes for plugins! Be the first to develop one from our Bounty List and submit it to us. You can also find us over on GitHub and Twitter — get in touch!
