Frequently Asked Questions
Note: A more detailed, developer-contributed FAQ is also available.
- Basics
- How do I get started?
- How do I register my application?
- Do you have a step-by-step guide to building a hi5 application?
- Open Social
- How is hi5 related to OpenSocial?
- What version of OpenSocial does hi5 support?
- How can I learn more about OpenSocial?
- General Development
- Does hi5 have a server-side API?
- What are the viral channels that hi5 provides to help my application grow?
- How does hi5 plan to support international issues?
- Does hi5 provide web hosting to developers?
- Does hi5 have an application approval process?
- How long does it take to get my application approved?
- Guidelines related
- Do you have an application approval process?
- How do I make sure my application uses the same background as the user's skin color?
- Is there a limit on profile width and height?
- What are the limits on sending notifications, emails, etc?
- Is there a styleguide I can use to make sure my buttons, tabs, colors, etc. conform to hi5's?
- Contact hi5
- Who should I contact at hi5 to discuss our PR plans?
- How do I file a bug report?
- I have a question for the hi5 team, how can I contact them?
BASICS
How do I get started?
Its easy. You can start by learning more about the Anatomy of a hi5 application. Next, read the step-by-step guide on creating an application from scratch.
How do I register my application?
- If you don't have a hi5 account, open your account here: http://www.hi5.com/friend/registration/displayRegistration.do
- Register as a developer here: http://sandbox.hi5.com
That's it, you are ready to start creating applications.
Do you have a step-by-step guide to building a hi5 application?
Yes, we do. You can check the guide right here. Happy coding!
OpenSocial
How is hi5 related to OpenSocial?
OpenSocial is a set of open technologies developed by Google for building social applications across the Web. Developers’ apps can be deeply integrated within hi5, as well as easily translated beyond hi5 to other OpenSocial-enabled websites.
What version of OpenSocial does hi5 support?
Currently, we support OpenSocial 0.7 & 0.6 versions. We highly recommend using 0.7 version APIs.
How can I learn more about OpenSocial?
You can learn more about the OpenSocial initiative here: http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial/
General Development
Does hi5 have a server-side API?
Yes, we do. We have a RESTful API that allows you to get information about a user's profile information, friends, photos, online status, and much more. You can read about the hi5 here: http://www.hi5networks.com/platform/wiki/OurApis
What are the viral channels that hi5 provides to help my application grow?
hi5 has given applications a variety of channels to grow and spread within the community. Some of the channels include notifications, invitations, messages, friend updates and more. You can learn more about them here: http://www.hi5networks.com/platform/wiki/Anatomy
How does hi5 plan to support international issues?
Given hi5's strong international user base, we have taken pains to be i18n compliant. You can learn more about our current and future i18n initiatives here:
Does hi5 provide web hosting to developers?
- hi5 has partnered with Joyent to provide 1-full year of support for a limited number of application developers. You can check out the details of the program here: http://joyent.com/developers/hi5
- You can also utillize Amazon web services for your hosting needs: http://aws.amazon.com
Does hi5 have an application approval process?
Yes, hi5 has an application approval process. We want to make sure that our users interact with applications that are following our guidelines and not breaking our Terms of Service.
How long does it take to get my application approved?
All the applications are reviewed based on the order they were received. Our goal is to approve applications as soon as possible. In case your application is rejected we will respond by explaining the reason why your submission was denied. You can always fix the issue and re-submit.
Guidelines related
Do you have an application approval process?
Yes, please refer to the guidelines here: http://www.hi5networks.com/platform/wiki/AppGuidelines. In order for you application to be approved, we would recommend that you follow the best practices that are listed in the guidelines.
How do I make sure my application uses the same background as the user's skin color?
We have made it really simple for you to do so. You can user the hi5 feature API described here:
Is there a limit on profile module width and height?
We don't have a specific limit for your application module on the profile. However, we recommend 500 px height for the application profile modules.
What are the limits on sending notifications, emails, etc?
There are multiple limits you should be aware of:
- The maximum number of recipients you can send messages to at one time is 200. This is a limit per REST call. Obviously, only a sender's friends can receive messages of any type, so the number of friends a sender has is an implied limit.
- Each recipient can receive 2 notifications per 24 hours per application.
- For friend activity posts, there are no limits per poster, but each post will replace the last. Only one post per app per user will be displayed.
You should also read our blog post on the notifications quota system --- we apply quotas on emails and notifications based on the abuse rate we get from our members. Members can mark emails and notifications as spam, and this affects your ability to send out more emails and notifications.
When you hit one of these limits, you will receive a 403 response code to the corresponding API request with a message informing you that you have violated an application specific constraint.
Is there a styleguide I can use to make sure my buttons, tabs, colors, etc. conform to hi5's?
In order to integrate your application more seamlessly into the hi5 user experience, we have listed our styleguides here: http://www.hi5networks.com/platform/wiki/bestpractice
Contact hi5
Now that my app is live on hi5, I’d like to do a press release. Who should I contact at hi5 to discuss our PR plans?
We are glad to hear that you are enthusiastic to publicize your participation in the hi5 community. Please contact pr AT hi5-DOT-com before issuing press releases with our name, logo or other company/service information --- all hi5 information you seek to publicize requires our review and approval for which we'll need 2-3 business days' notice. We would greatly appreciate this courtesy of running by us any press activities that mention us, and will naturally inform you of hi5 PR activities in which we'd like to specifically mention your application. For more information, please visit http://www.hi5networks.com/press.html.
How do I file a bug report?
Use the bug reporting system on this wiki platform to let us know about problems on the platform. We'll track progress on this system and let you know when we can get to a solution. To add a bug you have to login to this wiki via OpenID. Click on OpenID Login on the top right hand corner. After you've logged in via your favorite provider from the list available in the drop down on the login page, click on New Ticket on the left hand navigation bar.'
I have a question for the hi5 team, how can I contact them?
You can contact the team in a variety of ways:
- Email us at platform-help@… for any issues with the platform, if you've already started development.
- Email us at api-request@… if you are having trouble creating an application or need us to add your Flash website to our whitelist.
- Get on the IRC channel at irc://irc.freenode.net in the room labeled hi5dev. Our developers are here as often as they can be.
- Post on the hi5 Platform Developers Group.
