Getting Started with the MetaWeblog API for Windows Live Spaces

2006-06-08T13:24:00Z

The MetaWeblog API enables external programs to get and set the text and attributes of Weblog posts. The API uses the XML-RPC protocol for communication between client applications and the Weblog server. Visit http://www.xmlrpc.com/metaWeblogApi for additional information about the MetaWeblog API.

Before you use the MetaWeblog API to edit the Weblog on a Space, you must turn on the E-Mail Publishing feature of the Space and specify a secret word.

Follow the steps below to enable E-Mail Publishing on a Windows Live Space and specify a secret word.

If you do not have a Passport account, create one at http://www.passport.com.
If you do not have a Space, create one at http://spaces.live.com
Go to Edit Your Space->Options->E-mail Publishing.
Turn on E-mail Publishing.
Choose a secret word.

The Space name and secret word are used as your user name and password when you communicate with the MetaWeblog API. For example, if the URL for a Space is http://carnage4life.spaces.live.com/, the user name for the MetaWeblog API is carnage4life. The password is the secret word that is provided during the steps above.

When the Space is configured for remote publishing, you can create, edit, and delete blog posts on the Space by sending MetaWeblog API requests to https://storage.msn.com/storageservice/MetaWeblog.rpc.