HomePHP Page 3 - Using the Yahoo Site Explorer Inbound Links API
Getting Started: Yahoo Account and Your Application ID - PHP
The Yahoo Site Explorer API offers useful data for anyone who is trying to do well in the search engines. The trick is getting that data into a form you can use. Keep reading to learn how to build an application that will organize the information so you can analyze it.
For every unique web application, you need an "Application ID" you will use in your PHP program to authenticate the Yahoo Inbound Links API. You cannot secure an Application ID if you do not have a Yahoo account. So the first step is to secure a Yahoo account if you do not have one.
Once you have a Yahoo account, follow the steps below to secure an application ID:
1. Go to http://www.yahoo.com and sign in using your Yahoo account. You can sign in to your Yahoo Mail. This will automatically log you in to all Yahoo-related services.
2. Once you are logged in, copy and paste this URL in the browser address bar: http://developer.yahoo.com/wsregapp/
3. You need to fill out the required information as accurately as possible. You may leave other fields blank. A sample screenshot below gives you some guide to filling out the API application form:
4. After inputting all the required information, click "continue."
5. Yahoo will then provide you the Application ID on the next page after inputting all details. It is a ~64 character code, consisting of both alphanumeric and dashes as characters.
6. Bear in mind that this is a secret API key; it should not be shared with other developers, because this is issued just to you and your web application.
7. You can keep a safe copy of your application ID; you can either print it to a PDF or save it to your desktop.