Three types of interface formats are available that allow direct access to the content and user data; and developers may mix and match these methods throughout a site.

Data Access APIs Data access calls can be made from server-side code, providing you with access to granular features and data. Using RESTful commands, your data can be created, retrieved, updated, or deleted programmatically. The response from these calls is XML. These calls offer you the greatest flexibility of all interfaces, but require more developer effort to integrate. Most calls to the data access API will be made on behalf of an end user. For example, the following types of calls provide access control appropriate to the signed in state and level of permissions of a user: retrieve and edit content, retrieve reputation data associated with a user account, or interact with a social feature set. A small number of API calls, such as to authenticate users, will be system-level calls. Such calls must be made from your server and require additional security parameters. Client Application APIs A collection of public methods and event handlers are made available from the JavaScript Library. These methods provide your own JavaScript access to the client application. By accessing these methods, you are able to affect the appearance and functionality of the user experience. All JavaScript executed on your pages is contained within a restricted namespace to avoid variable collision. The initial payload includes only a minimum set of functionality to ensure timely loading of your web pages; additional code is retrieved on-demand as the user interacts with the client application. Server-side Includes To easily allow search engine access to your user-generated content, server-side includes apply browser-ready HTML to your server pages. Because the content is rendered with the rest of your page, it may be crawled and indexed by search engines, which then attribute the content to your domain. The HTML content returned by this API may also include the user controls and JavaScript necessary to engageinteractive capabilities, such as the Wetpaint WYSIWYG Content Editor. Standard server-side include snippets provide the quickest and easiest option for most developers to integrate Injected capabilities.