| Software Development Documentation | Development Overview | WCTL Template Language | WCTL Commands | WCJS Server-side JavaScript | WCMS Development | Chat Development | Standard Templates & URL Codes | Operator Documentation |
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Web Crossing includes an extensive Application Programming Interface that permits a developer to change the way the software functions or to include new features. Development is accomplished using either the Web Crossing Template Language or Web Crossing JavaScript or a mix of the two. You can use whichever language you prefer to customize your site. WCTL is extremely fast but is not as extensible as the server-side JavaScript. The two languages are documented separately for clarity. In addition, there is separate documentation for the Web Crossing Management System, Chat development, standard templates, and the Web Crossing URL format.
WCTL is a powerful server-side scripting facility that includes variables, expression evaluation, and your own macro definitions. With WCTL, you can embed conditional text based on the current user and location, including conditional sections. You can extend the Web Crossing discussion database with new fields. You can process forms and update the database from the forms input. General usage of the language is covered in the Template Language section of the documentation, while Template Commands covers individual functions and variables.
WCJS provides a complete server-side scripting environment using standard JavaScript. Unlike client-side JavaScript, there are no worries about compatibility, because the server processes the JavaScript and the browser receives only HTML. You can use server-side scripting to do HTTP or XML-RPC calls to other servers to exchange information. Web Crossing-specific extensions to standard JavaScript are covered in the Server-side JavaScript section of the documentation; we recommend David Flanagan's JavaScript The Definitive Guide (also known as "The Rhino Book") as a general JavaScript resource.
WCMS is a set of tools for applying look and feel changes (Themes) to Web Crossing sites, adding features, or changing terminology or the language of the user interface. WCMS provides an API which allows developer projects to be served as plugins from the Web Crossing Plugin Server, and "plug in" to the Web Crossing user interface automatically, without scripting on the part of the end-user/sysop. Web forms are used for any configuration or setup that is necessary. WCMS usage is covered in the WCMS Development section of the documentation.
Web Crossing chat provides the programmer extensive tools for customization and extension. The Java chat applet may be passed parameters via a template to control functionality, and the HTML chat interface also provides customization options. Chat customization is covered in the Chat Development section of the documentation.
Web Crossing reserves many template macro names which may be defined by the developer to override standard operation. These are listed and described in the Standard Templates section of the documentation.
An explanation of the Web Crossing URL format and a list of the command codes used in URLs is provided in the URL Codes section of the documentation.
Web Crossing supports several specialized protocols for creating a cluster of Web Crossing servers, for providing direct access to the Web Crossing database by another application, and alternative interfaces for some platforms and operating systems that offer better performance than the standard CGI interface. While these features are perhaps not technically part of the the Web Crossing API, they're covered in the Specialized Interfaces section of the documentation.