COLOURlovers API Documentation

Last Updated 17 February, 2009

License:

Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
If you would like to use the API in ways outside of this license please contact us for permission.

COLOURlovers API

Copyright © 2008, COLOURlovers.com
All rights reserved.

Access to the services provided by this website and the COLOURlovers API and use of the information and services provided through the same, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

Websites or software that use the information and services provided by this website and API must provide attribution credit to COLOURlovers.com.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
Neither the name of COLOURlovers.com nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission, apart from the required attribution above.

THIS WEBSITE AND THE COLOURLOVERS API IS PROVIDED BY COLOURLOVERS.COM “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL COLOURLOVERS.COM BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Request URLs: [For Multiple Colors]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/colors
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/colors/new
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/colors/top
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/colors/random [No parameters allowed]

Parameters [Case-sensitve]: lover, hueRange, briRange, keywords, keywordExact, orderCol, sortBy, numResults, resultOffset, format, jsonCallback

Example Parameters:

lover	=	`COLOURlover`
hueRange	=	`12,68` [values must be `0`>value<`359`, and the left value must be less than the right value]
briRange	=	`2,88` [values must be `0`>value<`99`, and the left value must be less than the right value]
keywords	=	`search+term`
keywordExact	=	`0` or `1` [Perform an exact search for the `keywords` passed. Default `0`]
orderCol	=	`X` [Where `X` can be: `dateCreated, score, name, numVotes,` or `numViews`]
sortBy	=	`X` [Where `X` can be: `ASC` or `DESC`. Default `ASC`]
numResults	=	`20` [Number of results to return, maximum of `100`. Default `20`]
resultOffset	=	`5` [Result offset, for paging. Default `0`]
format	=	`json` or `xml` [Result format. Default is `xml`]
jsonCallback	=	`yourCallbackFunction` [Adds a callback to JSON format. Assumes `format=json`]

Requests with orderCol defined will override any /new or /top switch

Request URL: [For One Color]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/color/6B4106 - Where 6B4106 is any 6-char hex value

Parameters [Case-sensitve]: format, jsonCallback

Example Parameters:

format	=	`json` or `xml` [Result format. Default is `xml`]
jsonCallback	=	`yourCallbackFunction` [Adds a callback to JSON format. Assumes `format=json`]

Example Result:

				<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

				<colors>

				   <color>

				      <id>903893</id>

				      <title><![CDATA[wet dirt]]></title>

				      <userName><![CDATA[jessicabrown]]></userName>

				      <numViews>0</numViews>

				      <numVotes>0</numVotes>

				      <numComments>0</numComments>

				      <numHearts>0</numHearts>

				      <rank>903853</rank>

				      <dateCreated>2008-03-17 11:22:21</dateCreated>

				      <hex>6B4106</hex>

				      <rgb>

				         <red>107</red>

				         <green>65</green>

				         <blue>6</blue>

				      </rgb>

				      <hsv>

				         <hue>35</hue>

				         <saturation>94</saturation>

				         <value>42</value>

				      </hsv>

				      <description><![CDATA[]]></description>

				      <url><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/color/6B4106/wet_dirt]]></url>

				      <imageUrl><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/img/6B4106/100/100/wet_dirt.png]]></imageUrl>

				      <badgeUrl><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/images/badges/c/903/903893_wet_dirt.png]]></badgeUrl>

				      <apiUrl>http://www.colourlovers.com/api/color/6B4106</apiUrl>

				   </color>

				</colors>

JSON formatted results contain the above data in JSON format [how's that for redundancy?]

Breakdown of API xml:

`id`	Unique id for this Color
`title`	Title / Name of the Color `CDATA`
`userName`	Username of the Color's creator `CDATA`
`numViews`	Number of views this Color has received
`numVotes`	Number of votes this Color has received
`numComments`	Number of comments this Color has received
`numHearts`	Number of hearts this Color has
`rank`	This Color's rank on COLOURlovers.com
`dateCreated`	Date this Color was created
`hex`	This Color's hex value
`rgb`	RGB breakdown of this Color
`red`	Red value
`green`	Green value
`blue`	Blue value
`hsv`	HSV breakdown of this color
`hue`	Hue value
`saturation`	Saturation value
`value`	Value / Balance value
`description`	This Color's description `CDATA`
`url`	This Color's COLOURlovers.com URL `CDATA`
`imageUrl`	Link to a png version of this Color `CDATA`
`badgeUrl`	Link to a COLOURlovers.com badge for this Color `CDATA`
`apiUrl`	This Color's COLOURlovers.com API URL `CDATA`

Request URLs: [For Multiple Palettes]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/palettes
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/palettes/new
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/palettes/top
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/palettes/random [No parameters allowed]

Parameters [Case-sensitve]: lover, hueOption, hex, keywords, keywordExact, orderCol, sortBy, numResults, resultOffset, format, jsonCallback, showPaletteWidths

Example Parameters:

lover	=	`COLOURlover`
hueOption	=	`yellow,orange,red` or `green,violet` or `blue` [Possible Values can be a combination of: `red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, blue, violet,` and / or `fuchsia`]
hex	=	`00FF33` [Possible Values: any valid 6-char hex value]
keywords	=	`search+term`
keywordExact	=	`0` or `1` [Perform an exact search for the `keywords` passed. Default `0`]
orderCol	=	`X` [Where `X` can be: `dateCreated, score, name, numVotes,` or `numViews`]
sortBy	=	`X` [Where `X` can be: `ASC` or `DESC`. Default `ASC`]
numResults	=	`20` [Number of results to return, maximum of `100`. Default `20`]
resultOffset	=	`5` [Result offset, for paging. Default `0`]
format	=	`json` or `xml` [Result format. Default is `xml`]
jsonCallback	=	`yourCallbackFunction` [Adds a callback to JSON format. Assumes `format=json`]
showPaletteWidths	=	`0` or `1` [Shows palette's color's widths. Default `0`]

Requests with orderCol defined will override any /new or /top switch

Request URL: [For One Palette]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/palette/113451 - Where 113451 is an interger and a valid paletteID

Parameters [Case-sensitve]: format, jsonCallback, showPaletteWidths

Example Parameters:

format	=	`json` or `xml` [Result format. Default is `xml`]
jsonCallback	=	`yourCallbackFunction` [Adds a callback to JSON format. Assumes `format=json`]
showPaletteWidths	=	`0` or `1` [Shows palette's color's widths. Default `0`]

Example Result:

				<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

				<palettes>

				  <palette>

				    <id>12345</id>

				    <title><![CDATA[be my boy]]></title>

				    <userName><![CDATA[sinta schneider]]></userName>

				    <numViews>1052</numViews>

				    <numVotes>37</numVotes>

				    <numComments>13</numComments>

				    <numHearts>4.5</numHearts>

				    <rank>1</rank>

				    <dateCreated>2008-03-01 16:19:21</dateCreated>

				    <colors>

				      <hex>423238</hex>

				      <hex>F5DE8C</hex>

				      <hex>C8D197</hex>

				      <hex>B3702D</hex>

				      <hex>EB2138</hex>

				    </colors>

				    <!-- Optional color widths [Only returned with the ?showPaletteWidths=1] -->

				    <colorWidths>0.2,0.2,0.2,0.2,0.2</colorWidths>

				    <description><![CDATA[]]></description>

				    <url><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/palette/293826/be_my_boy]]></url>

				    <imageUrl><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/paletteImg/423238/F5DE8C/C8D197/B3702D/EB2138/be_my_boy.png]]></imageUrl>

				    <badgeUrl><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/images/badges/p/293/293826_be_my_boy.png]]></badgeUrl>

				    <apiUrl>http://www.colourlovers.com/api/palette/293826</apiUrl>

				  </palette>

				</palettes>

JSON formatted results contain the above data in JSON format [how's that for redundancy?]

Breakdown of API xml:

`id`	Unique id for this Palette
`title`	Title / Name of the Palette `CDATA`
`userName`	Username of the Palette's creator `CDATA`
`numViews`	Number of views this Palette has received
`numVotes`	Number of votes this Palette has received
`numComments`	Number of comments this Palette has received
`numHearts`	Number of hearts this Palette has
`rank`	This Palette's rank on COLOURlovers.com
`dateCreated`	Date this Palette was created
`colors`	List of Colors within this Palette
`hex`	Hex value
`hex`	Hex value
`[hex]`	Hex value [may not be present]
`[hex]`	Hex value [may not be present]
`[hex]`	Hex value [may not be present]
Optional color widths [Only returned with the `?showPaletteWidths=1` switch]
`colorWidths`	This Palette's Color's widths. Ranges from `0.0` to `1.0`
`description`	This Palette's description `CDATA`
`url`	This Palette's COLOURlovers.com URL `CDATA`
`imageUrl`	Link to a png version of this Palette `CDATA`
`badgeUrl`	Link to a COLOURlovers.com badge for this Palette `CDATA`
`apiUrl`	This Palette's COLOURlovers.com API URL `CDATA`

Request URLs: [For Multiple Patterns]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/patterns
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/patterns/new
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/patterns/top
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/patterns/random [No parameters allowed]

Parameters [Case-sensitve]: lover, hueOption, hex, keywords, keywordExact, orderCol, sortBy, numResults, resultOffset, format, jsonCallback

Example Parameters:

lover	=	`COLOURlover`
hueOption	=	`yellow,orange,red` or `green,violet` or `blue` [Possible Values can be a combination of: `red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, blue, violet,` and / or `fuchsia`]
hex	=	`00FF33` [Possible Values: any valid 6-char hex value]
keywords	=	`search+term`
keywordExact	=	`0` or `1` [Perform an exact search for the `keywords` passed. Default `0`]
orderCol	=	`X` [Where `X` can be: `dateCreated, score, name, numVotes,` or `numViews`]
sortBy	=	`X` [Where `X` can be: `ASC` or `DESC`. Default `ASC`]
numResults	=	`20` [Number of results to return, maximum of `100`. Default `20`]
resultOffset	=	`5` [Result offset, for paging. Default `0`]
format	=	`json` or `xml` [Result format. Default is `xml`]
jsonCallback	=	`yourCallbackFunction` [Adds a callback to JSON format. Assumes `format=json`]

Requests with orderCol defined will override any /new or /top switch

Request URL: [For One Pattern]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/pattern/1451 - Where 1451 is an interger and a valid patternID

Parameters [Case-sensitve]: format, jsonCallback

Example Parameters:

format	=	`json` or `xml` [Result format. Default is `xml`]
jsonCallback	=	`yourCallbackFunction` [Adds a callback to JSON format. Assumes `format=json`]

Example Result:

				<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

				<patterns>

				  <pattern>

				    <id>12345</id>

				    <title><![CDATA[Tenderness.]]></title>

				    <userName><![CDATA[not.an.am.person]]></userName>

				    <numViews>617</numViews>

				    <numVotes>32</numVotes>

				    <numComments>14</numComments>

				    <numHearts>4.5</numHearts>

				    <rank>1</rank>

				    <dateCreated>2008-03-01 06:43:38</dateCreated>

				    <colors>

				      <hex>C6C5AC</hex>

				      <hex>CDB89F</hex>

				      <hex>D4AA93</hex>

				      <hex>B8E0C5</hex>

				      <hex>BFD3B8</hex>

				    </colors>

				    <description><![CDATA[]]></description>

				    <url><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/pattern/49471/Tenderness.]]></url>

				    <imageUrl><![CDATA[http://colourlovers.com.s3.amazonaws.com/images/patterns/49/49471.png]]></imageUrl>

				    <badgeUrl><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/images/badges/n/49/49471_Tenderness..png]]></badgeUrl>

				    <apiUrl>http://www.colourlovers.com/api/pattern/49471</apiUrl>

				  </pattern>

				</patterns>

JSON formatted results contain the above data in JSON format [how's that for redundancy?]

Breakdown of API xml:

`id`	Unique id for this Pattern
`title`	Title / Name of the Pattern `CDATA`
`userName`	Username of the Pattern's creator `CDATA`
`numViews`	Number of views this Pattern has received
`numVotes`	Number of votes this Pattern has received
`numComments`	Number of comments this Pattern has received
`numHearts`	Number of Hearts this Pattern has
`rank`	This Pattern's rank on COLOURlovers.com
`dateCreated`	Date this Pattern was created
`colors`	List of colors within this Pattern
`hex`	Hex value
`hex`	Hex value
`[hex]`	Hex value [may not be present]
`[hex]`	Hex value [may not be present]
`[hex]`	Hex value [may not be present]
`description`	This Pattern's description `CDATA`
`url`	This Pattern's COLOURlovers.com URL `CDATA`
`imageUrl`	Link to a png version of this Pattern `CDATA`
`badgeUrl`	Link to a COLOURlovers.com badge for this Pattern `CDATA`
`apiUrl`	This Pattern's COLOURlovers.com API URL `CDATA`

Request URLs: [For Multiple Lovers]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/lovers
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/lovers/new
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/lovers/top

Parameters [Case-sensitve]: orderCol, sortBy, numResults, resultOffset, format, jsonCallback

Example Parameters:

orderCol	=	`X` [Where `X` can be: `dateCreated, score, name, numVotes,` or `numViews`]
sortBy	=	`X` [Where `X` can be: `ASC` or `DESC`. Default `ASC`]
numResults	=	`20` [Number of results to return, maximum of `100`. Default `20`]
resultOffset	=	`5` [Result offset, for paging. Default `0`]
format	=	`json` or `xml` [Result format. Default is `xml`]
jsonCallback	=	`yourCallbackFunction` [Adds a callback to JSON format. Assumes `format=json`]

Requests with orderCol defined will override any /new or /top switch

Request URL: [For One Lover]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/lover/COLOURlover - Where COLOURlover is a valid COLOURlovers.com Username

Parameters [Case-sensitve]: comments, format, jsonCallback

Example Parameters:

comments	=	`0` or `1` [If `1`, will show last 10 comments for given Lover]
format	=	`json` or `xml` [Result format. Default is `xml`]
jsonCallback	=	`yourCallbackFunction` [Adds a callback to JSON format. Assumes `format=json`]

Example Result:

				<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

				<lovers>

				  <lover>

				    <id>12345</id>

				    <userName><![CDATA[electrikmonk]]></userName>

				    <dateRegistered>2005-08-07 6:45:47</dateRegistered>

				    <dateLastActive>2008-03-16 21:02:01</dateLastActive>

				    <rating>554159</rating>

				    <location><![CDATA[#FF0000stick, LA, US]]></location>

				    <numColors>3,498</numColors>

				    <numPalettes>2,775</numPalettes>

				    <numPatterns>36</numPatterns>

				    <numCommentsMade>7,201</numCommentsMade>

				    <numLovers>710</numLovers>

				    <numCommentsOnProfile>672</numCommentsOnProfile>

				    <!-- Optional comments [Only returned when viewing one Lover with the ?comments=1] -->

				    <comments>

				      <comment>

				        <commentDate>2008-03-10 05:10:58</commentDate>

				        <commentUserName><![CDATA[mashedpotato]]></commentUserName>

				        <commentComments><![CDATA[you are so awesome. :x ]]></commentComments>

				      </comment>

				    </comments>

				    <url><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/lover/electrikmonk]]></url>

				    <apiUrl><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/api/lover/electrikmonk]]></apiUrl>

				  </lover>

				</lovers>

JSON formatted results contain the above data in JSON format [how's that for redundancy?]

Breakdown of API xml:

`id`	Unique id for this Lover
`userName`	This Lover's Username `CDATA`
`dateRegistered`	Date this Lover registered with COLOURlovers.com
`dateLastActive`	Date this Lover was last active on COLOURlovers.com
`rating`	This Lover's rating
`location`	This Lover's location
`numColors`	Number of Colors this Lover has made
`numPalettes`	Number of Palettes this Lover has made
`numPatterns`	Number of Patterns this Lover has made
`numCommentsMade`	Number of comments this Lover has made
`numLovers`	Number of Lovers [friends] this Lover has
`numCommentsOnProfile`	Number of comments this Lover has on their profile
Optional comments [Only returned when viewing one Lover with the `?comments=1` switch]
`comments`	Last 10 comments made on this Lover's profile
`comment`	Individual comment
`commentDate`	Date the comment was made `Format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS - times are CST/CDT`
`commentUserName`	Commenter's COLOURlovers.com Username `CDATA`
`commentComments`	And finally, the comments! `CDATA`
`url`	This Lover's COLOURlovers.com URL `CDATA`
`apiUrl`	This Lover's COLOURlovers.com API URL `CDATA`

Request URLs:

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/stats/colors
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/stats/palettes
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/stats/patterns
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/stats/lovers

Parameters [Case-sensitve]: format, jsonCallback

Example Parameters:

format	=	`json` or `xml` [Result format. Default is `xml`]
jsonCallback	=	`yourCallbackFunction` [Adds a callback to JSON format. Assumes `format=json`]

Example Result:

				<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

				<stats>

				  <total>1500563</total>

				</stats>

JSON formatted results contain the above data in JSON format [how's that for redundancy?]

Breakdown of API xml:

total Total number of colors, palettes, patterns or lovers in the COLOURlovers system.

			<?php

				  $curl = curl_init();

				  curl_setopt($curl,CURLOPT_URL,"http://www.colourlovers.com/api/colors/new");

				  curl_setopt($curl,CURLOPT_HEADER,false);

				  curl_setopt($curl,CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER,true);

				  $xml = curl_exec($curl);

				  curl_close($curl);

				  header("Content-Type: text/xml; charset=utf-8");

				  echo $xml;

			?>

Example Provided by Rob Shaw at www.projectpods.com

			<cfset variables.baseurl = "http://www.colourlovers.com/api/">

			<cffunction name="getTopPatterns" access="public" returntype="array">

			  <cfargument name="numberResults" type="numeric" default="20">

			  <cfscript>

			    var aPattern = arrayNew(1);

			    var x = 0;

			    var j = 0;

			    var result = "";

			    var xmlResult = "";

			  </cfscript>

			  <cfhttp url="#variables.baseurl#/patterns/top" result="result">

			    <cfhttpparam type="formfield" name="numResults" value="#arguments.numberResults#" />

			  </cfhttp>

			  <cfscript>

			    xmlResult = xmlparse(result.fileContent);

			  </cfscript>

			  <cfloop index="x" from="1" to="#arrayLen(xmlresult.patterns.pattern)#">

			    <cfscript>

			      aPattern[x] = structNew();

			      aPattern[x].id = xmlresult.patterns.pattern[x].id.xmltext;

			      aPattern[x].title = xmlresult.patterns.pattern[x].title.xmltext;

			      aPattern[x].description = xmlresult.patterns.pattern[x].description.xmltext;

			      aPattern[x].patternUrl = xmlresult.patterns.pattern[x].imageUrl.xmltext;

			      aPattern[x].colors = arrayNew(1);

			      aPattern[x].hexCount = arrayLen(xmlresult.patterns.pattern[x].colors.hex);

			      for (j=1;j lte aPattern[x].hexCount;j=j+1) {

			        aPattern[x].colors[j] = xmlresult.patterns.pattern[x].colors.hex[j].xmlText;

			      }

			    </cfscript>

			  </cfloop>

			  <cfreturn aPattern>

			</cffunction>

If you would like to contribute source code in your language of choice on how to call COLOURlovers' API, please send us your code along with your consent to use it! Be sure to let us know who to thank, too!

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