WishList: A proposed extension of OpenGraph
I’d like to propose an extension of the OpenGraph protocol for easy wishlist creation. A select few might be aware that I maintain a wishlist. Currently, I manually enter each gift idea into a database. It would be dead helpful, if I could just provide a link to a page that represents an item that can be given.
This post contains some marked-up HTML and I don’t know how it will look on federated sites. You may need to open the original page for best results.
Existing art that might work
OpenGraph pretty much has what I need already.
<meta property="og:type" content="product.book" />
As far as I can tell, the list of types in the product space is as follows – album, book, drink, food, game, movie, product, song, and tv_show. Some of this maps well to gift listing.
- album is generally a thing you can buy and, thus, gift (digital purchases and releases are a bit fuzzy)
- book is a thing you can buy (includes ebooks or all kinds)
- drink is probably a thing you can buy or, sometimes, make
- food can be a thing you buy as a gift but is not strictly limited to that
- game is largely a thing that one can gift but exceptions apply
- movie is a thing you can watch but might map to DVD or Blueray which can be gifted
- product (product.product) is generic and is probably giftable
- song is something you listen to but might map to CD or digital for a given single
- tv_show is something you watch but could map to Box Set (DVD/Blueray/etc.)
However, there are some giftable things that do not fit well within the defined product types.
- A custom voucher for a favour like babysitting, housework, a shoulder massage, and other no-spend gifts.
- Something that you could make such as a cake, cookies, pie, a custom set of shelves, a GWL card, and so much more.
- The clarity that the product in question is something that can conceptually be given. Perhaps in a given format or media.
I considered adding one more product value
To the product types, I would like to add something that indicates the thing that can be given. The simplest version of that is probably “gift” or “giftidea”. It would set the page as a thing that a person can gift to another. Which would make it ideal for wishlists. Something like this:
<meta property="og:type" content="product.gift" />
This is not entirely a good fit. “Product” as a gift is conceptually a little narrow and is a bit too abstract for my tastes. Plus, it could break existing validators that are unaware of the new gift product type.
The other option would be a new base type with its own subtypes. This is problematic as it would create the possibility for duplicate potential types for a given page. Fortunately, there is a better way.
A namespace for OpenGraph gift ideas and wishlists
That better way uses good old namespaces.
If the type is not the right place to insert metadata for giftables, perhaps a new schema might be called for to cover instances when the current OpenGraph types are not a good fit. This gives us, I think, three new objects – gift idea, the wishlist, and an entry in a wishlist. Maybe it would look something like this:
<head prefix="wishlist: https://example.com/ns#"><meta property="og:type" content="wishlist:gift" />
This type would provide a catchall for wishlist gift ideas that don’t fit well into the wider graph. It would also avoid breaking validators. The same namespace could be used for all wishlist, gift, and wish object data.
wishlist:gift object data
The namespace could provide other wishlist item data points – estimated price(s), and known retailers, for example.
<head prefix="wishlist: https://example.com/ns#"><meta property="og:wishlist:gift:price" content="£32.99" /><meta property="og:wishlist:gift:price" content="$99.99" /><meta property="og:wishlist:gift:retailer" content="amazon.co.uk" /><meta property="og:wishlist:gift:retailer" content="CEX" /><meta property="og:wishlist:gift:retailer" content="Harry's Local Trade Shop" />
There is a lot more data that could be added here but I’m not sure it is strictly necessary. Maybe there is something that should be here but I’ve not thought of. I think that the rest of the data – product information, could be covered by the existing OpenGraph namespace. If there are any obvious gaps, please comment, reply, or mention with your thoughts.
wishlist:list object data
If we’re going to have a custom namespace, why not also include the wishlist itself? This can be where each wish in the list could go (technical limits may apply).
<head prefix="wishlist: https://example.com/ns#"><meta property="og:type" content="wishlist:list" /><meta property="og:wishlist:list" content="https://example.com/lists/matt/birthday/" /><meta property="og:wishlist:list:user" content="Matt" /><meta property="og:wishlist:list:wish" content="https://example.com/lists/matt/birthday/tfdobl" /><meta property="og:wishlist:list:wish" content="https://example.com/lists/matt/birthday/apple" /><meta property="og:wishlist:list:wish" content="https://example.com/lists/matt/birthday/cake" /><meta property="og:wishlist:list:wish:more" content="https://example.com/lists/matt/birthday/page-2" /><meta property="og:wishlist:list:wish:more" content="https://example.com/lists/matt/birthday/page-3" />
For wishlist:list:user, I toyed with calling this “wisher” and a few other things but finally concluded that there was no good reason to invent new terms when the existing idea of a site user or member was already well established.
There are other data points that might fit inside the graph for a wishlist. Please suggest any you think I should add here.
wishlist:wish object data
Wishlist entry implies the existence of wish with details such as – the gift wished for, how badly you want it (priority), how many you want, why you want it, and the list the wish is from. The whole thing might look like this:
<head prefix="wishlist: https://example.com/ns#"><meta property="og:type" content="wishlist:wish" /><meta property="og:wishlist:wish:gift" content="https://example.com/shop/item/tfdobl" /><meta property="og:wishlist:wish:priority" content="low|medium|high" /><meta property="og:wishlist:wish:quanitity" content="1" /><meta property="og:wishlist:wish:why" content="This book is the only one missing from my collection." /><meta property="og:wishlist:wish:inlist" content="https://example.com/lists/matt/wishlist-birthday" />
There are maybe other optional elements. Please do suggest data points you think should go here. Is, for example, wishlist:wish:why the best way to label that information within the graph?
Existing OpenGraph object data
OpenGraph neatly provides most of the other data points that could matter, I think.
<meta property="og:title" content="Fictional Dictionary of Bad Language" /><meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/giftideas/tfdobl" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/images/tfdobl.jpg" /><meta property="og:description" content="..." /><meta property="og:determiner" content="the" /><!-- ect. -->
One small privacy issue
While writing this, it occurred to me that I did not really want to put my postal address and other sensitive information online as part of a social graph. To avoid that I went ahead and assumed that the wishlist site handling the list for the user would implement some way for gift-givers to privately obtain such data if it was even needed at all. Perhaps with some sort of request/grant system or some other similar privacy controls.
Thoughts and feedback?
That’s my ideas about presenting wishlists, gifts, and wishlist items using OpenGraph. I’m open to critique, objections, praise, or any other feedback.
#ideas #OpenGraph #wishlist #CodingAndDevelopment
indie company.
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