Intuit Partner Platform team blog

Blogs have moved

The IPP team just relaunched developer.intuit.com and have massively improved the experience which includes having our blogs under the same umbrella. Take a visit and check things out:

https://developer.intuit.com/blog/2013/05/03/enjoy-the-refreshments-2

 

This is our last regular blog post here as a result so come over to our new and improved site and tell us what you think over there.

 

Cheers!

 

QuickBooks API v3 April Release

Hey folks

Just wanted to give you all a quick update that the April Release for QuickBooks API v3 was completed last week. As part of that, we've published the first round of documentation and have made that available for everyone to view:

V3 docs

Currently the v3 API is only accessible by a small number of early adopters we've accepted into our v3 program. We'll open up applications again leading up to the July release. In the meanwhile if you have any comments or suggestions based on what you see in the docs, please share them here.

Application for early access to QuickBooks API v3

UPDATE: 3/19/13

Thank you to everyone who has submitted an application. We will contact you in the next few weeks to let you know if you have been accepted to the early access program.

***We have closed the survey today so that we can consider the current application pool for the April release. Please keep your eye on our blog here for updates in future for other opportunities closer to the July and October releases.

---

 

As a follow up to our webinar a few weeks ago, here is the application for folks who want to apply for early access of our QuickBooks API v3.

v3 Early Access Application

We'll evaluate each application as they come in and we'll let you know if you've been accepted via email. Thanks for your interest and support for our upcoming release.

 

Best,

Grace Francisco

Sr. Manager, Developer Programs & Evangelism

Intuit Partner Platform

 

QuickBooks API v3 Webinar Recording

Thank you to the folks who joined us for yesterday's webinar. Please find below the recording and slides.

http://youtu.be/6sOhD0u7wPc

 

Webinar slides

If you have questions please refer your questions over to our Support channel: http://developer.intuit.com/Support.html.

 

Registration for IPP QuickBooks API v3 Webinar

Folks,

Below you'll find the webinar registration information for our overview and update on QuickBooks API v3. Register early to reserve your spot! 

IPP Quickbooks API v3
Join us for a Webinar on February 21

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/979269376

Please join us on Thursday, Feb 21st, at 2 PM PST as Bhavin Raval, Group Product Manager discusses the next version of Intuit Partner Platform's QuickBooks API.

Intuit Partner Platform Team
Title:    IPP Quickbooks API v3
Date:    Thursday, February 21, 2013
Time:    2:00 PM - 3:00 PM PST

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server
Mac®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.5 or newer
Mobile attendees
Required: iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ phone or Android tablet
  

V3 of IPP QuickBooks API – Come along for the ride

Since arriving here last September it's been pretty clear to me that there is a certain amount of mystique and excitement associated with V3 of IPP's QuickBooks API.

Many of you have been asking for more details about the what and the when, and we recognize that we are long overdue in giving you an update.

We're finally in a solid place to invite you along for the ride and to start demystifying V3 and getting you the updated timeframes and benefits we are delivering in short order. We are actively preparing a webinar for Feb 20th at 2 pm PST – so make sure to mark your calendars.

I'll be posting the details of the webinar here over the next couple weeks. For those of you eager to get your hands on it now, we'll discuss how to apply for early access and the criteria we're looking for in early adopters for V3. Thank you for your patience and we look forward to sharing V3 with you on Feb 20th!

Grace Francisco

Sr. Manager, Developer Programs

Upcoming Intuit App Center Updates

With our next IPP release scheduled for December 18, we’re making a couple of exciting improvements to Intuit App Center.

App Presentation Order

The biggest change is that apps in App Center will no longer be presented in alphabetical order.  We will be presenting apps based on a simple formula: number of reviews x star rating (to represent quality). 

This is a change that the IPP developer community has been asking for and is a significant step to enable developers to control their App Center placement to a greater degree.  We encourage you to go to App Center and check both the quantity and quality of reviews that you have.  If you haven’t been doing so, now is the time to actively solicit reviews from your customers.  As you may recall, we’ve moved to using BazaarVoice functionality for reviews.  It’s never been easier to write or faster to publish a review.

Search Engine Optimization

We’ve also made improvements to the site to enable better performance in organic search and expect to see an increase in organic search traffic in the 5% range with this effort.  We encourage you to revisit your App Card content and ensure that key words for your app appear consistently in the meta title, meta description as well as in the app card copy itself. 

Additional Promotional Opportunities

Finally, we are working to open up additional promotional placements across the App Center experience.  These placements will be driven by app performance, balancing paid subscriptions, retention, new trials, and app card views.  The team is trying to look at the app portfolio holistically, both to promote the best of our established apps but also accelerate apps that may be showing promise. Overall what this means is more potential promotional opportunities for our IPP dev community. So keep driving for great reviews, and thank you for continuing to create great apps!

Sharon Delman

Director, Intuit App Center Marketing

Announcing IPP 3.6 Release

IPP v3.6 is now live and available for IPP partners.

IPP v3.6 CONTENTS

NEW Intuit Anywhere Policies and Guidelines 

• As part of the 3.6 release, there are new Intuit Anywhere Policies and Guidelines that all Intuit Anywhere applications will need to conform to prior to publishing to customers (regardless if the app will be listed on App Center). These policies and guidelines were based on usability studies and Intuit best practices.  Please be sure to review and implement the new Intuit Anywhere Policies and Guidelines prior to publishing your Intuit Anywhere application and submitting for the security review.  If you have questions, please contact IPP Support.

There are also some additional improvements to the Platform. 

Platform Enhancements

• Application Sign-out from 3^rd party app has a new function and flow. When your users sign out of your app, you can now also sign them out of Intuit App Center. This only applies to users who sign into your app using their Intuit credentials via OpenID.
• Updated Authorization page UI – We modified the app authorization page to incorporate feedback based on usability studies.  This modified page makes it more obvious to users that they are connecting their QuickBooks company with a 3^rd party app during the subscribe and “Connect to QuickBooks” flow.
• New First-Run use gleam – A friendly note that fires only once upon completing first time sign-up or connection to a 3rd party app. The goal of the gleam is to introduce the user to the blue-dot benefits.

                    

Software Updates/Fixes

The following updates have been made as part of the 3.6 release:

• Blue Dot now displays 'Reconnect to QuickBooks' after when oAuth token is invalid
• First & Last name for QBO users will now be pass from App Center as part of OpenID
• Publish type of IA apps can be changed, “Listed on App Center” to “Create Intuit Connection” 

Please review the release notes for more information on our IPP v3.6 enhancements.

Announcing IPP 3.5 Release

IPP v3.5 is now live and available for IPP partners.

IPP v3.5 CONTENTS

1. Platform Enhancements

NEW BLUE DOT

As some of you know, IPP recently conducted usability studies on IPP applications and the Intuit Anywhere experience. One of the findings of the usability studies was that the existing Intuit Blue Dot menu icon does not prompt user action; users did not understand that it is a clickable widget to navigate between applications and try/buy new applications. In some cases, people simply thought it was an Intuit banner. As you know, the blue-dot is an integral component of the IPP ecosystem and a important navigational element to users.

To address this issue, we tested several versions of the blue dot during usability and have decided to change the Intuit Blue Dot menu on Federated, Native and Intuit Anywhere applications to the one that tested best.

Here it is:

The image update will require no code change on your side. Also, the dimensions and method of delivery of the blue dot will remain the same so there should be no impact to the layout or rendering of your pages.

UPDATED DISCONNECT FLOW

Disconnect from “My Apps” is changing in our upcoming 3.5 release for IA applications that are listed in the App Center.  If your IA application is IA and listed on the App Center (or plans to be listed on the App Center), it will require action on your part.

What’s Happening? 

• When a customer clicks disconnect on their IA application from “My Apps”, IPP will invalidate the oAuth token and redirect the user to the page you have entered in the Disconnect URL field. Note: IPP will continue to send an email to the app developer on file, as is currently the process. 

What do you need to do?

• Log into the Dev Center (Manage App page) and verify the Disconnect URL you have entered for your app. This URL will be where the user is taken upon clicking “disconnect” from the Intuit App Center. This should be a link that takes the user to a page to reconnect via the “Connect to QuickBooks” button.
• In order to identify the user on the landing page and perform the necessary clean-up on your side, you should make an OpenID assertion from the Disconnect landing page.
  Note: This is similar to the OpenID interaction between IPP and your app during the subscribe flow from Intuit App Center.

A few notes about the way the Disconnect URL:

1. It’s a required field.
2. You have the option to make an OpenID assertion. If you do not, then the user will arrive at your page unauthenticated.
3. You will continue to receive an email when the user has disconnected the app
4. IPP Dev Relations will review your disconnect URL
5. We will be revising the Intuit Anywhere app policies (which include the disconnect user flow) and will continue to communicate to you

2. Software Updates/Fixes

The following updates have been made as part of the 3.5 release:

• Passing RealmID on app launch – Apps that allow connection to multiple companies will know which profile to load when the user clicks on their app from Intuit Blue-dot
• Reduced latency on Blue-dot menu load: We’ve made some performance enhancements on our end to help reduce the time it takes the Blue-dot menu to load
• “Enter Data directly” disabled when unchecked by developer:  Unchecking “Enter data directly” in app set-up will suppress a customer’s ability to “Try with QuickBooks Desktop sample data”  option during federated and native app signup

Please review the release notes for more information on our IPP v3.5 enhancements.

Released: Windows Azure SDK 2.0 for Intuit Anywhere

Released: Windows Azure SDK 2.0 for Intuit Anywhere

The Windows Azure SDK 2.0 for Intuit Anywhere is a set of development tools that enable developers of SaaS apps developed on Windows Azure to publish those apps on Intuit App Center, where they are available to millions of Intuit customers. 

Developers who are not on the Azure platform will still benefit from the Intuit Partner Platform .Net DevKit 2.0 and Visual Studio add-in for Visual Studio 2010 as they integrate their applications to QuickBooks data via Intuit Anywhere and .Net. 

The SDK contains the following components:

Developer Tools

• Intuit Partner Platform .Net DevKit v2.0
• Intuit Anywhere Add-in for Visual Studio 2010
• Windows Azure Templates for Intuit Anywhere

Marketing Benefits

• The Windows Azure SDK Program for Intuit Anywhere includes great marketing benefits for your SaaS app, including:

Microsoft Front Runner Program for the Intuit Partner Platform - A collaborative effort between Microsoft and Intuit

Intuit Partner Platform .Net DevKit v2.0 [Link] 

The IPP .NET DevKit has set of .NET classes that make it easier to call Intuit Data Services QuickBooks for Windows and Online. This release has full support for Intuit Anywhere. Some of the features included in this DevKit are as follows:

• Methods to call Data Services APIs synchronously or asynchronously, enabling your apps to access QuickBooks entities such as accounts, customers, invoices, and so forth.
• Ability to perform single and batch processing of CRUD operations on all QuickBooks Desktop (Windows) and QuickBooks Online entities, both synchronously and asynchronously.
• OAuth and SAML support for Federated apps.
• Reporting Service APIs for accessing QuickBooks Desktop (Windows) reports.
• Retry policy constructors to help apps handle transient errors.
• Logging mechanisms for trace, request/response, and Azure logging.
• Sync APIs that assist with data synchronization between QuickBooks Desktop (Windows) and Intuit’s cloud.
• Query filters that enable your app to retrieve QuickBooks entities whose properties meet specified criteria.
• The IPP .NET DevKit provides three different ways to log messages:
  • Trace Log
  • Request and Response Log
  • Azure Log Interface

 Intuit Anywhere Add-in for Visual Studio 2010 [Link]

• Intuit Anywhere Azure ASP.NET Template extension  
• Intuit Anywhere Azure MVC 3 Template extension  
• Drag and Drop code snippets for Intuit Anywhere Oauth, OpenId and Blue Dot components. No coding, just provide your apptoken, consumer key and secret in the config file!!

Windows Azure Templates for Intuit Anywhere [Link]

• MVC 3 Template
• .Net ASP Template

DevKit Documentation [Link]

 

 Happy Coding.

-Jarred Keneally