ESV Web Service Update: New Domain
The ESV Web Service now has its own domain: www.esvapi.org. The names of the API calls have changed slightly to make them more RESTian. See the Upgrade Guide for a list of key differences.
(The ESV website and text will continue at the same URLs. Only the Web Service is changing.)
The main advantage of moving to the new domain: you get 5,000 queries per day instead of 500. When the web service launched in 2003, 500 queries was a respectable number. But in 2007 it’s hard to do anything interesting with only 500 queries per day. The server also does some caching, so multiple identical queries in a short period of time won’t count toward your usage. (This change is useful for people who suffer a sudden burst of popularity.) Of course, this server-side caching isn’t a replacement for your implementing caching on your end.
The domain is running on a new server that should be faster and more reliable than the current server.
SOAP support has gone away, at least for now, mainly because SOAP queries comprised only 1.6% of all API calls but required complex debugging.
The Terms of Service, including the doctrinal requirements, remain the same.
The current API will continue to work indefinitely. Your current keys will work on the new service. However, sometime soon we will stop issuing keys for the current version of the service unless you need SOAP access.
The latest version of Chris Roberts’ excellent WordPress plugin uses the new API. We strongly recommend that you upgrade your copy of the plugin if you’re using it on your blog.
