Instructions

Drop WebSMS in the Library/Widgets folder in your Home. Open Dashboard, click on the + button to show the widget bar, drag WebSMS on the screen and enjoy!

Safari users will be prompted to automatically install and open the widget after downloading.

WebSMS

WebSMS widget represents a small cellular phone, with a big screen and three buttons. The central one sends the message and performs some other actions, the left button launches the web browser to this guide and the right one flips the widget to show the back configuration pane.

Configuration

Call settings

Before using WebSMS, you’ll have to enter the username and password to access your provider’s service. You can use the sign field to append a signature to every message you send (actual support depends on plugin implementations).

You can insert the recipient’s phone number either directly, or choosing it from a dropdown menu. Contacts are retrieved from those featuring a mobile phone number in the Address Book.

Network settings

If you are behind a proxy, you will have to inform WebSMS of that. Here you can fill the proxy type, host name and port, authentication keys and scheme. If you don’t know what a proxy is, you’d have to leave those fields blank

Appearance settings

Customize every instance of WebSMS with a different color, one for each of your friends!

International settings

Choose your country. The country code will be used to filter services not available in your country and to provide a country code to those services that require one.

Software Update settings

Tracking software updates is always a pain in the a** (not to mention development!). This panel lets you find available updates for the installed plugins. Click Check to retrieve a list of the newest plugins, choose the ones you’d like to update, then click Update. They will be downloaded, replaced and automatically loaded for immediate use.

Composing

Write your message. You’ll see how many available characters are left in the upper right corner of the screen. Warning: some characters may be garbled during transfer. At the moment, WebSMS doesn’t perform any validation of the message.

Translation

Thanks to Google Ajax Language API, WebSMS can automatically translate your message to another language.

Source language detection is transparently handled for you by the Language API. How cool is that? You just have to press Command+Option+Control+<Key>, where <Key> is one of the letters below:

Warning: not all the language pairs allow direct translation. You may have to translate to English first, then to the desired language.

Sending

When you’ve finished composing, press the center button to send the message. An indicator on the upper left corner of the screen means the widget is sending your message.

Confirmation

Some services require the user to enter a visual code for confirmation (Captcha). WebSMS presents you the code when required. After entering it, you just have to press Enter, or press the send button again.

FAQ

Q: What should I put as username and password to use the plugin for service XYZ?

A: Username and password are usually the same you would use with your service to access your user account from your web browser. Please refer to your service documentation to learn more.

Q: How much does it cost??

A: Nothing. The widget is free software, but if you’d like to, I’d be glad to accept donations.

Q: How much does it cost sending messages with WebSMS?

A: Nothing. At the moment, WebSMS is using free sending services only.

Q: I’m not Italian. WebSMS is useless to me.

A: I’m sorry, but since WebSMS is a volunteer effort, I cannot write plugins for carriers outside Italy. If you or someone you know would like to contribute to the project, please refer to the source code available for download. It contains a commented example plugin template, so you can easily create your own.

Q: What does WebSMS do with my own data? Is it secure?

A: Your data, username and password will be used only to access your carrier’s website and perform the sending. WebSMS will NEVER disclose those informations to any third party.

Q: I’d like to send SMS with my carrier, but WebSMS doesn’t support it.

A: If you’re a developer, and you know Javascript, HTML and HTTP, you could write it on your own. Otherwise, write me and I’ll try my best to do it. Remember that some services require a paid subscription or some device (decoder, modem) to be accessed, though.

Q: I’m $famous_phone_carrier and I’d like to support WebSMS, can you make a branded version for me??

A: Heck, yes! Let’s talk about it!.