How to Play a Wotja URL

Wotja generates live generative music from Wotja Files, e.g. MyMix.wotja.

The data in these Files can be 'minified' for social sharing as a weblink (Wotja URL), for webpage embedding (Wotja URI) or for developer use (Wotja API URI).

We use the term Minified Wotja File ('WJm') when we want to refer to them generically, or as a group. They are all 'AI-free' magic!

Requires W26.1+. See also "4) How do minified Wotja Files actually work?"

1. Wotja URL (AKA 'WJURL') W26
   • A "minified" Wotja File formatted as a Universal Link/App Link URL (e.g. https://wotja.com/play/#data...).
     • A Wotja URL will ALWAYS start with https://wotja.com/play/#
     • It has a max supported export (and import) size of 2000 characters, but is typically between 43 & 500 characters.
       • It can be as small as ~5% of the original File size (content dependent)
       • It does not include any background image, document icon, audio sample(s) or script used in the Mix (use a WJURI if you need that).
   • It is used for social sharing of Wotja Mixes or links to "favourite" content built-in to Wotja.
     • You might see one in a social media post, e.g. BlueSky, FaceBook etc. or in e.g. a message.
     • Show what you can do!
2. Wotja URI (AKA 'WJURI') W26
   • A "minified" Wotja File formatted as a URI (e.g. wotja://mix/data...).
     • A Wotja URI will ALWAYS start with wotja://
     • It can be any size and can include a background image, document icon, audio samples and script.
   • It is used only for Webpage embedding.
     • Below is a character example:
       1. Active Link
       2. Embedded in a href (link) tag
3. Wotja API URI (AKA 'WJAPI') W26
   • A form of WJURI that is instead formatted for Developer use with the Wotja API (e.g. wotja://api_load/?data=#...).
     • A Wotja API URI will ALWAYS start with wotja://api_load/?data=#...
     • It can be any size and can include a background image, document icon, audio samples and script.

Quick Steps

Tutorial: Sharing a Wotja URL.

Note: Pro mode is required to access the Share Screen.

1. Open a Mix File and edit it as you wish.
   • Alternative: Tap on a File Name in the Documents Screen and select "Share..." then go to step 3.
2. In the Mix Editor tap the Actions button and select "Share...".
3. Share Screen:
   • In the Share Purpose/Format select the option you want.
     • OTB Customer: Creating WJURLs is a W26 New Feature and available only in Pro mode.
   • In the Options For section select the option you want.
   • The result is of your selections is shown in the botton panel.
   • Tap the top Copy button to copy it to clipboard.
4. Paste it where you want (and edit the text as you wish), and share it!
• If you have created a Wotja URL you can share it a social media post (e.g. BlueSky, FaceBook etc.).
• If you have created a Wotja URI you can embed it in a Web Page.
• If you have created a Wotja API URI then see the Wotja API on how to use it.

Tips for creating the smallest WJURLs in Wotja 26.1:

Creating Wotja URLs or Wotja URIs is easy, but creating Mixes that result in the smallest does require some skill and experimentation. And that's because URL size depends on Mix complexity and the degree of Mix customisation.

Note: For the release of Wotja 26.1 we haven't yet had time to optimise minification for e.g. SFX Networks, use of hosted Plug-ins, Cells with merged Templates or to support minified Albums. We will continue to work on those things and other improvements in the coming months.

• Make sure that the Optimise for Mix Sharing Setting is checked ON before you create an auto-mix or Flow, or use in-mix Randomisation.
• Keep your mixes simple, and preferably 1 Cell or 1 Column only.
• In your mixes:
  • Change only the values of things you really need to.
  • Do not use Cell merge for Templates.
  • Do not create or modify the structure of any SFX Networks.
  • Do not add SFX Presets (instead, change values only of WAE units already in the Templates you use in your Mix).
  • Use only the minimum Mix Text required.
  • Do not use Plug-in hosting, unless it is essential (it might be you can only use one anyhow).

Wotja URL (e.g. shared in a BlueSky/Facebook post or in a message)

1. Wotja must already be installed on your device - Get Wotja (it is a free App).
2. Simply tap on a shared Wotja URL.
   • Note: The Wotja URL will not be imported if it is larger than 2000 chars.
3. The Wotja App is then loaded* (if not already open) and the parametric data in the URL is 'reconstituted' (in memory) by Wotja.
   • *If you are iOS/macOS using Safari, or Android, otherwise:
     • You will instead see a web page with further instructions on how to play it.
     • This simply involves copying the WJURL (or entire message) to the clipboard and then importing it into Wotja via an Add file button.
4. Wotja is used to play it (it autoplays if this Setting is on) and it will sound exactly as the author intended! Voila!
   • Go Pro in Wotja 26+ if you wish to import a WJURL or WJURI and then save it as a Wotja file.

Wotja URI (e.g. in a link in a webpage or message)

1. Wotja must already be installed on your device - Get Wotja (it is a free App).
2. Simply tap on the link in a webpage or in the message (and if it is not shown as a link, import the message into Wotja via an Add file button).
3. The Wotja App is then loaded (if not already open) and the parametric data in the URI is 'reconstituted' (in memory) by Wotja.
   • This approach works for iOS/macOS, Windows and Android, and in any web browser.
4. Wotja is used to play it (it autoplays if this Setting is on) and it will sound exactly as the author intended! Voila!
   • Go Pro in Wotja 26+ if you wish to import a WJURL or WJURI and then save it as a Wotja file.

Wotja API URI

1. That is up to the Developer!
2. Developers please refer to the Wotja API.

You can find our built-in recipes here, and additional recipes here.

Wotja Mixes

Wotja Mixes are constructed from various built-in Templates, SFX Networks, user text and many other settings. The values used in all of these can be user modified as required, resulting in a truly unique & personal work of generative music (the number of possible permutations is in effect infinite).

Wotja Mix Format - Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)

Wotja Mix Files (MyWotjaMix.wotja) themselves have an underlying text format. If you open one in a text editor you'll see it's a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), formatted as wotja://mix/data....

The Wotja file format uses a "full fat" URI. This means that the data... part of that URI contains the values of everything needed by Wotja to generate the music, as well as e.g. the file name, version number, any user samples used, script, document icon and/or background image etc.

Depending on the Wotja Mix complexity the data... part will be somewhere between 1 kB & 30 kB. If the Mix file uses/includes samples, script and/or an image it can be much larger.

Challenges and Solutions

Because we thought it could be a lot of fun, for Wotja 26 we wanted to find a way to allow easy social sharing (e.g. in a post or message) of user-customised Mixes - meaning they had to be shared in the form of URLs. There three major obstacles:

1. Challenge (URL): The Wotja file format is a URI, but URIs are not like URLs in that they do not open when tapped on and instead have to be selected and manually imported.
   • Solution: Universal URL/App Link
     • We realised that we might be able so solve the first problem if we could include the URI data in a 'Universal Link' (iOS/macOS using Safari browser) or 'App Link' (Android), both of which are web browser technologies initially developed for mobile use.
     • When tapping a weblink that is formatted as a Universal Link/App Link, it allows (on iOS/macOS, Android) the relevant App (if installed) to be launched and then do something with what is included in the link. If the App is not installed it otherwise displays a web page in the browser.
2. Challenge (Size): "Full fat" Wotja URIs are simply too large for it to be practical to include them in social media.
   • Solution: Minification of "Full fat" Wotja URIs
     • We the decided to see if it might be possible to massively minify the data... part of a URI i.e. to include ONLY the values of user text and any user modifications (images, audio samples and script are not included as they would make it too big).
     • It was fiendishly difficult to do, but after a ton of work we finally managed to get it working, yay, and it can be as small as ~5% of the original Mix file size (Mix dependent).
3. Challenge (Windows): Windows used to support Universal URLs but Microsoft decided to drop support for it
   • Solution: Import WJURL from clipboard or embed Wotja URI in webpage
     • Windows only supports URLs with a max size of 2000 chars so for our solution to have X-Platform compatibility we only export (or import) of WJURLs that are 2000 chars or less. These can still be shared on social media (and thus tapped on), but to load them in Wotja for Windows you must first copy the URL to the clipboard and then import it into Wotja (sorry :()).
     • Alternatively, if you want a truly X-Platform compatible solution then you could embed a link to a Wotja URI in a webpage and then share a link to that webpage. The user can then tap on that link and then load it directly into Wotja (see the example above).

Yes, of course you can!

It is easy to share a Wotja URL for a Wotja Mix that hosts your Plug-in (providing your Plug-in state data is small enough). Anyone can then hear it in the context of 'AI-free' live generative music. You can also easily embed a Wotja URI in a Webpage where there are not such tight constraints.

All someone needs to experience the above is to have is Wotja installed and your Plug-in installed (and that is where your business model kicks in).

What do I need to do?

We believe that the smaller a Wotja URL is, the more likely it is to be shared.

To maximise the chances of someone creating and sharing such a small Wotja URL featuring use of your Plug-in then all you need to do is to figure out a way to save your Plug-in state using as little space as possible!

The first thing to do, if a Preset was selected, would be to save only the selected Preset name to the Plug-in state. That in turn would mean that only a few bytes need to be added to the Wotja URL.

If you wanted to, you could then go further and look at other things to minify!