Widgets

Posted by Kenneth Ronkowitz on

I added a few widgets to my MySpace profile. What's a widget? Here's what Wikipedia says:

A Web Widget is a portable chunk of code that can be installed and executed within any separate html-based web page by an end user without requiring additional compilation. They are akin to plugins or extensions in desktop applications. Other terms used to describe a Web Widget include Gadget, Badge, Module, Capsule, Snippet, Mini and Flake. Web Widgets often but not always use Adobe Flash or JavaScript.

I took them from Widgetbox.com which is an online directory of web widgets for blogs and other web pages. There are several hundred there now. They work with TypePad, WordPress, Blogger, MySpace as well as most other blogs, sidebars or websites. No plug-ins are needed, and they're free. They're not too tough to install for anyone who is already using those services.

Basically, it's creating code, so if you're OK with looking at the source code on pages and some cut and paste, you can pull them off and insert them in any web app.

I started with 2 Flickr connections (some of you might call these mashups, flickr+myspace). One pulls the 3 latest pics from my own Flickr account - the other one pulls using Flickr tags on anyone's photos (right now I'm using the tag "NJ" for that widget)

Here's the link it created. 

Open My Widget Sidebar

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