Robin Blandford [ ByteSurgery.com ]

07/01/08 Widget Platforms…

SINGAPORE - This is Part II of my infosheet on widgets. (See Part 1 ‘The Many Form of Widgets’)

Users can choose to consume widgets across many platforms and need to be re-distributed by the creator for each. This normally requires porting the code to a different widget API’s and language depending on which platform is the widget host. Recent efforts have been made by platform providers to consolidate widgets to a single cross-platform standard allowing any widget to be installed on any platform. Each platform has a different use-case.

Desktop Widget Platforms

Installed directly into an application that runs on the users OS, desktop widgets are for personal use. As these widgets are generally hidden until brought into the foreground by a keystroke, mouse-click or hotspot, desktop widgets tend towards providing ‘always-on’ inter-application monitoring-service, know-now information or a processing a calculation. These widgets can be installed as a download that is recognised as the associated file-type of the host platform. Desktop widgets are distributed in packages containing all the required files, code & images. Niche application specific widgets can sometimes be installed within other connected-applications as and ‘add-on’ to provide an interface for interaction, discussion or related live-information.

Examples: Google Desktop, Yahoo Confabulator, Apple Dashboard, Vista Sidebar, Joost, Firefox.

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Web-Based Widget Platforms

Accessed by web browser only, these widgets can be considered to be foreground only and unlike desktop widgets cannot continue to run in the background once the user leaves the page. Web-based platforms are regularly used as browser homepages or start-pages due to their nature. They are highly customisable by the user allowing them to mix a combination of static, interactive and informational content. Web-based platforms often include a directory of widgets to install with a single-click button. Web-based platforms can be financed through distribution deals agreed with brands to feature them as default widgets or links installed on users pages. Web-based platforms often give the user a place to see a single screen overview of their interest on the web. As the users platform page is private the widgets installed are for their own use and provide informational content or tools they want at intervals or at the beginning of their session. Unlike desktop widgets, this platform is not available offline.

Examples: Netvibes, iGoogle, Pageflakes, MyYahoo.

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Independent Web Widgets

Independent widgets require no widget platform and are installed by copying & pasting a snippet of code directly into the source-code of the user-owed web-page. Typically the widget code creates a container to run remote code within. As a user wishes to add or remove widgets from their page they re-edit their source-code accordingly. Micro-platforms have launched to allow user to add a single container piece of code once, which can be used to format & display multiple widgets within a manageable interface. Independent widgets are a good example of ‘widgets for others’ where the content delivered is for visitors to the site rather than for the user themselves. It is unusual for these widgets to have inter-session per-user memory.

Examples: Blog Sidebars, Google Adsense, Personal Homepages, Snipperoo Container.

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Social Network Application Platforms

While web-based widget platforms offer users the chance to display a page of information for themselves, social network widgets allow users to post a page of widgets for their visitors. These widgets are often statement-making or to collect the views of and interaction with their visitors. A large difference exists where every visitor to the widget has an associated account on the network and the ability to store preferences and recognise them on return. Social widgets are often aware of their surroundings, which of the visitors friends also use them and have good distribution methods through sharing.

Examples: Facebook, Bebo, MySpace.

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Tune-in tomorrow for Part III!

-Robin

Tags: brighton, england, infosheet, London, platforms, uk, widget, widgets, widgety goodness

2 Comments

08/01/08 Neal

nice going with the write-up. Concise and easily explains the basic concepts of widgets.
the race seems to be on to try and come up with the one common format so that multiple versions of the same widget don’t have to be developed….

16/05/08 gilbertmana

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