23 Feb 09 Widgets and Things That Go Bump in the Night!

If you’re somewhat new to this technology, then join the crowd. Though widgets are all the rage these days, there are still a great many people who have no idea what a “widget” is. One of our team members on the Gossimer Support Team was reflecting on this. This is what she had to say:

True confession: I was one of those! Yes, it’s true. I had blogs all over the place, on every reputable site, but I had no idea what a widget was. So I started asking friends and family. They thought I had been at my computer too long (and that I should really “Log Out” and take a nap!). Finally, after a great amount of research and two pots of coffee, I discovered the meaning of widget.

A widget is a gadget that is embedded somewhere, just about anywhere you like, in a blog or on a website. It’s sort of like a hyperlink but when you click on it, you will be pleasantly surprised. Clicking on a widget will usually take you someplace fun. Sometimes a widget can be an embedded video, gallery, podcast, or who knows what! New widgets are suprising me all the time!

It’s sort of like stepping onto the “Yellow Brick Road” in the virtual world of Cyberspace. A popular widget is one that takes the clicker to a game. We all love to play games, right? So how about a fun little game of Super Mario? Where do you find these crafty little devices? Well, there are sites springing up all over the place (like tulips on a spring day!).

Widget websites and sources make the whole process fairly user friendly and normally you can simply answer a few questions about the type of widget you want and wahlah! Just like magic, there’s the code. After that, it’s simply a matter of copying and pasting the code into your blog or web site. Gossimer will have more blog articles on widgets in the future; this is important not only because our company offers free blogware in our Linux Hosting plans, but also because many widgets can be implemented through simple HTML code. Stayed tuned in with us for more.