What is a “widget”, how do I make one, and what can I do with it?
A “widget” is like a mini-website that you can add to your personal website or blog. That mini-website displays information from another website. So in this case, when you add a widget from Podcast.com to your personal website, you and the people who read your website can see a collection of podcasts from Podcast.com right inside your widget. Click on the image to the right to see how Ribcraft’s podcast collection looks when added as a widget to Scott’s website.
Once you’re logged in to Podcast.com, you can create a widget using your collection of podcasts, OR any collection of podcasts you find on Podcast.com. You’ll notice to the left (click the image) that the WIDGET button appears above every folder in Justin’s collection of podcasts. When you click that button, you’re taken to a page where you can customize a widget (see it here) before you add it to your website. You can set the colors and widget size to whatever you want, click the “test widget and generate code” button, and then copy that code to add to your site (either highlight the code and copy it or click the “copy to clipboard button”).
Currently the widget code can be used on two website services, Wordpress.org and Blogger.com. We’ve included instructions for how to add your widget code to either of these services. Start by creating your widget with the colors and design you want. When you’re happy with how your widget looks, copy the widget code and off you go:
1. Instructions for placing widget on your Wordpress.org blog
After you install the blog from Wordpress on your server, go to the Presentation (sometimes called the Design) tab, and under that the tab called Widgets. Drag a Text widget from the bottom of the screen to your Sidebar 1, then hit the Configure box (click the image to the right) and add the code inside the text box that pops up. Click Save Changes and the widget should appear on your Wordpress blog.
2. Instructions for placing widget on your Blogger.com blog
Go to www.blogger.com. If you have a Gmail address, use that plus your password to log in here (if you don’t have a Gmail address, get one from www.gmail.com and the go back to Blogger). Start a new blog, give it a name and pick a theme. Once you are ready to post, click on Layout — you will be on the Page Elements tab. In the middle of the page, on the right, click Add a Page Element. Choose “HTML/JavaScript: Add third-party functionality or other code to your blog.” Click Add to Blog and a new window will open. Give it a title, and paste your code from the clipboard into the Content section. Click Save Changes. Now back on the Add and Arrange Elements page, click Save, then View Blog. Your widget should be there!
If you have any questions about any of this, send an email to info at podcast.com
