Cool Tool of the Week: Widgetbox 'Make a Widget'

There are few terms as frequently used and frequently misunderstood as "widget." Pretty much any interactive marketing discussion these days includes mention of widgets, despite the fact that saying "and we'll have a widget" is about like saying "and we'll have a Web site!"

To put it simply, widgets let you easily drop almost anything into your blog, social network or home page. They can be useful, they can be fun, or they can be pointless. It's up to you.

That said, creating widgets can be an intimidating process for casual Internet users. That's why my Cool Tool of the Week winner this time around is the "Make a Widget" feature on Widgetbox.com.

How it describes itself: "Widgetbox makes it easy to make new widgets from scratch or from your existing widget-sized Web Page, Flash file or RSS feed. You can also import your Google Gadget."

How I'd describe it: If you want to connect your own site to a favorite blog or Internet tool, this site makes it easy to do so with a customized widget.

Getting started: Just visit the site and follow the (mostly) idiot-proof steps. Most likely, you'll be wanting to use the "Blog/Feed" option, which lets you create a widget with information from any blog, yours or otherwise. But you can make a widget from almost anything -- a Web site, some HTML code, etc.

Why you'll use it: These days, it's rare that you have just one Web site or blog. Maybe you have a personal blog, a work blog or a site featuring your online portfolio. Wouldn't it be nice to connect them in a better way than just a boring old link?

To see an example, check out the "New on AdFreak" widget I created. It's on the right side of this blog. The whole process took mere minutes, and it was a snap to add it to the blog. Because the widget offers so much more information than a normal link, it's a lot more likely to drive traffic to the other blog I write for.

Shortcomings: It might still be a bit too techy for some folks, but it's definitely the best introduction to widgets I've seen. Also, I had trouble using the site with the new Firefox 3 Web browser, but it worked fine on every other browser I tried.

In summary: The best way to understand the widget phenomen is to dive in and try making one yourself. And the best way to do that is with this fantastic tool. Big thanks to Karma Martell for suggesting this to be featured as Cool Tool of the Week.

Comments

[Dieter]

Cool site which takes it down the right road. I agree that there is still some knowledge involved to build something useful but it's heading the right way I think. Widgets are nice and simple to use, but to become mainstream they have to be simple to build as well.