Adding Google gadgets to your web page
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Written by Robert on April 11, 2008 – 6:20 pm
The add a gadget to your page window gives you a variety of different ways to find gadgets. You can search for one based on a search term (sports, weather, and so on) at the top of the window. You can browse through the subject-oriented directory on the right side of the screen.
Or you can browse page-by-page through the list of gadgets by clicking more at the bottom of the window. The best gadgets, to my mind, are the ones that complement the mission and the subject of your Web site. If your site is all about tornadoes, for instance, it makes sense to include the weather and not just the weather in your local area, but in the part of the Midwest known as ‘‘Tornado Alley.’’
You would do this by including the Weather Channel Gadget in your page and customizing it so it covers a zip code in the area you want. You might include news headlines about violent storms that have broken out elsewhere in the world by including a Gadget such as the one for CNN Tabbed RSS News Feeds. You should shop for the gadgets that will actually add useful content to your pages, such as:
- Date and Time. This adds the current date and time to your Web page. Click add gadget to display the available gadgets. Enter date and time in the search box at the top of the gadget page and click Search. Scan the list of time and date gadgets and click one you want. If you click World Clocks, for instance, a window opens with an extensive set of drop-down menus so you can set the clock format (digital or analog), choose one or two clocks, pick a time zone, and choose a time format. When you’re done, click OK to add the gadget to your page.
- Driving Directions. Search for the Yahoo! Local Maps Gadget, click it, and enter your address as the default location. You don’t need to enter a starting address. Click OK. The Gadget is added to your page, with boxes that the viewer can fill in to get driving directions from their own location to yours.
- Mini Web. This gadget adds a miniature search box to your Web page so your visitors can search Google right from it.
- Search YouTube. This gadget adds a different sort of search utility; you can search through video files on the popular site YouTube.
- Google Calendar. A calendar displayed on a page is a convenient way to let suppliers, employees, and others know about upcoming events affecting your company.
Adding Gadgets
If you want to add a gadget to a Web page that isn’t one you edit with Google Page creator, you can add it to your page as long as you have access to the HTML code for that page. You don’t have to know HTML, either. In fact, one of the most useful gadgets was located right at the top of the list at the time this was written. Follow these steps to add a miniature version of Docs & Spreadsheets to your page:
1. Go to http://www.google.com/ig/directory?synd=open
2. Search for ‘‘Docs & Spreadsheets.’’
3. Click the ‘‘Add to your webpage’’ button beneath Docs & Spreadsheets.
4. When the preview page appears, choose the options you want for your gadget. You don’t have to choose any options if you want to stick with the default size, border, number of documents to preview, and default language. If you want to customize the box, change the border or another setting and click Preview. The miniature box shown at the top of the preview page changes in appearance to reflect your choices.
5. When you’re done adjusting the gadget, click the ‘‘Get the Code’’ button. A new box opens in the bottom half of the page. The box contains the HTML code required to publish the gadget.
6. Click at the beginning of the code and highlight the entire code to select it all. (You can click anywhere in the code and press Ctrl+A to select all of it.)
7. Press Ctrl+C to copy the code to your clipboard.
8. Open the HTML code for the Web page that you want to contain the gadget and press Ctrl+V to paste it into the page.
9. Save your changes and preview your page to see how your gadget works.
Adding a gadget to your page means that you create a link to Google’s Web site. Whenever you use the gadget, you make a ‘‘call’’ to Google’s Web servers. The servers need to respond in order for data no matter what kind, whether it is the current temperature, stock quotes, or animations to function. Because the gadget’s contents are dependent on the remote Web server, you might find that your own site functions more slowly, or your page’s total contents load more slowly due to the gadgets.
This might happen if you have several different gadgets on a single Web page, each with a different connection to Google. If you see performance problems after adding a gadget, remove it; you don’t want to sacrifice the quality of your site in an effort to improve it.
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