Adding Widgets to a Custom HTML Module

Widgets are interactive online tools that can be integrated into Web pages and each provide a single service. Widgets can display the latest news, the current weather, a click, a calendar, a map program, a calculator, a small game, or even a language translator, among other things. Widgets allow you to provide interesting tools and toys for your site users and to customize your Web pages.

Group owners can add widgets to the Announcement and Custom HTML modules on their group home pages, and users can add them to posts. Three popular widget directories -- springwidgets.com, widgetbox.com, and Google Webpage Gadgets (http://www.google.com/ig/directory?synd=open) -- have thousands of available widgets, and more are being added every day.

Note that only Flash widgets can be used from SpringWidgets and WidgetBox.

Adding these to your group home requires just a few simple steps. To ensure that your widget fits properly in the left- or right-hand column of your group homepage, select or customize a widget with the following maximum widths:

• Left-hand column: 585 pixels
• Right-hand column: 280 pixels

Adding Widgets from SpringWidgets

1. Visit springwidgets.com.
2. Browse the site to locate the widget you want. If available, customize the widget as you wish.
3. Click the Click Here to Get the Code! button.
4. In the pop-up, select HTML.
5. Copy all of the code for the widget.
6. On your group home page, click “edit” on a custom HTML or announcement module, then select the HTML editor from the toolbar.
7. Paste the code into the HTML editor and update. You’ll see a yellow box in the text editor.
8. Save your changes to the module.
9. Turn on the module for visitors to use.

Adding Widgets from WidgetBox
Note that some widgets on WidgetBox are not available in Flash format. Only Flash code can be embedded into Gather modules.

1. Visit widgetbox.com.
2. Browse the site to locate the widget you want. If available, customize the widget as you wish.
3. Click the Get Widget button.
4. In the pop-up, select the Flash tab. (If Flash code is not available, the widget will not work on Gather.)
5. Copy all of the code for the widget.
6. On your group home page, click “edit” on a custom HTML or announcement module, then select the HTML editor from the toolbar.
7. Paste the code into the HTML editor and update. You’ll see a yellow box in the text editor.
8. Save your changes to the module.
9. Turn on the module for visitors to use.

Adding Widgets from Google Webpage Gadgets

1. Visit Google Webpage Gadgets.
2. Browse the site to locate the widget you want.
3. Click the Add to your webpage button.
4. If available, customize the widget as you wish.
5. Click the Get the Code button.
6. Copy the code for the widget.
7. On your group home page, click “edit” on a custom HTML or announcement module, then select the HTML editor from the toolbar.
8. Paste the code into the HTML editor and update. You will not see anything in the text editor.
9. Save your changes to the module.
10. Turn on the module for visitors to use.

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