Saturday, January 31, 2009

Get Your Own Blogger Gadget!

I found this link to a file that represents a Blogger Gadget. It was on this page that explains how to create a gadget that has access to some of the blog owner's own data. I was trying to find a page that explained how to create a gadget from scratch, but stopped when I found this one. It assumes you know something about creating a gadget: "First things first, we need to tell the gadget to use OAuth. To do that, add the element in the gadget's <moduleprefs> section..." ModulePrefs? Whatever. So I took my usual route which is start with an example and modify it in baby steps (so that when it breaks, you know why). That's how I got the gadget displayed to the right (at the bottom). If you want to help promote Litmocracy, you can add the gadget to your own blog by following these steps:
  1. Right-click the [[Gadget Link]] in my Litmocracy Gadget and copy the link.
  2. Click "Customize" on your blog (you have to be logged in).
  3. Go to the Layout tab of your blog.
  4. On the page elements sub-tab of the layout tab, click one of the "Add a Gadget" links.
  5. At the bottom on the left side, select "Add Your Own" from the gadget adding page.
  6. Paste the link you copied in step 2 into the URL field and click Add.
  7. Move the gadget wherever you want in your blog layout.
Thanks to StarLizard for the idea to make a Litmocracy Blogger Gadget!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey,
Mr.Dave Scotese

Thanks for that idea..but you want i was searching for "Create a New Gadget"
'cause i'm a Multimedia Artist I Studied many "Designing & Animation Software:-
Flash,
Photoshop,
Illustrator,
3DS MAX,
3D Maya,
Sound Forge,
After Effect,
Premiere..."
and last..
that linking idea is Great!!
Thanks a lot...
&
Happy New Year 2010..

ydoc5212 said...

I wanted to make my own, because this doesnt help me at all, really. :(.... I was hoping to be able to learn how to ACTUALLY make one.

Dave Scotese said...

Hi ydoc,

I see you are right that I didn't explain much about creating your own. A gadget is an xml file, but Google, who owns blogger.com, controls when and how that xml file is accessed. When you go to your blog and tell it (under settings/layout/add gadget - if my memory is accurate) that you want to add your own, it will ask you for a URL to the xml file. Mine is included in the gadget, and it points to an xml file on my own website. If you want to create your own, does that mean writing the entire xml file from scratch? I doubt it. Go ahead and start with mine, or with Eric's ("this link" in my op). Edit it to your heart's content. This is basically how I learned 90% of my computer knowledge. Copy and edit and see what changes you can make.