How to Make a Dashboard Widget with Dashcode

Dashcode is a feature introduced in the Mac OS X (v. 10.5) Leopard, which allows you to create your own "widgets" at the touch of a button, even if you have no experience with Java Script code. A "widget" is an icon on your screen that allows you quick and easy access to various kinds of information. The possibilities seem to be endless with Dashcode.

Things You'll Need

• A Mac OS X Leopard
• A .Mac account if you want to share your widgets with other users

Instructions

1. Turn on your computer and select "Dashcode" from the bottom of the screen. The icon will be along the bottom, in the same row as the icons for Safari, Word and the other typical icons.

2. Select a pre-built template. The Leopard offers, for example, templates for RSS, podcast, countdown, photocast, quartz composer, gauge and daily feed.

3. Drag your link, photo collection, or music collection into the template you've chosen. You can do this by simply using the mouse to drag and drop the item where you want it to go.

4. Customize its color and size. Dashcode offers a variety of options, again with drag-and-drop ease of use.

5. Add buttons from the Library pallet. You can drag them where you want them and they automatically link to the information you need.

6. Click "Run" and your new widget appears, with the normal Mac ripple effect, just as it will on your own Dashboard. The widget is fully functional, ready to use as soon as you make it. It becomes, then, part of the Dashboard collection.

7. Submit your new widget to Apple.com so that anyone may download it, or keep it for yourself. And you did it all without writing a line of code!

Tips & Warnings

• Mac OS X Leopard has more customizable widgets, and it offers you .Mac syncing, to help you keep your preferences intact, across all Macs you may use. You will need to sign up for a .Mac account in order to access .Mac syncing.

• The actual Dashcode program is released, fully functional, only as part of v. 10.5 (Leopard). Previous versions do not have it, unless downloaded from the Web in beta format.