How to Make a Basic Widget

Widgets work on blogs and other HTML web pages.

A widget is a form of computer code which a user can embed into HTML web pages. Widgets perform a variety of functions. They create user-friendly displays that do many things. Some widgets display photos, compile RSS feed information, give online quizzes, provide daily quotes or snippets or take polls. A widget executes the task it was designed to perform. Designing a widget is a simple endeavor thanks to web developers who created widget design tools which require no coding knowledge. A customizable widget is just a few steps away.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet access

Instructions

1. Navigate to a website with widget design templates. In this example, Widgetbox (see References) is being used to demonstrate widget design. Create a user account by providing a username, password and email address. This is free and it supplies access to all the basic tools as well as your saved widgets.

2. Click the icon to choose the type of the widget you desire to create. Displayed horizontally across the page you will find widget options for a blog, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and others as listed.

3. Enter the website or username of the application for which you wish to create the widget, then click "Make a Widget."

4. Customize the widget to wanted specifications. 16 basic themes are available. The first section is a text display editor. Type in all the text as you want it to appear.

5. Change the look and feel of the widget in section 2. Specify colors and font for the different sections of the text and widget box itself. Upload an image from the web or from your computer for use in the widget by clicking "Choose" next to the image box.

6. Save the widget by clicking "Save" on the bottom of the screen.

7. The widget saves to your account page. Copy and paste the HTML code into any of your HTML websites to display the image on the site.

References

• Widget Box: Make a Widget