In computing

Computing

Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...

 a web widget is a software widget

Software widget

A software widget is a generic type of software application comprising portable code intended for one or more different software platforms. The term often implies that either the application, user interface, or both, are light, meaning relatively simple and easy to use, as exemplified by a desk...

 for the web. It's a small application that can be installed and executed within a web page by an end user. They are derived from the idea of code reuse

Code reuse

Code reuse, also called software reuse, is the use of existing software, or software knowledge, to build new software.-Overview:Ad hoc code reuse has been practiced from the earliest days of programming. Programmers have always reused sections of code, templates, functions, and procedures...

. Other terms used to describe web widgets include: portlet

Portlet

Portlets are pluggable user interface software components that are managed and displayed in a web portal. Portlets produce fragments of markup code that are aggregated into a portal. Typically, following the desktop metaphor, a portal page is displayed as a collection of non-overlapping portlet...

, gadget, badge, module, webjit, capsule, snippet, mini and flake. Widgets are typically created in DHTML, JavaScript

JavaScript

JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....

, or Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...

.

Widgets often take the form of on-screen device (clocks, event countdowns, auction-tickers, stock market tickers, flight arrival information, daily weather etc.).

Widget

A widget is a stand-alone application that can be embedded into third party sites by any user on a page where they have rights of authorship (e.g. a webpage, blog, or profile on a social media site). Widgets allow users to turn personal content into dynamic web apps that can be shared on websites where the code can be installed. For example, a "Weather Report Widget" could report today's weather by accessing data from the Weather Channel, it could even be sponsored by the Weather Channel. Should you want to put that widget on your own Facebook profile, you could do this by copying and pasting the embed code into your profile on Facebook.

Embeddable chunks of code have existed since the early development of the World Wide Web. Web developers have long sought and used third party code chunks in their pages. Early web widgets provided functions such as link counters and advertising banner

Web banner

A web banner or banner ad is a form of advertising on the World Wide Web delivered by an ad server. This form of online advertising entails embedding an advertisement into a web page. It is intended to attract traffic to a website by linking to the website of the advertiser...

s.

Widgets may be looked upon as downloadable applications which look and act like traditional apps but are implemented using web technologies including JavaScript

JavaScript

JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....

, Flash, HTML

HTML

HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....

 and CSS

CSS

-Computing:*Cascading Style Sheets, a language used to describe the style of document presentations in web development*Central Structure Store in the PHIGS 3D API*Closed source software, software that is not distributed with source code...

. Widgets use and depend on web APIs exposed either by the browser or by a widget engine such as Akamai

Akamai

Akamai may refer to:* Akamai Technologies, a company that develops software for web content and application delivery** Akamai Foundation, a sponsor of the American Mathematics Competitions, founded by Akamai Technologies...

, Clearspring

Clearspring

Clearspring Technologies is a web technology company based in McLean, Virginia, USA. Clearspring's AddThis sharing platform reaches 1.2B unique visitors monthly and is used by over 10MM web publishers to virally distribute and track content across blogs, social networks and other web sites...

, KickApps

KickApps

KickApps is a hosted platform for creating social networks and adding social software features, video players and widgets to websites. More than 100,000 sites use KickApps, including major media companies KickApps is a hosted platform for creating social networks and adding social software...

, MassPublisher, NewsGator, Plusmo, Widgetbox

Widgetbox

Widgetbox is a San Francisco, California based company that enables businesses to create and deliver applications to their customers.Widgetbox products include:Widgetbox Mobile: build and distribute mobile web applications for iPhone and Android....

, Widsets

WidSets

WidSets is a mobile runtime technology, and a mobile service powered by the said technology, based on the Java MIDP 2.0 platform, from the Finnish mobile company Nokia...

, WebWag and many others.

Sites such as MassPublisher, SnackTools and Widgetbox

Widgetbox

Widgetbox is a San Francisco, California based company that enables businesses to create and deliver applications to their customers.Widgetbox products include:Widgetbox Mobile: build and distribute mobile web applications for iPhone and Android....

, allow users to easily create widgets from their own content with no coding knowledge necessary.

Major widget types

Widgets come in many shapes and sizes, but two of the major types today are Web widgets and Desktop widgets. Web widgets are intended for use on (embedding in) webpages and have major implications in areas such as site performance, SEO and even backlink campaigns. Desktop widgets are embedded on local computers, and do not impact SEO or webpage performance.

As an example, Widgetbox

Widgetbox

Widgetbox is a San Francisco, California based company that enables businesses to create and deliver applications to their customers.Widgetbox products include:Widgetbox Mobile: build and distribute mobile web applications for iPhone and Android....

 generate Web widgets that can be used on almost any website. Apple Desktop widgets can only be added to the desktop of your local (Apple) computer.

A more recent use of Widgets is for payments, some of which can be used to accept payments for content or services on a website. For example, using JunglePay to set up and enable micro-payments for specific content on a blog or social site. Allowing web masters and site owners with little or no knowledge of programming to enable payment acceptance for their website.

Usage in social media

End users primarily use widgets to enhance their personal web experiences, or the web experiences of visitors to their personal sites.

The use of widgets has proven increasingly popular, where users of social media are able to add stand-alone applications to blogs, profiles and community pages. Widgets add utility in the same way that an iPhone application does. The developers of these widgets are often offering them as a form of sponsored content, which can pay for the cost of the development when the widget's utility maps to the user's needs in a way where both parties gain. (e.g. a sports news brand might gain awareness and increased audience share in exchange for the utility of current game scores being instantly and dynamically available - the blog which posted the Sports score widget might gain in having a stickier site).

Element of control

One important factor with Widgets is that the host does not control the content. The content or the functionality it provides can not be modified by the host. The content is pre-published by the publisher/author/service provider and the host can either accept that content or not use the widget. The host does however control the placement of the Widget. Because the host can always take the Widget down, it assures a large degree of mutual advantage and satisfaction with performance and content.

Security considerations

As any program code, widgets can be used for malicious purposes. One example is the Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

 “Secret Crush” widget, reported in early 2008 by Fortinet

Fortinet

Fortinet is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and specializes in network security appliances. Fortinet’s flagship product line is sold under the brand name of FortiGate.-Corporate Overview:...

 as luring users to install Zango

Zango (company)

Zango, formerly ePIPO, 180solutions and Hotbar, was a software company that provided users access to its partners' videos, games, tools and utilities in exchange for viewing targeted advertising placed on their computers. Zango software is listed as adware by Symantec...

 adware

Adware

Adware, or advertising-supported software, is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertisements to a computer. These advertisements can be in the form of a pop-up. They may also be in the user interface of the software or on a screen presented to the user during...

.

SEO Considerations

One major consideration in the use of web widgets is how they'll impact the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) of your site. Client-side widgets include pretty much anything rendered in JavaScript or Flash, and are by far the most common types of widgets you'll see today. The content of these widgets is not visible to search engines, and will therefore not be seen as part of the content of your site. Server-side widget content is visible to search engines, but these are slightly harder to embed. In both cases, search bots can see the embed code for the widget itself, so some of the SEO concern can be alleviated this way—but SEO should be part of your consideration in the use of any widget on your site.

Widget management systems

Widget management systems offer a method of managing widgets that works on any web page, such as a blog or social networking home page. Many blog systems come with built in widget management systems as plug-ins. Users can obtain widgets and other widget management tools from various widget companies.

Mobile Web widget

A Mobile Web widget is a web widget that is made or designed for access on mobile device.

Standards

The W3C is creating a set of standards for web widgets and there are several proprietary standards.

Further reading

• Rajesh Lal; Developing Web Widget with HTML, CSS, JSON and AJAX (ISBN 9781450502283)

External links

• Check Point AppWiki - Characteristics and threats of Web 2.0 widgets