iGoogle Gadgets @ Your Library

iGoogle Gadgets @ Your Library

Presenter:Ed Metz

Systems Librarian, [email protected]

913-758-3027

Intro – What is iGoogle

What is iGoogle? Personal information portal and virtual workspace iGoogle offers more than 25000 modules or “gadgets” to choose from.

Intro – What are Gadgets

What are these gadget things? A gadget is a mini

web application XML document

residing on any public webserver

At most basic level it is simply your HTML (and/or JavaScript, Flash) content nested inside an XML wrapper.

A gadget….

…and it’s underlying XMLdocument

Intro – Library Gadgets

What have some libraries done with gadgets? Hennepin County Library Catalog WorldCat Open Search Washington State Library CARL HIP, CARL DigLib, CARL RSS Feeds BYU Idaho Library Search

Intro – Library Gadgets

So how do you make one?

Step 1. Do your homework. Some essential reads: Google Gadget API Developer’s

Toolkit Getting started Writing your own gadgets Development Fundamentals Creating a user interface Publishing your gadget

So how do you make one?

Step 2. Login to or create your free Google account

Step 3. Find a gadget that has a similar aim to what you want to do.

Step 4 Open it in the Google Gadget Editor (GGE), study the source code and adapt it to your own needs.

Step 5 Edit, preview, save, test and publish your gadget in the Google Gadget Editor (GGE)

Google Gadget Editor (GGE)

Google Gadget Editor. (GGE) Use it for: Creating, editing, previewing, saving, publishing your gadget.

Edit/create your gadget

Open any gadget

Preview your gadget

Getting started – Log-in

•Log-in to your Google account.

•If you don’t already have your iGoogle page as your default display click on the iGoogle link here as shown.

Getting startedFind some source code

Now go to the content directory by selecting the Add stuff link

Getting started Find some source code

Now you can search or browse the Homepage (iGoogle) content directory

Getting started Find some source code

select View source

Opening a Gadget in the GGE

At the next page copy the url from the browser address bar


Now return to the GGE Select File – Open from

url


At next window paste the URL you copied for our XML document


This populates your GGE with the XML source code

Before you begin editing, select File –Save as - give the document a new name

Note: you MUST be logged into your Google account to take advantage of all the GGE features

Creating your gadgetDefining the document

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

<Module>

Creating your gadgetModule Settings <ModulePrefs>

<ModulePrefs attribute

attribute

attribute

attribute

height=“220” >

</ModulePrefs>

title : required. Title of the gadget. Displays in the

gadget title bar on iGoogle. title_url:

make my gadget title a hyperlink to your library or institution

directory_title : optional. Don’t really need this here since I don’t

have any user preferences. author : required. author_email : required.


author_affiliation (suggested) Who’s to blame? Your library or

college

author_location (suggested) author_link (suggested)

description - required. Provide 1-2 sentences that tell

something about your gadget.


screenshot (suggested) url address of image png, gif, jpeg width = 280 pixels

Thumbnail – (required) url address of image 120 x 60 pixels

Width – Required in GGE Normally the default is 320.

Height – optional Default is 200. Screenshot image Thumbnail image


Creating your gadgetContent <Content type=“html”>

<Content type="html"><![CDATA[

Place your content in this section. Can include HTML, JavaScript, Flash.

In the following example I’ve created a simple table <table> containing two rows <tr> with a total of four cells <td>. The html search form, related hyperlinks, some JavaScript and an image are nested inside their respective cells. </td>

<table style="WIDTH: 99%" borderColorDark="#333333" borderColorLight="#666666" border="2" FONT color="#2B1500"><center><b> Search the CARL Catalog </b></font></center><tbody>

Creating your gadgetContent : HIP Search Form <table>

The HIP Search Form<tr><td><form id="catalog_form" action="http://comarms.ipac.dynixasp.com/ipac20/ipac.jsp?profile=carlcgsc" method="get" target="_blank" reloadxsl="true#focus"><font color="#2B1500"><b> for</b></font><input name="term"><font color="#2B1500"><b> in</b></font><select name="index"> <option value=".GW" selected>Keyword anywhere</option> <option value=".TW">Title keyword</option> <option value=".AW">Author keyword</option> <option value=".SK">Fulltext items</option></select><input type="image" src="http://cgsc.leavenworth.army.mil/carl/images/b-go-red-full.jpg" value="Submit Query"></form></td>

Note: Option values come from the word_index table in Horizon

HIP url

Creating your gadgetContent : HIP Search <form>

Library Thing bookcovers widget

<td><script language="javascript" type="text/javascript"

src="http://www.librarything.com/jswidget.php?reporton=metzejr&show=random&header=&num=1&covers=small&text=none&onlycovers=1&tag=alltags&css=1&style=1&version=1"></script>

</td></tr>

Creating your gadget<Content> : Adding dynamic content

Library Thing Widget

Other links of interest.<tr><td><center><a

href="http://comarms.ipac.dynixasp.com/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=carlcgsc&menu=account" target="_blank"> <font size="3">

<b>My Account</b></a></center><center><a

href="http://cgsc.leavenworth.army.mil/carl/new_titles.asp" target="_blank">

<b>New Titles</b></a></center><center><a

href="http://cgsc.leavenworth.army.mil/CARL/c_ya.asp" target="_blank" >

<b>New Youth Titles</b></a></center></font></td>

Creating your gadget<Content> : Adding links

Add your logo and close the table

<td>

<center>

<img src="http://pages.google.com/edit/edmetz1/cgsc2.jpg/cgsc2-full.jpg">

</center>

</td>

</tr>

</tbody>

</table>

Creating your gadget<Content> : Add your branding

Now we close our

Content section </Content> and our XML wrapper </Module>

Creating your gadgetLet’s wrap it up

Testing, testing 1,2,3

Test your gadget in different browsers Firefox, Internet Explorer, (Safari, and

Opera). This can be easily done via the GGE. Open a

web browser of your choice, Select File – Publish – Add to a web page.

Creator page opens and gives you a preview.

Publishing your gadget

http://www.google.com/apis/gadgets/publish.html#Submitting

iGoogle Content Directory Syndication

Example: CARL Blog

Publishing to the Content Directory

On the GGE select File – Publish

At the next screen you’ll see this prompt. Click on the Publish to iGoogle Directory link.

Publish to the Content Directory

Make sure you’ve dotted your i’s and crossed your t’s,

read the fine print,

and then click the Send button.

Syndicate your gadget

On the GGE select File – Publish

At the next screen you’ll see this prompt. Click on the Add to a webpage link.


Customize your gadget

Click on the Get Code button


Now simply copy the code generated in the box below and paste it as appropriate into your website.

Syndicated gadget

Here’s how our gadget appears on our library’s blog.

Review

Do your background reading (Google Gadget Developer Toolkit)

Open a gadget in the GGE Edit, Preview, and Test in the GGE Publish to the Content Directory and/or

syndicate it for third party website(s). Publicize it (newsletters, brownbags, blog,

RSS)

iGoogle Gadgets @ Your Library

Questions?

Contact Info:Ed Metz

Systems Librarian, [email protected]

913-758-3027

Business

iGoogle Gadgets @ Your Library