Widgets & Gadgets

I started by reading the article Gadgets vs Widgets and while I didn't understand a lot of the jargon, the points I picked up were that Yahoo widgets came about when Yahoo acquired the paid software start up package called Konfabulator and renamed it Widgets. Google gadgets are a more recent addition. In comparing the two Google gadgets are more minimalist looking, while Widgets are more visually appealing. Both have to be installed but with Google you have to install each time you download a new gadget. For this reason Widgets are more accessible. Both use a lot of memory so are not so good on laptops.


The University of Auckland site had a number of symbols displayed on the front screen e.g. if you clicked on the facebook symbol then you could add the library search widget. I added it to my blog page.

In Library Thing you had to make your own widget which was fairly straightforward and just a matter of selecting options from drop down boxes. On my blog page I clicked on Add a gadget and pasted the HTML code into the HTML/Java screen. The widget appeared on my sidebar!