All the Widgets in the World

TypePad has recently partnered with Widgetbox and Snipperoo, making it easy to add widgets from either service by visiting the TypePad Widget Gallery. Widgets added in TypePad's Widget Gallery will not work on blogs using Advanced Templates or Mixed-Media Layouts.

If you're using Advanced Templates or Mixed-Media Layouts, you'll need to paste a bit of javascript from widget providers into a Notes style TypeList to run them in your sidebar. That's exactly what makes Snipperoo and Widgetbox so useful… once you've added their code to a TypeList, you can manage your widgets at their site and any changes you make will be instantly reflected on your blog.

In the past, I found that the easiest way to organize TypeList items was to paste everything into a single entry of a Notes style TypeList and edit the code in an external HTML or text editor. By separating each item with paragraph tags it was reasonably easy to add, subtract, edit or re-order items to my heart's content. Using Widgetbox or Snipperoo allows the same flexibility with the addition of live previews and a nice drag and drop interface instead of cutting and pasting code. Basically, they're like TypeLists on steroids. In addition to making it easier to manage your widgets, Widgetbox and Snipperoo both include large directories of widgets. By collecting so many widgets into one place, they make it easier to find what you're looking for.

Of the two, Widgetbox is easier to get started with. There are good clear instructions on the site, and all the widgets can be added to your Widgetbox panels from within the site itself. For some widgets, you may need to have an account with the widget provider, but once you have that set up, you can do everything from within Widgetbox.

Snipperoo is easy to use, but not quite as easy to figure out as Widgetbox. Initially, I found the interface a bit frustrating… the Module and Panel distinction seemed confusing and the instructions a bit vague. Fortunately, Ivan Pope has posted a video Getting Started With Snipperoo which walks you through the process of setting up and using the service. This and other good info can be found at the Snipperoo Updater Blog.

Snipperoo allows you to add widgets from anywhere and includes somewhere in the vicinity of 3000 widgets in the directory. In some cases, you can add widgets without having to leave Sniperoo's site, but most of the time you'll go to another site, get a snip of javascript, come back and add it to your panel. For instance, all the Google Gadgets can be added to a Snipperoo panel, as can widgets from LabPixies, WyaCracker or individual widgets such as Haystack's new social networking widget for businesses and associations.

Both Snipperoo and Widgetbox are pretty darn cool. I kind of prefer Snipperoo myself, now that I've figured out how to use it. Because you have to visit other sites to add widgets, it's a little more work to set up. On the other hand, the fact that you can add widgets from anywhere makes Snipperoo a lot more versatile and useful. It also seems to load widgets more quickly on my blog.

Technorati Tags: blog, blogging, blogtools, google gadgets, typepad, snipperoo, web2.0, widget, widgetbox