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Blog widget standard width?

I am building a new widget that will be added by users to various blogging systems (blogger, WordPress, TypePad, MySpace, etc), most likely in the sidebar.

I am not sure what's the right way to go with regards to the widget width - should I design it to accomodate different widths, or is there a "standard widget width" I should assume?

Is there a minimal width that I can expect?

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Jmm,

 I have seen, reviewed and played with many widgets. One of my favorite options is the ability to edit the size. The important thing to remember is the widget should be able to function properly at a minimum width of 150px. But also look good and work properly at 350px width.

A perfect example of this type of widget comes from Grazr.com

 Other options you may want to consider for your widget:

1. Custom color choices (for site integration)

2. Branding (allow widget users to apply their logo to the widget) 

3. Feed back (not part of widget, but important for customer satisfaction.

Derek 


Posted 2 years ago ( permalink )
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Thanks Derek, this was very helpful.

Grazr is indeed an impressive example of making the best use of the limited width available on sidebars.

Re editing the size - do you mean that you would like the blogger to be able to specify the width? My guess is that bloggers just "expect it to work", and are not that interested in specifying the exact width. Don't you agree?

I didn't really get your point about branding though - for blogs, usually the entire blog page is "branded" with the blog author - while the widgets are usually branded with the widget-provider branding (logo etc). Do you have something else in mind?

Re feedback - are you suggesting the incorporation of "feedback about this widget" link into every widget? That's an interesting idea. Do you know of any examples of widgets that implemented this approach?


Posted 2 years ago ( permalink )
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Jmm, (this may be long)

 You are correct that Bloggers "expect it to work"

Yedda widgets resize to fit in the area they are placed in. This is a cool feature that I don't remember seeing anywhere else. However, I think that some users will want to be able to control this feature. Lets say TechCrunch wants to do an article featuring a Yedda widget. They may not want it to expand to fill the posting area. They want it to look like it would appear in a side bar.

Branding 

While deciding what to post i came up with the idea of creating a Grazr widget that pointed to a specific RSS feed. In this case it was The Blogging Times.com

I titled the post "The Blogging Times mashed widget

My bright idea was to add the code for this widget to the post I was contemplating writing. This way anyone that wanted The Blogging Times content on their blog could easily have it. (I just wanted to mash something other than potatoes)

Grazr.com saw this post and decided to take it one step further by adding the "The Blogging Times" logo to the widget.

This kinda gives the impression that TBT has a widget. (even though they don't)

This is what I meant by branding. 

Feedback 

I do not recall any widgets that have this feature.

We, as creators, are sometimes blinded by what we create. (does that make sense?)

Feedback isn't just for bug reporting. It's also for ideas. Widget users have great ideas for functions that widget creators didn't even consider. Get enough feedback about a certain feature...You see where this is going.

Enough of the longest answer in the world. If you made it this far...let me ask you a question...How many times did you yawn during this post?

Derek 


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Excellent points.

Width - You raised good points about the automatic resizing. Obviously it'd be good to have both options - automatically fit the container vs. specifying the width manually. What would you go for as the default behavior though - automatically or manually?

Branding - good point, I like it, it makes sense for many widgets indeed.

Feedback - I like it! 


Posted 2 years ago ( permalink )
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I would go with the automatic fit as the default. I would also make sure that the other options were easy to see and understand.

People want to easily understand concepts that are new to them. Once they taste success they will want to share that feeling. In this case, telling others about your widget and/or services. That will create success for you!

Derek 


Posted 2 years ago ( permalink )
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