Quite often we get the request: "I want a widget". Although most people making that request have an good idea of what platform they want their widget deployed on, some don't. Here is a quick look at some of the common widget platforms options available, their pros and cons, and other important considerations:
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Flash-based Web Widgets: This remains the most common platform for widget development. Widgets built in Flash are generally designed to be embedded on social networks, blogs and other web pages (by simply cutting and pasting a snippet of HTML code). They can be distributed directly or using a Widget marketplace or distribution platform. About 80% of the actual widgets we build fall into this category.
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Other Web-based Widgets: There are a number of other web-based start pages, portals and communities that prospective clients are sometimes interested in developing widgets for. These include services like iGoogle, Windows Live.com, Pageflakes and Netvibes. Widgets built for specific web-based services are generally are generally not portable across services. We usually build widgets in a way that increases the likelihood reuse (since most services support some flavor of Javascript), additionally some services, like Netvibes, have "wrappers" that allow them to be used in other start-pages.
See more comprehensive lists... -
Desktop Widgets: Desktop widget platforms include Yahoo! Widgets, MacOS X Widgets, Microsoft Vista Gadgets and Google Desktop Gadgets. Widgets built for these platforms are designed to run on a user's desktop. As a result, they are generally are not spread virally or via "drive-by" marketing. Prospective clients evaluating or considering desktop widget platforms are usually driven by specific customer requests or applications. Most widgets built for a desktop platform require that the user first install a widget engine (Windows Vista and MacOS are exceptions), a process that can be time consuming and can pose a barrier to adoption.
See more comprehensive lists... -
Facebook Application: Although a a widget can be embedded in a Facebook (FB) application, a FB app is "technically" not a widget - its a lot more. When building "widgets" for the FB platform, most people are talking about developing a Flash-based widget and then build a FB application to "contain" it (the are some limitations). The alternative is to ditch the widget idea and simply build a full featured FB app that takes full advantage of the platform.
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Other Social Media Applications: This involves building applications or "porting" existing Flash-based widgets to platforms like OpenSocial (for MySpace, Hi5, Orkut and others) and Ning. Unless you have a compelling reason for doing this, you are probably better off with one of the other options.
See more comprehensive lists...
So What Widget Do I Need?
Hopefully you have already answered that question. The platform (or platforms) you select to develop and deploy your widget(s) on depends on the following:
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who your target customer is (consumer, customer, enterprise, prospects, i.e.)
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the purpose of the widget (marketing or utility)
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what your marketing or customer acquisition goals are (related to purpose)
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how you envision the widget being used and distributed (is it viral?, i.e.)
Clients interested in solving marketing, awareness and branding problems are usually interested in Web-based widgets (or social media applications) that are often seen, easily spread and hopefully come with a compelling reason for folks "driving-by" to spread them.
Clients interested in using widgets to deliver utility or functionality or extend an existing application, are probably most interested in Desktop widgets.
Clients that want marketing exposure on numerous widget marketplaces (WidgetBox, Netvibes, Yahoo! Widgets, i.e.) are probably going to want to build smaller (feature poor) widgets on a technology (Flash, i.e.) that works on multiple platforms.
Clients targeting "paying" or enterprise customers are probably looking at specific desktop widget platforms.
More Widget Platform Information
I hope this answers some of the questions people about widget platforms. I have also created a section (wiki.metablocks.com/widget-platforms) on the Metablocks Wiki dedicated to tracking relevant widget development platforms, feel free to check it out.