netvibes - (re)mix the web

As you might have noticed, the Ecosystem (Netvibes widget directory) has seen a major overhaul, certainly the biggest since it was created. Both front-end (what users see) and back-end (what administrators see) have been rewritten, and while there are still some quirks to iron out, we’re already very proud of it.

We already wrote about it on the Netvibes blog, but here we’ll be taking a closer look at what that update brings to developers…

New “My Widgets” tab

Get direct access to all your content on Ecosystem: widgets, feeds/podcasts, events, all in one place! See if they have been validated, how well they are rated, how many times they have been installed, if the preview picture is fine, etc., in one swift look, and one easy-to-remember URL: http://eco.netvibes.com/mine (you must be logged-in, obviously).

From there, you can directly have access to each item’s Edit page, or even choose to delete it if you think it no longer belongs there…

New author page

Continuing on the trend of the “My Widgets” tab, each user with items now has a public author-page, where users can see all the widgets you that author have submitted. You no longer need to indicate your other widgets in the description field of each widget!

This is important: in order for your public page to make a good impression of you, you should fill in your real name in your Netvibes profile (access it through the Netvibes options) - or else, your public page will only display the pre-@ part of your e-mail, which is probably not what you’d want to be directly associated with…

Be aware that only items validated by our staff do appear online…

Direct download for Dashboard and Opera

Remember the old days when you had to first install the UWA widget in Apple Dashboard or Opera, then add the URL to the standalone version of the widget, validate, and finally see the widget in action? Likewise, remember the old days when you had to view the widget in standalone mode so you could have access to the “Add to iGoogle” button?

Well, those are the old days, since now Ecosystem gives you, along with a link to add the UWA widget to your Netvibes page, a direct link to add it to your iGoogle page, and direct download links for Apple Dashboard and Opera! Those two links provide you with the widget inside a UWA container for each platform: just click and install!

New submit form

Now you can give one definition for each languages you apply for! If you write in both Spanish and English, build a definition for both locales and let the users know!

You can also choose a relevant category, to help your potential users find you faster!

Live preview

Users can now decide how cool your widget/feed is directly on the item’s page with the new live preview! They can see it in action, and even change its properties, before adding it their page.

Submit your SWF

Want to spread your nifty Flash application/game/animation but don’t know (or want) to code a UWA widget? Just submit the direct URL to the SWF file, and Ecosystem will provide the UWA container!

Please note that you will need to let us know about the desired width and height for this widget, so that it is displayed correctly with the UWA container. You will also be able to specify your SWF’s FlashVars right after submitting the file’s URL.

Rating and popularity

Users can now vote on how cool they think your widgets are, use a 5-star system, directly on each widget’s page.

The rating system uses a 5-stars classification, and votes simply require a click from the user. The vote directly updates the database thanks to Ajax, so that the user doesn’t have to leave your page.

Report form

You don’t need to check every items comments anymore: now users can directly contact you using a “report a problem” form on each page! Be aware that if your widget receives a lot of reports, it might simply be put offline by our moderators…

The form is accessible right before your item’s comments, so that user that feel the need to complain would use it rather than giving your item a bad impression by leaving a negative comment…

Tell us what you think!

Ecosystem is still being further improved as I write this: don’t hesitate to let us know about suggestions and gripes!

Tags: announcement, ecosystem, flash, portability, uwa

This entry was posted on Monday, October 1st, 2007 at 10:24 am and is filed under Articles, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.