Convert web widgets, videos, and flash games into sidebar gadgets

The sidebar gave quick and easy access to “gadgets” that users could have to display the weather, computer stats, or to increase productivity. But what good is the sidebar without a vast library of “gadgets?” Luckily, the folks over at Mesa Dynamics came out with Amnesty Generator, a tool that allows you to “easily convert millions of web widgets, games and videos – designed to live on home pages, blogs or MySpace – into gadgets for your Sidebar.”

You will be dealing with some code but do not let that scare you. The program was originally designed for people with no coding experience.

First, download the program over at the Amnesty Generator website.

The program is very easy to install. After installing, launch the program.

• Step 1: Pick a website to work with

The tool gives you a few websites to choose widgets, games, or movies from. If you cannot find anything of use at these sites, skip to Step 2.Please note that you are not limited to working with only these websites. If you want help with importing widgets from these websites, select one from the drop down menu, then go to Help > Amnesty Generator Help at the top. A pop-up will appear giving you simple instructions on how to add your widget.

• Step 2: Simply paste the code of your widget.

Now what if you want to add a game not or video not on those website?
No problem. Firstly, many video-library websites such as Youtube and Metacafe already have links that you can use to embed into your sidebar. But what if you want to create a gadget for a game such as this Amazingly Addictive Line Game that was on Digg a few days ago. Simply use this code as a basis:

<object width=”Input size in pixels” height=”Input size in pixels“><param name=”movie” value=”Insert URL here“></param><param name=”wmode” value=”transparent”></param><embed src=”Insert URL here“ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” wmode=”transparent” width=”Input size in pixels“ height=”Input size in pixels“></embed></object>

So if you wanted to insert the line game I was talking about, your code would look like:

<object width=”250” height=”250“><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.everybodypanic.org/linegame.swf“></param><param name=”wmode” value=”transparent”></param><embed src=”http://www.everybodypanic.org/linegame.swf” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash“ wmode=”transparent” width=”250“ height=”250“></embed></object>

You do not need to touch the width and height. I have just shown how to edit it so you can size the widgets to your pleasing.

You might be wondering why I am asking you to change the size of the gadget in the code rather than the spaces they have provided in Step 3. If you use the boxes for games, widgets, and videos that are not included in that drop-down list, the window size will decrease but it will cut parts of the game off. By editing the size in the code, you are scaling down the size of the game and the window.

• Step 3: Modify name and dimensions

This step is pretty straight forward. For the size boxes, just click within and the program will automatically display the width and height.

• Step 4: Select a widget image
  

You may want to find an image to represent the widget in your widget gallery.After those four steps, press Generate and enjoy your new widget!

Known Problems:
While playing with this program for a couple of minutes, I notice that games don’t work as well if you’ve resized them. If you drag a widget onto your sidebar and clicking within the game window does not seem to work, try this: Move the window outside of the sidebar and double-click within the window. Then move it back to the sidebar if you wish. This has only happened to me once or twice, and it may not happen to you.

Still need help? Check out our new forums where you can get an even faster and better response!

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 1st, 2007 at 7:40 pm and is filed under Desktop Customization, Tips and Tweaks, Windows Vista. 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.