Dashboard Widgets

Presented: November 22, 2005

by Ali Steinbergs

Although this presentation is designed to refer specifically to Dashboard (which is a feature of OS 10.4), there are several points of general information as well. I hope you find it helpful!

What is an application?

A software program, designed to perform specific tasks, such as: word processing (Microsoft Word, TextEdit), handling e-mail (Mail, Outlook Express), etc.

What is an applet?

A small application, which does simple tasks.
Applets are also called “mini-applications”.

What is Dashboard?

A Graphical User Interface that presents information in a way that is very quick to access and easy to read. It comes with OS 10.4 “Tiger”.
The name “dashboard” refers to the fact that it can sometimes look like the dashboard of a car.

What is a widget?

A component of a Graphical User Interface (such as “Dashboard”, “Windows 98”, “Tiger”, etc.). Supposedly short for window gadget.

What is a Dashboard Widget?

An applet (“mini-application”) which can run on Dashboard.

There are basically TWO types of Dashboard Widgets:

(a) Widgets that DON’T access the Internet
(b) Widgets that DO access the Internet


Examples of each type:

(a) Widgets that DON’T access the Internet: Calculator, Unit Converter, Stickies, etc.
(b) Widgets that DO access the Internet: Dictionary, Weather, etc.

How to access Dashboard:

Method #1: Push the F12 key on your keyboard
Method #2: Click on the Dashboard icon in your dock

(Note: the first time you do this after booting up, it may take quite a while to load; be patient — all subsequent times will be a snap!)

How to get rid of Dashboard:

Method #1: Push the F12 key on your keyboard
Method #2: Click on any part of your desktop that doesn’t show a dashboard widget.

How to use a Dashboard Widget:

Depends on the widget!!!!!!! Sorry I can't provide more information, but you'll just have to learn how to use each one on your own. Remember, each is very limited, and very simple. Use "trial and error". You can't damage them.

Tiger comes with 12 widgets already installed:

Address Book
Calculator
Calendar
Dictionary
Flight Tracker
iTunes
Phone Book
Stocks
Tile Game
Translator
Unit Converter
Weather
World Clock

Getting rid of widgets

temporarily:

• position pointer over unwanted widget & hold down option key
• wait, and a circled X will appear in top left-hand corner
• click on X, and widget will vanish (but it’s still installed)
• release option key

semi-permanently:

• turn on Dashboard
• click on circled + in bottom left-hand corner
• a row of widgets will appear along bottom of screen
• to the right of the circled + “Manage Widgets” button appears
• click on “Manage Widgets” & wait
• Widget Manager appears
• scroll to unwanted widget
• click on check box (so that check mark disappears
• close Widget Manager

permanently:

• go to your Hard Drive & open it
• go to Library > Widgets
• delete unwanted widget

Getting more widgets

to see already installed widgets:

• turn on Dashboard
• click on circled + in bottom left-hand corner
• a row of widgets will appear along bottom of screen
• drag wanted widget up onto Dashboard area
• it will expand to its normal size; drag it anywhere you want

to install additional widgets:

• turn on Dashboard
• click on circled + in bottom left-hand corner
• a row of widgets will appear along bottom of screen
• to the right of the circled + “Manage Widgets” button appears
• click on “Manage Widgets” & wait
• Widget Manager appears
• click on “More Widgets” button
• Safari opens, and takes you to the Apple Dashboard Widgets Download site:

www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/

Scroll down the page until you see “Widget Browser” on the left-hand side. This lets you get information on over 1,000 different widgets (assigned to 24 different categories), most of which are free!

The 24 categories are:

Just Added
Top 50
Blogs & Forums
Business
Calculate & Convert
Developer
Email & Messaging
Food
Games
Information
International
Movies & TV
Music
Networking & Security
News
Radio & Podcasts
Reference
Search
Shopping
Sports
Status
Transportation
Travel
Webcams

Let’s have a look at a couple of widgets in each category:

Just Added:
 
TimeCalc (posted November 18th) A calculator for time values, expressed as hours, minutes, seconds, etc.
Area Code (posted November 17th) This widget allows you to easily find out what areas are covered by different area codes.

Top 50:

Ask Jeeves Keep an eye on current events and find an answer to your question on the web with this handy widget. Ask Jeeves Widget lets you choose on the back-side which headlines news you want in your Dashboard.
Word of the Day This widget will display the Word of the Day from dictionary.com; helps you expand your vocabulary.

Blogs & Forums:

First of all, what is a blog?

• a web-based publication; consists of articles, usually posted in reverse chronological order (i.e. newest on top)
• may be personal writings of one author, or production of a large number of contributors
• usually have a common theme or topic
• word derives from a blend of “web” and “log”.

WordPressDash Designed for the “WordPress” community; allows for blogging from the Dashboard.

Business:

To Do Tracker Helps you stay organized by putting a handy notepad right on your dashboard, designed especially for quickly making and sorting lists.
Currency Tracker Tracks currency exchange rates of your choice, updating itself daily.

Calculate & Convert:

BabelFish Lets you translate any web page to and from ten different languages.
Date Calculator Calculates date difference in days, months, years. Adds or subtracts days, weeks, months to or from a given date.

Developer:

Muskrat Color Type a hexadecimal color code (eg. #FF0000 is red) into the text box and have the background immediately change to that color.
Tags - HTML Searches HTML tags (i.e. the codes that tell an internet browser how to format a web page); can easily copy them to your clipboard for use in any application.

Email & Messaging: 

MailWidget Checks your email account every time Dashboard is activated — without having Apple Mail running all the time.
Widget Mail Sends short messages to anyone through your Dashboard.

Food:

Egg Timer Egg Timer provides vital egg-timing functionality to the modern Mac user with a computer in the kitchen.
All Recipes widget Conveniently searches All Recipes.com’s extensive recipe database in this Dashboard widget. The top 20 results are loaded directly into the widget.

Games:

Cube A puzzle game widget for use with the new Tiger Dashboard.
Minesweeper Enjoy a classic game of Minesweeper instantly available in your Dashboard. The interface emulates the timeless Windows minesweeper game.

Information:

Clear Sky Clock Evaluates sky conditions to see if they are suitable for astronomical viewing.
Flags of the World Displays the flags of the world. Click on the flag and it will send you to the web site to display the information about the country.

International:

Australian Stock Exchange Displays Australian Stock Exchange quotes on your Dashboard.
GoogleNation widget Allows a quick search of country-specific Googles or the whole web straight from Dashboard. (Includes support for Google searches in: Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Spain, France, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Slovenia, South Africa, Yugoslavia, Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom)

Movies & TV:

Galacticaa Get the scoop on the next episode of “Battlestar Galactica!” Get episode name, summary, photo and airdate for each new episode.
Late Show Top Ten List Displays “The Late Show with David Letterman” Top Ten List from its archive.


Music:

Music Recommendation Widget Monitors what you’re playing in iTunes and queries GenieLab.com for information about the artist, including: a picture of the artist (if available), similar artists, and whether or not the artist is in iTunes, MSN and Amazon.
Music Calculator Widget Calculates how long a piece of music will last, given the measure and tempo. Calculates the duration of any note length, given the tempo; Metronome; Concert A tuning fork

Networking & Security:

Dash Shredder Overwrites your files 7 times with different data and then zero the data on the drive, making it impossible to recover.
Domain Name Grabber Researches and registers internet domain names.

News:

CNN Widget Grabs the top stories off of CNN.com and displays the article titles. Click to read the whole article.
Hollywood Star Latest entertainment headlines Variety.com, The Hollywood Reporter, CNN Entertainment, People Magazine, BBC Entertainment, Yahoo! Entertainment or American Entertainment.

Radio & Podcasts:

First of all:

What is a podcast?

• word is a blend of Apple “iPod” and “broadcast”
• file “published” on the internet; is usually an audio file (such as a speech); can be downloaded and listened to on an iPod, or a computer


Classic FM Widget Links to the internet stream from Classic FM (UK); requires is Windows Media Player.
The Odeo Player Listen to your favorite podcasts.


Reference:

BibleSearch Look up verses in the Bible by their reference (eg. Hebrews 12:1-4).
Elements Widget An up-to-date and cool periodic table of elements widget. You get general information (such as symbol, name, atomic number, atomic weight and phase under standard conditions; IUPAC conformed) on each element just by clicking it.


Search:

Toy Search TikeToys.com interactive toy search widget. Search tons of toys right from your desktop.
stockphotofinder Searches millions of images in the databases of stock photography agencies and commercial photographers. It’s the fastest way to search, download previews and contact the image source for ultimate licensing.

Shopping:

Book Finder Search for books and book reviews.
Camera Search Search thousands of cameras and camera accessories. Find deals on all types of cameras.

Sports:

Golf Tips Receive tips from the leading golf professionals directly to your desktop. Golf Tips grabs the latest tips from Golf Online and the editors of “Golf Magazine.”
Liverpool FC News Read news headlines from multiple, configurable sources including icLiverpool, the BBC and Sky Sports.


Status:

miniBattery Easily monitor your battery status — current power, charging or AC status and cycle counts of your battery.
miniFreeRAM Monitor your free RAM size.


Transportation:

Google Maps Widget Provides a simple interface for viewing maps and satellite photos of locations in the US, UK and Canada. SeattleTraffic Cycles through the Washington State DOT’s four traffic condition maps.

Travel:

Travel Widget Book air travel and hotels right from this widget. Save on both air fare and hotels in one convenient widget.
Hotel Search Widget Easy way to search for hotels worldwide. Great for frequent travelers who need to find a hotel fast, the travel planner or just daydreaming about your next trip.


Webcams:

Kennedy Space Center Video Feeds Check out the action at Kennedy Space Center, including KSC weather, NASA TV, Shuttle launch complex 39B, and other locations. Includes the ability to scroll through all 15 channels, or view your favorite.
Mt. St. Helens VolcanoCam Widget Pulls the latest image from the webcam at Johnston Ridge Observatory looking into the crater of Mt. St. Helens. The image refreshes approximately every 5 minutes.

Notes:

• some of these widgets won’t run on older/slower computers. You can download and install them, but they just won’t work. Eg I couldn’t get Widget Television VF1 to work on my iMac G3.
• they are very US-centered. Some only work for the U.S.A. (Phone Book).
• widget may have a small italic “I” in the bottom right-hand corner. If you click on it, it will provide additional information about that widget, and may provide some options for customizing it