[cmoneyspinner]

Widgets. You either like them or you don't. I like them.

Years back when I started working via the Internet, my first attempt was trying to build my own website. It was not as difficult as I imagined. But It wasn't easy either. My next attempt at online work was learning to set up a blog. This is when I discovered widgets. Many of the blogging platforms offer free widgets. They can enhance your blog or drive people away.

One of my friends has a widget that counts visitors and can indicate which country the visitor is from. Another friend said if they get to a site and they see a widget like that, they leave immediately. The user feels like the widget gives them an idea of where their traffic comes from. The visitor feels like it's an invasion of privacy.

My decision to use a widget is based on 3 main factors.

Factor 1: What is the cost?

Factor 2: Will it be useful or helpful or fun to the visitors?

Factor 3: Will it be useful or helpful or fun to me?

I have experimented with different widgets. Some make the site look "too busy". Some have value-add. Some seem to interfere and make the pages load slower.

What kind of widgets have I tried on my blogs?

Visitors by Country ( http://s01.flagcounter.com/more/dsmW/ )

Live Traffic Feed (http://feedjit.com/ )

RSS Feed Widget ( http://feed.mikle.com/ )

Feed Grabbr ( http://feedgrabbr.com/ )


If you have a blog or a website, you should experiment. Most widgets are:

1) Free;
2) Easy to install;
3) Work like they're supposed to; and
4) They're kinda fun!

Free Widgets and Gadgets for your Web Site or Page at http://100widgets.com/.
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[Sainfai]

Interesting, thanks for the direct links! I always see the visitors by country widget and I was thinking it was some sort of paid feature, but it's nice to see that it's indeed free.

[skysnap]

I love visitors by country widget. I don't use it anymore because I have google anlytics. But it was worth using at that time.

[peachpurple]

I find that widgets are helpful in wriring sites in order to make your blog more alive and full of expectations plus informations

[chaz]

I like that flag counter, it could be interesting to place it into my page.
A problem is something I obviously overlooked, I can't find how to paste codes into my page.
It doesn't have any HTML field.

[Angie10]

Thanks for sharing this article, cmoneyspinner...all very useful and something I'm really interested in. Can I just ask, out of the ones you've tried, which one(s) are your favourite? Are there any cons to them that we ought to be aware of? As I carry out research and look up reviews, it can get very confusing because even some of the most popular ones have their fair share of critics!

[thisnthat]

I don't think any of this kind of stuff is "one size fits all," which is why even some of the most popular items will still get bad reviews from some. Some things might work great for one person/site but not another. Some people are also extremely particular.

I would also avoid adding too many things, so it doesn't slow down your site.

[augusta]

I using bloggers and almost all the needed widget for the functionality of a blog is free.I experiment with them a lot and remove or add the ones that are very important.

[Rational Mind]

Are these widgets also available for wordpress. If the answer is yes, I might check the lin and have some of these widgets on my wordpress blog.

[cmoneyspinner]

Are these widgets also available for wordpress. If the answer is yes, I might check the lin and have some of these widgets on my wordpress blog.

The graphics come with an HTML code and if your site accepts the code you should have no problem. They also supply a other code for is you want to share them in forums or on Facebook or other social sites.