Tuesday Thingers: Widgets
Blog Widgets. Do you use them? Do you have them on your blog? Do you know what I’m talking about?
A blog widget is that list of books “From my LibraryThing” and such, that you’ll sometimes see on someone’s sidebar. If you use it, do all of your books show up or do you have it set to only show certain books? Do you have a search widget, which would allow your blog readers to search your library? Have you ever made a photomosaic of your book covers? You can find widgets and photomosaic information on the “Tools” tab in LibraryThing.
I do have a widget, right over there in the sidebar. As I am fairly lazy, it is simply of all of the books in my library. I would really like to exclude the wishlist/mooched away books, but I haven’t bothered to actually do so yet, so no guarantees that I actually have posession of anything you see. Perhaps someday we will get ‘collections’ and then I can just use my ‘in library’ collection in my widget. A search widget would be interesting, but I’ve got enough junk in my sidebars as it is.
I haven’t downloaded any of the photomosaic tools (I should though, that would be fun), but I have used the ‘all covers’ page to create a pseudo-mosaic: the header on the first iteration of my blog. Unfortunately with the theme I have now, I can’t change my header so I can’t use it anymore, which is a shame, because I really liked it. Hmm, maybe I still have it in my media to share with you all:
I’m not really sure how it got shrunk down, but that’s okay. If I want to put another one up I’ll do a new one that actually uses covers of books I have reviewed instead of books I read before I started the blog.
Are you a widget-y person?
Stumble It!
November 25th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Have to admit I am pretty lazy, too. I have not made changes when books have left my library.
See my answer here.
November 25th, 2008 at 11:56 am
I have several widgets on my blog, including one I made for LT Early Reviewers, but I doubt anyone looks at them.
November 25th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I have a feeling I use my widgets more than anyone else!
Here’s my Thinger!
November 25th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
I used to be much more “widgety” when I first started blogging. I’ve gradually eliminated most of the widgets from my blog in the interest of simplicity and faster page loading. But I think the photomosaic widget might be fun to try someday when I’ve got a lot of time to try and figure it out.
November 25th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
That photomosaic header is really nice! I like your 3-column blog though, and it sounds like you can’t have a custom header on it …
I use the widget for ‘recently added’ books, which is my compromise (instead of random books)
my answer is here
November 25th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
I’m a lazy person about some things (dust tends to be a protective coating around here sometimes), but for some reason, I’m always Johnny-on-the-spot when it comes to removing books from my LT catalog that I’ve donated or sent out via Paperback Swap. Go figure!
November 25th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I’d exclude books that I don’t actually own in mine with collections, I think, but for now it’s just all random.
I like your old header, but I think having so much space on your blog page is nicer. Only so many things can fit in my small sidebar. =/
November 26th, 2008 at 7:06 am
I need a new header and a photomosaic would be nice…worth a thought!
November 26th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
I guess I’m not really a widget-y person.
I love the graphic you posted, Jen!
November 27th, 2008 at 1:48 am
ummm! leme see.. i have a currently reading widget .. and a random books from my library widget…
and on my challenges post … i have used LT to show the book covers of the books i intend to read for a particular challenge
i love LT.. and i love widgets
November 28th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
It seems like I ought to use more widgets! I’m not sure my template allows for the best use of them, but I do intend to incorporate more widgets into my blog.
I like how you have used widgets here; you’ve done a nice job with your blog. Are you using CSS?
November 30th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I like widgets, but I find that I am always changing mine or taking them down if I get new ones because I freak out about the way that they make my page look.
December 3rd, 2008 at 7:08 am
I love widgets…I used to have a widget bookshelf from Shelfari when I was on Blogger. When I moved from Blogger to Wordpress, I realized that Wordpress permissions don’t allow me to add Shelfari bookshelves. Hoping they will overcome this soon.