Development:ChemEd Content:Tools:Google Gadgets
From ChemEd Collaborative
Google provides many services to Internet users, the best known being search. Other Google services include GMail, Google Maps, Google Apps, and iGoogle. iGoogle provides an Internet page creation tool for users with the intent being that users will build their individual starting pages with quick access to the content that they desire. One of the ways iGoogle users can add content panels to their iGoogle page is by adding tabs and gadgets.
Getting Started with iGoogle
The Google home page has a link to iGoogle. The first time you visit you need to specify the items/services that you wish to display on your iGoogle page. Once you have set these preferences and clicked 'See your page' you gain access to your iGoolge page. You can now choose a different theme, move items around using drag-and-drop, and configure the panels on your page. You can also add Tabs, which function like additional pages, and Google Gadgets, additional panels, to your page.
Adding a Tab is accomplished by selecting the menu icon in your tab navigation panel on the left-side of the page. Choose 'Add a tab' to create additional pages with related services. The 'Add a tab' dialog provides you the option of automatically adding a tab with related Gadgets.
The 'Add stuff' link is used to add ChemEd Content services to your iGoogle page or tab. To add a ChemEd Content Gadget to your page, click the 'Add stuff' link. You are taken to a page with all the iGoogle Gadgets you can add to your page. Since ChemEd Content gadgets are still in development and have not yet been made available to the public, you need to choose the 'Add feed or gadget' link at the bottom left of the iGoogle Gadgets page. By clicking this link you can then provide a URL to the ChemEd Content Gadget. The URL you provide for each of the ChemEd Content gadgets are given in the table below.
| ChemEd Content Gadget | Gadget URL | Log In Required | View Content | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What's This? | http://www.chemeddl.org/tools/ggadgets/ChemEdContent_Video.xml | no | Random video from What's This? | available, development, production server |
| Molecules 360 | http://www.chemeddl.org/tools/ggadgets/ChemEdContent_Molecule.xml | no | Random molecule from Molecules 360 | available, development, production server |
| JCE article | http://www.chemeddl.org/tools/ggadgets/ChemEdContent_Article.xml | no | Random JCE article from October 2007 issue | available, development, production server |
| Browse | http://www.chemeddl.org/tools/ggadgets/ChemEdContent_Browse.xml | yes | not available | available, development, development server |
Some ChemEd Content Google Gadgets have user settings or preferences. Gadgets that have provision for user settings include an "Edit Settings" item in the drop-down menu at the right-hand side of the title bar of the gadget. For example, you can choose the issue of JCE from which a random article is chosen by changing the settings for the JCE article gadget.
Some ChemEd Content Google Gadgets may require you to log into ChemEd Content.
Using iGoogle in combination with ChemEd Content Google Gadgets provides ChemEd DL users with a way to provide customized combinations of content from ChemEd DL.
Known Issues
- Molecules 360 gadget: Viewing Options do not work on Safari 3 on Mac OS X due to cross-site scripting errors.
- What's This? gadget: Video playback is choppy on Firefox 3 on Mac OS X.
