Follow Widgetbox on Facebook & Twitter

Whether you're an avid Widgetbox developer or merely an onlooker, follow us on Twitter and Facebook to: - stay abreast of the latest news and features - get access to the hottest widgets and trends - interact with other Widgetbox users and fans

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Facebook Feed Widgets: How To Build Facebook Widgets

Exciting news: you can now create Blidgets and Blidget Pros from your Facebook Feed. Add you Twitter activity, blog or RSS feed, and other useful content from across the web and you have the ultimate social media / marketing widget! Here's how:

1. Install Chia's Newsfeed RSS App

To get started, you need to allow the new Newsfeed RSS Application on Facebook and grant it access. The application will access your Facebook feed and convert it into an RSS feed. Note: this all occurs on Facebook.com and you will need to login before accessing the application and granting access You can read more about Newsfeed RSS on ReadWriteWeb.

2. Grab the RSS Feed and Create Your Blidget Pro!

Once you have granted Newsfeed RSS access, you will be provided a link to your feed. You can now enter that directly into the Widgetbox Blidget Pro editor (enter directly from our homepage). You will now have the regular options to: - customize the Blidget Pro's appearance - customize the feed's layout (supposedly images are coming soon!) - add multiple tabs to the widget (such as Twitter, blog feeds, etc) Here is an example using: - my Facebook Badge as my Blidget's header - three tabs: my Facebook feed, my Twitter feed and my blog feed

Learn more about the Blidget Pro and read other Tutorials

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Making Widgets for Bloggers who Twitter

If you are both a blogger and Twitter user, you probably find that many of your conversations and readers / followers navigate between both properties.... and that's where Widgetbox's new Blidget Pro tool can play a role. Using the Blidget Pro and its new tab features, you can create a widget that ties your blog and Twitter content together... or you can go further and add FriendFeed, Flickr, etc. Here's how to get started:

Start a Blidget Pro

It doesn't matter if you start with the blog's feed or your Twitter feed (RSS feed is available at the bottom of your profile page). Note though that whichever feed you start with (blog or Twitter) will be the primary tab on your widget. As an example, let's use the Widgetbox blog with a full body background image and the slideshow mode:

Provide a Label

By adding a "Label", we will be setting the widget's first tab; and because we are using the blog's RSS feed, we will name it "Widgetbox Blog":

Add a Twitter Tab

1. Click the "Tabs" link to open the creator and then click "Add New Tab". 2. Select the RSS option and input your Twitter account's RSS Feed (found at the bottom of your profile page). 3. Provide a "Label" (such as Twitter Posts) 4. Select the Layout type (Twitter looks best as List or Bricks)

Customize the Widget & Go

I've chosen the "Brick View" layout and provided a default icon because Twitter feeds do not have images. The widget now has a tab that displays Widgetbox's latest blog posts and tab that display's the latest Twitter posts - all in one, easy-to-grab widget!

Learn more about the Blidget Pro and read other Tutorials

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Use Widget Tabs to Promote Multiple Websites, RSS Feeds

Have a presence on several websites? Have multiple RSS feeds that you'd like to merge into a single widget? Want to include your favorite blogs in one great widget? The Blidget Pro makes this easy by allowing the addition of tabs within a single widget.... yet another reason to Go Pro! Here's how:

Provide a Label and Select Add Tabs

In the second part ("Customize Blidget Content") of the Blidget Pro creator, you will notice two relevant elements: 1. Label Entering text here automatically adds a label for your widget's content - placing it directly above the widget's body. This label appears in a horizontal bar which will also house other tabs. When adding a label, be descriptive but short. In this case, I have used the label "New Posts". 2. Tabs Creator Click the "Tabs" link to open the creator. Then click "Add New Tab"!

Choose the Tab's Format

Four great options: 1. RSS Feed 2. YouTube Feed (with video play!) 3. Vimeo Feed (with video play too!) 4. Hulu Feed (also with video play!) For this example, let's use the RSS Feed as an example:

Customize the Tab & Add an RSS Feed

Three easy steps to get started: 1. Content / Source: input your feed's URL here 2. Tab Label: input the name of the tab and remember to keep it descriptive but short! 3. Layout: choose how the tab's content will appear - List, Slideshow or Bricks view

Tips & Tricks with Tabs

Tabs are a terrific way to add increased content, value and promotion to your widget. There are countless usages of tabs, but here is a great example of how bloggers and blog networks can use the tabs effectively. Gawker Media operates several popular blogs from Gawker to Gizmodo to Kotaku. By using tabs, we can create a single Gawker widget that highlights content from across Gawker's network of blogs. This is a powerful widget that can be displayed across Gawker's network to promote content from each of their blogs. And it's a terrific way for readers and fans to consume headlines from all the Gawker properties:

Learn more about the Blidget Pro and read other Tutorials

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Grab Widgetbox's New Twitter Badges

You can now stay connected with Widgetbox via Twitter (@Widgetbox). You can follow us to stay abreast of the latest Widgetbox news and announcements. We also turned Widgetbox's Twitter Feed into a widget (of course!). You can grab the wide version (300x300) or a sidebar version (170x300):

You can also grab the new Widgetbox Blog Widget - another great way to stay current with Widgetbox news and updates:

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