StickiWidgets

Widgetoko posted about the RSS Reader widget from SpringWidgets the other day. While they had good things to say about the widget, they did question why someone would use it.

Suck any RSS feed into this Flash based reader widget-y widget. Works well, looks good, easy to configure… but…why?

Don from SpringWidgets actually responded with…

This is really an OPML, Video, Podcast *and* RSS reader widget.

We built the widget to allow for those people who publish blogs, like this one, who wanted to concurrently publish that content into MySpace easily. But it’s so much more than that

Today, Sexy Widget happened to post about another RSS feed widget by MuseStorm. The write-up was not in response to Widgetoko but it does discuss how feed widgets can be used, among other things specific to MuseStorm and their widget. It also touches on tracking stats for the feed and widget. It is a good read if you have wondered about RSS feed widgets and their usefulness.

We prefer other methods for publishing and consuming feeds for ourselves. However, we do use the SpringWidgets RSS Reader widget on our MySpace and Stickam profiles. Other sites do not always provide a RSS feature that we would like to use. When that is the case, we will deploy the RSS widget to extend our reach to those sites and to users who may not be accustomed to RSS feed readers.

While the MuseStorm stats look impressive it is not free. We utilize the free service from Feedburner for all our feeds and through the feed widget. The free Feedburner stats are much simpler but does the job for our needs (they do have a paid service). In addition, SpringWidgets has partnered with Feedburner to provide more prominent branding for the feed source. Below is an example of our Feedburner RSS feed in the Spring Widgets RSS Reader widget.

Unfortunately, we have not really provided a solid answer to the original question. It really is up to each individual to determine whether RSS feed widgets are what they need. That’s the great thing about widgets, everyone has their own opinion and they can pick and choose which widgets they want to use.

For those of you who may have missed the 2007 NHL All-Star Game or if you just want to relive the moments. Here is the highlight clip from the NHL YouTube channel. This was a high scoring game with the Western Conference beating out the Eastern Conference, 12-9.

As for the full game, we are patiently watching the NHL on Google Video page to see if it will appear there. Unfortunately, we’re not exactly sure what’s going to happen to the NHL and Google deal. With news of the new Google and YouTube strategy, it is unclear if Google Video will move to more of a search engine status and drop video sharing or if they will continue the video sharing features to compliment those of YouTube. We can only wait and hope that they continue to provide full NHL games on Google Video.

In the meantime we still have NHL Plays of The Week on YouTube and full games at NHL on Google Video. So, enjoy it while it’s still there.

Sexy Widget has a great write up on the new Box.net File Sharing Widget. If you are looking for a good sharing service and widget, you should check out the review. The widget does a great job of implementing and delivering a great user experience, all without taking the user away from the page that they originally intended to view. Image and music files are supported in-widget with previews and audio streams in addition to downloads. Other file formats are set as downloadables. The overall interface is slick and user friendly.

From a development and business standpoint, Box.net hit all the key points. The user experience is second to none and the registration process couldn’t be any simpler. Again, they accomplish all this without navigating the user away from the page. This is one of the best widgets we’ve seen in a while.

If you are still interested in the widget and would like to see a working version, go to Sexy Widget for the complete review.