Widget Question

[Kenshin17]

Anybody here knowledgeable about OS X widgets? I want to make one and I am not sure how to begin...or even if it can be done.

I want to create a widget that will check my PMs on a website and allow me to view and create PMs without the need to actually go to the site in Fireox or Safari.

Anybody know how to do that?

[Mithrandir]

This is certainly possible. In fact, if you know javascript, it's fairly easy. Here's an article from ADC on how to write widgets:

http://developer.apple.com/macosx/dashboard.html

If you can wait until October, it's rumored that there'll be something called "dashcode"

http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/developer/dashcode.html

THAT looks promising; it's pretty easy to use. Not that I would have seen it already, or anything.

[Kenshin17]

Hm...I saw that whilst I was drooling over the beauty of Leopard....and grinning over how it will make Vista look....well dull.

Hm...maybe I will just wait.

Edit: I prolly couldn't write one line of javascript code XD

[Mithrandir]

Hmm... If you can't write javascript, you might have a tough time writing any widgets. It's not that difficult, if you are willing to start with someone else's code, you might be able to get something running.

BTW: Most online forums clear your "get new" function if you check your PMs, so you might run into a process problem as well. Just throwing that out there.

[Kenshin17]

So would I have to do research to figure out how to let the widget get my PMs? Where would I even start?

[Mithrandir]

You would probaly need to engineer a way for it to:
1. Login to the system.
2. Navigate to the PMs page.
3. Strip out all the text you don't want.
4. Prints what you DO want.

Of course, I think Leopard has a neat little "drag and drop" thing to pull out only what you want from a website and store it as a widget. Check the keynote from last monday for more information.

[Kenshin17]

I see....but what about the interface.

And you mean go to the page and bring up the code?