Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
What are gadgets? Gadgets are small web applications that can
be added to web pages. Gadgets are XML files that typically wrap HTML and JavaScript.
Click Edit page ? Insert ? More gadgets to view and search thousands of existing gadgets
in the Google Sites gadget directory. Creating & hosting your gadget
Most users find the Google Gadgets Editor (GGE) and Google Drive more convenient than
other Google-based hosting options such asGoogle Code and Google App Engine.
Google Gadgets Editor An easy-to-use gadget development and hosting
tool • Log in to your Google Account and go to
the Google Gadgets Editor. When you first access the GGE, it is preloaded
with the gadget template code. Leave all the code as is except for lines 3 and 6:
• Replace the gadget title on line 3 with the one that you want, e.g. My Gadget.
• Replace the gadget content on line 6 with your code.
• Click the File menu ? Save As ? enter a new file name, e.g. my-gadget.xml ? click
OK. • Right-click on the gadget file name, which
is at the top-right corner of the GGE, and copy its URL. Sample:http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/101482545238659763913/my-gadget.xml
Google Drive Store your gadget and all its required files,
share and collaborate, manage file revisions, and benefit from other features of Google
Drive. • Download the gadget template.
• Open it with a plain text editor, e.g. Notepad.
• Follow similar steps as above to customize the gadget title, content, and file name.
Note: Alternatively you can create, open and edit XML files in Google Drive with apps like
XML Editey. As per the instructions:
• Upload your gadget to a public folder in Drive.
• Copy the gadget hosting URL. Sample: https://googledrive.com/host/0B6VMphviYIQRaHpkVWVtRkdrdm8/my-gadget.xml
Note: Before making a gadget you might want to use Dynamic Content Writer to test and
customize your code and monitor changes in real time.
Adding your gadget • Go to the Google Site page where you would
like to embed the gadget. • Click Edit page ? Insert ? More gadgets
? Add gadget by URL ? paste the gadget URL ? Add.
• Customize the gadget Display ? OK ? Save. Note: By default, gadget specifications are
cached for about an hour, so if you update your gadget XML file, you may not see the
change on your Site page immediately. To bypass the cache while working on your gadget, add
the parameter ?nocache=1 to the page URL in the address bar of your browser: https://sites.google.com/site/site-name/page-title?nocache=1
Then go to the new URL and you will see the latest version of your gadget.
• Small Businesses. If you're a small company and need a 'brochure' site with the ability
to easily update and edit, then Google Sites is right for you. You can even create simple
PayPal shopping carts, add Google Maps, Twitter, Facebook and Google+ links as well as contact
forms, custom image sliders, FAQ's and more. It's easy and VERY inexpensive. Typically
a Google Site design for
a small business is 20-50% the cost of a WordPress implementation AND MORE IMPORTANTLY it has zero hosting fees.
Think about it. Say you pay $40/month for hosting. Now you add a few landing pages at
$20/month each. Soon, you're paying multiple thousands of dollars every few years. With
Google Sites, you can spend the money on driving traffic TO your website, not hosting it.
• Landing Pages, Squeeze Pages and Microsites. Google Sites excel at creating 1 to 2 page
websites. This is because they're really fast to setup, build and deploy. Plus, you can
use them to easily do minor e-commerce transactions as well as capture customer information. And
setting up domains and sub-domains just couldn't be easier.