The AboutUs Blog Widget

After much work and deliberation, we’re proud to announce the first incarnation of the AboutUs Blog Widget. What exactly is this widget we speak of? The AboutUs Blog Widget embeds key information about any website in your post. A snippet of JavaScript, it adds a 63-character summary of the website, tags describing the site – called topics – and links to both their website and wiki page.

Whatever your blogging forte, the widget is a way for you to serve your readers better by providing an unobtrusive introduction to websites you’ve mentioned. The best part is, if you or your readers have ideas for improving this info, editing the AboutUs page updates the widget automatically.

The widget would not have been possible without Rick Turoczy of Silicon Florist and ReadWriteWeb. We’re indebted to him for teaching us just what a serious blogger needs. If you’re a Silicon Florist reader, you might’ve noticed Rick testing out the widget in his posts since mid-February. Thanks again Rick!

How’s it work?

Using the widget is extremely easy, and you choose exactly when and where the widget appears.

1. Visit the AboutUs page for a website (at aboutus.org/domainname.com).
2. Copy the source code from the box right-hand sidebar of the page.
3. Paste it in to the HTML of your post.

Yep, that’s all there is to it. Once you save your post the widget will appear just like the pair below.

Update

Be sure to read Rick’s post for a complete (and highly entertaining) recounting of the story behind the widget.

Tagged as: blog, blogging, widget