What is "widget"?

**lemon_1800** · 05-02-09, 19:27

Friend, I have come across this word in many blogging websites and in some forums, but still I'm finding difficult to understand its meaning though I googled out for this word.
Can anyone explain to me this in a simple way?

**ssarkar** · 06-02-09, 07:38

What wikipedia says about widget is:

"In computing, the term has become frequently used to refer to objects on a computer screen the user interacts with:

Widget engine, a software system for running applets on the web, desktop or mobile phone
GUI widget, a component of a graphical user interface with which a user interacts
Widget toolkit, a software library containing a collection of GUI widgets that collaborate when used in the construction of applications
Web widget, a physically-inspired applet on the web"

But in real terms I think it is like some google gadgets which are frequently used on our website/blogs.

**lemon_1800** · 06-02-09, 15:40

Thanks a lot.
I can see on the right side of my dashboard words called "quick press widget" in my wordpress blog. Actually, it's just a dialogue box, may I know why they call it as a widget?

**Jenniferlinn** · 13-03-09, 14:02

A web widget is a portable chunk of code that can be installed and executed within any separate HTML-based web page by an end user without requiring additional compilation. They are derived from the idea of code reuse. Other terms used to describe web widgets include: gadget, badge, module, webjit, capsule, snippet, mini and flake. Web widgets usually but not always use DHTML, JavaScript, or Adobe Flash.

Widgets often take the form of on-screen tools (clocks, event countdowns, auction-tickers, stock market tickers, flight arrival information, daily weather etc).

**tom** · 13-03-09, 16:52

A visual element of a Web page, such as a button, entry field, or drop-down list. HATS applications transform host components into widgets.

**AJFarro** · 23-03-09, 19:53

A widget is also a term used to loosely describe some type of "thing" for illustrative purposes. For example, a sales tutorial might make reference to blue widgets selling better than red widgets.

So blog widgets are essentially "things" - little applications or appliances that perform some kind of task.