Creating Widgets

Widgets are created from code in the layout file and resources stored on the web server, online resources, or topics from the library.

Lets look at an example where the widget is used to display links to online help files.

Creating the Home Page Control

	The Default.layout file in the HomePageLayouts folder defines the "type" and "layout" for each widget displayed on the home page. This includes the text and image used in the title bar, as well as pointing to the source content used by the widget. In this example the source for the content is the FindOutHowTo.html file.
	The content displayed in the widget is stored in the FindOutHowTo.html file in the MyHomePage folder. The HTML code includes the text and images used in the content, as well as URL links to the online files.
	The widget build from the code and resources is displayed on the Author-it Live home page.

Note, the actions in step 2 will vary depending on the type of widget you are creating.

The layout file

The layout file defines the general settings for the widget, including the text and image used in the title bar.

FindOutHowToControl

When you update the layout file ensure the image name and location is added between the icon tags. Author-it Live looks for the image folder in the theme's subfolder, for example \Inetpub\wwwroot\AITLive\theme\default. The code also defines the file used for the widget's content, and its location on the web server.

FindOutHowToControl Layout

The widget's content file

In this example the widget content is a list of links to online help topics.

FindOutHowTo Widget

The content is created from the FindOutHowTo.html file stored in the MyHomePage folder (located at \Inetpub\wwwroot\AITLive\HomePageLayouts\MyHomePage). Images used in the content should be stored in the HPI folder, with a reference to the location included in the code.

Creating Widgets

The layout file

The widget's content file

See Also