I’m looking for a few iGoogle users that are interested in helping me with beta testing my new, Maui Photo Calendar Gadget. This is the first Google Gadget that I’m looking to publish for public use, so I want to try and do as much due diligence in testing as I can. And alas, I can’t do it alone.
The good news is that it is a really simple gadget. All it really does is just determine the current date (one small gotcha in a minute), retrieves a daily photo and details from my Flickr account, and put it all together in a layout as you see here. Maybe it’s too simple and I’m only being paranoid about pushing that final “publish” button, but better safe than sorry I guess.
There is one custom setting, though, that might not seem necessary, but I wanted to point it out. There is a Timezone Offset setting that will trigger the gadget to know when “midnight” is and flip to the next day. I know I could use a little JavaScript to detect and retain the timezone information with a cookie, but I wanted to limit the moving parts involved, at least to start.
What To Do
If you would like to help, the first step is to accept my thanks. I appreciate it.
Next, you just need to add the gadget anywhere on your iGoogle homepage. Just copy this url to your clipboard and click on the Add Stuff link on the iGoogle tab you want to use. When you click Add Stuff, the following page will have an option in the bottom left of the page that says “Add feed or gadget”. That’s where the url from above goes, and you’re all set. You’ll get a message saying that the gadget wasn’t created by Google (obviously).
What Else
Just kick the tires and let me know what happens. Once you add it to your iGoogle homepage, it will show up anywhere you login. I have been trying it with a few different machines, displays, and browsers, so that’s really all you can do as well. I know you can use these gadgets in other locations, and while I haven’t gotten to trying that, feel free to do so if you’d like. It’s not required, though.
If you experience any issues, such as error messages, timeouts, size, cropping, alignment issues, etc., you can post them here as comments, use the contact form, or send me a note on Twitter. Also, if you like it, have suggestions, or anything else, all feedback is welcome.
Timeframe
I’m not looking for anything long term from a testing period, probably a week at most. I’m also using Google Analytics to track the usage of this gadget, so that will help me gauge how much traffic its seeing and where I want to go from there.
So, thanks again for reading and if you decide to give it a whirl (now or when it’s published), a big Mahalo.
