Q: What is a widget, you ask?
A: Whether you call it a widget, gadget, badge, module, capsule, snippet, mini or flake; a widget is a small web or desktop application that brings information to you, so you dont have to look for the information yourself. Some widgets are helpful like clocks, calculators or calendars. Some widgets let you write desktop notes and see weather forecasts. REALLY GREAT widgets do even more incredible stuff, like let you feed Dilbert in color straight to your Facebook or MySpace pages, your blog, your personal web page or even your desktop.
Widgets are designed to be shared. You can send your favorite widgets to friends and co-workers, and anyone who sees a widget on your personal pages can download it for themselves. So just click the "Grab it" button, decide where you want to put your widget, and then pass it along. Even the Pointy-Haired Boss will smile when he gets that email.
Q:
How do I embed the widget into my webpage?
A: If you know html or can add html code directly to your webpage through a content management system, then you can use the embed code of the widget size you would like to add to your webpage.
- Click "Click Here for Today's Strip" on the widget size of your choice, then click on the "Grab It" button in the upper right corner
- Click on the embed button and the embed code will appear in the next screen
- Click the "Copy" button and the code is then copied onto your clipboard
- Paste your embed code anywhere in the html of the page you want to add the widget to
Q: How do I add a widget to my Wordpress® blog sidebar?
A: To add your Dilbert widget to a Wordpress blog, you have to first copy the embed code that you will need to place in the Wordpress Theme Editor via the admin area of the blog. We suggest using the 160x300 size widget since it fits most themes best.
- Follow instructions 1-3 above (How do I embed the widget into my webpage?)
- Login (with admin rights) to your Wordpress account
- Select the "Presentation" tab
- Select the "Theme Editor" sub-tab
- Select the theme file you want to edit from the list
- Paste the widget code in the desired location within the template sidebar.php file (you may want to back up your template file before making changes)
Here's an example:
Q: How do I email this to a friend?
A:
- Click "Click Here for Today's Strip" on the widget size of your choice, then click on the "Grab It" button in the upper right corner.
- Click on the email button and follow the prompts
Q: Why do I have to click on the widget to enable it before I can use it
A: That, my cubicle loving friend, is an IE7/Flash issue. IE7 does not - by default- allow an immediate enabling of Flash on a webpage without a bit of JavaScript to coax it into running right away. While adding that extra code is not hard to do so here on http://widget.dilbert.com, it's impossible to do on every other blog, start page, etc. since we dont have control over the code on those pages.
The good news is that in April 2008, as a result of recent technology licenses acquired by Microsoft, the "click to activate" restrictions will no longer be mandatory and Microsoft will remove that behavior from Internet Explorer.
Q: Why can't I get my awesomely cool Dilbert widget to work on my Vista sidebar?
A: Sadly, if it isnt working this probably means you have Vista 64 bit, which does not support Flash. Since the widget is Flash, that means you won't be able to load it into the sidebar. It would be really cool if you could, though.
Q: Do I need to download Yahoo! Widgets (Konfabulator) to get my Dilbert widget OR What is the difference between a web widget and a desktop widget?
A: If you run a web widget, you do not need to download Yahoo! Widgets.
There are two categories of widgets: web widgets and desktop widgets. Web widgets live on a web page and are also known as "modules", "badges", "gadgets" and a host of other fun names.
You might put a web widget on your personalized start page to see Dilbert each time you open your browser or put the Dilbert widget on your blog to entertain your readers. You can even decorate your social networking profile with the daily office antics of Dilbert, Dogbert, Wally and the Pointy-Haired Boss with a web widget.
A web widget requires you to be on a certain website to use the widget while a desktop widget can always be displayed on your computer regardless of what web page you are viewing.
Desktop widgets are best for those things that will be commonly used like a weather widget, a widget that shows local news and your daily Dilbert comic strip widget. A desktop widget, however needs a desktop application to serve up the widget, and that would be something like Yahoo! Widgets (Konfabulator).
Q: How do I get Yahoo! Widgets (Konfabulator) so I can add my Dilbert widget to my desktop?
A:
- Go to http://widgets.yahoo.com/download/
- Click the "Get Started Now" button at the right of the page
- Follow the instructions to download and install the application
- Enjoy Dilbert directly on your desktop each and every time you start your computer
Q: How about us non-Leopard MAC users?
A: We would love for this to work on other MAC OS', but it won't.
Q: Why does facebook ask me to invite my friends?
A: Facebook is a friendly place. It just wants you to share the joy of Dilbert to all your friends and co-workers. We have no control over their "share" feature but think you would be wise to use it.
Q: When will you guys get us that terrific full size Dilbert strip widget we have heard about?
A: It's coming very soon, so bookmark the site and come back often. Just make sure the Pointy-Haired Boss doesn't catch you!
Q: How do I fix the screen 'repaint' issue?
A: We are looking into this now. If you are having this problem, please email us at service@dilbert.com with as much detail (incl. screeenshots, browser version, etc.) as possible.