How to Make a Widget for Squidoo

The first thing you will need to do is sign up with ClearSpring. This is currently the only service that lets you build widgets and add them directly to Squidoo. Luckily, you can use ClearSpring to wrap up any widget from any website.

Once you've joined ClearSpring, you will want to dive straight into Add A Widget. Then select the 'In My Widget' option:

Here you can select the Widget Type, which should almost always be Flash. The Web Page and Javascript types cannot be used on Squidoo.

For the Flash widget, you'll need to know it's full URL. You can easily find this by looking the <object> or <embed> code for a widget. The URL usually ends with the extension .swf, and you would then paste it into this form.

Stick with the default version of ActionScript (AS3), unless you have problems. Pick an appropriate name and category for your widget.

Then, click on the 'Save Widget' button.

Once you've created (wrapped) a widget, there are various properties that you can tweak. You will be given the opportunity to edit these as soon as you've saved the widget.

Menu
This allows you to configure the 'get & share' button that appears underneath the widget. You can choose a color scheme (Arctic looks good on lenses) as well as change it's size and certain effects. The Services option allows you to control which sites appear in the list when people want to get the code. I usually remove all the bookmarking sites, and maybe some of the lesser known ones, so that Squidoo appears higher up the list.

Parameters
If you want to make a widget that anyone can use, the adding user-editable parameters will allow them to configure it before they add it to their lens. More on how to do this will be explained later.

Size & Appearance
The size of your widget will largely depend on it's natural size, but they should not be wider than 590 pixels (the width of a lens). If you want users to be able to resize the widget, then make sure you set appropriate min and max for the width and height. Most widgets will need to have a fixed aspect ratio too.

About Info
This lets you add information to the widget page.

HTML Wrapper
Here you can add additional text or links above and below your widget.

Having successfully wrapped your widget, you'll be wanting to add it to a lens or two.

Go to the 'Publish Widget' section on the menu, and find the 'Widget Homepage'. Here you'll see a preview of your widget, with the 'get & share' box next to or underneath it. You should find Squidoo under the list of 'all' services. If you've made a configurable widget, then click on the 'options' tab first to enter your data.

When you click on Squidoo, you'll be asked which lens you want it on. Here you can also enter a title, subtitle and description.