Wiki-Wiki+Bling-Bling

toc =Wikispaces Widgets=

**How you know you need widgets**
//(From the original wikispaces blog post at: [])//

Maybe you found a really great wiki through one of your colleagues, or from Twitter, or right here on this page. And while you were admiring that wiki, something caught your eye. Perhaps it was a list of visitors, showing their location on a rotating globe, or a [|Facebook “like” button]. Or possibly you saw an embedded presentation that let you flip through slides without downloading anything or opening any new windows. These were all widgets. They didn’t take any coding or programming or special skills. And they’re out there, on the Web, ready for you to use.
 * How you find the widgets you need**

There are literally thousands of widgets out there that do everything from helping you lose weight to letting you play Space Invaders, so finding the right one can be a bit overwhelming. Here a few simple steps to get you started.
 * 1) **Keep your eyes open**. Now that you know what you’re looking for, you can recognize all those cool widgets on wikis, Web sites, and blogs for what they are. A lot of the time, those cools widgets will be branded with the widget’s name (or even a link to the source), so you can easily look them up and add them to your own wikis.
 * 2) **Hunt for Embed codes**. Most of the Web 2.0 tools you already use and love can probably be embedded in your wiki. Take a close look at your settings, preferences, and options. Is there something that says, “Share,” or “Embed,” or “Post to your blog”? If so, there’s a good chance that same code will let you add it to your wiki.
 * 3) **Search**. Googling “wiki widgets” won’t do you much good — there are simply too many out there. But once you know what you want, you can narrow it down. Try “bookshelf widget,” for example. Or “embed slideshow.” (Just a note: There’s a lot of great stuff out there, but some widgets and widget sites may contain inappropriate content. So search safely.)
 * 4) **Ask**. Every really great wiki gets that way because someone puts a lot of effort and care into it. These people are experts, and they are often excited to talk about the work they’ve done. They may be happy to help, or they may be too busy. But it seldom hurts to ask — and to let them know that all their hard work is appreciated.
 * And now — the good stuff**

We wish we could take you straight to exactly the right widget: that one perfect tool that will be the cherry on top of your wiki. But there are just too many projects and too many widgets. And there are new ones every day! Here are just a few to get you started. We know the Wikispaces community already uses (and loves) these guys: That’s just a teaser, really. You can find a much, much bigger list at [|cooltoolsforschools]. = = //(End of Wikispaces blog post)//
 * **[|Glogster]** interactive online posters
 * **[|Voki]** talking avatars
 * **[|Prezi]** dynamic presentations
 * **[|Slideshare]** presentations, documents, and videos
 * **[|Feedjit]** live feeds of the traffic to your wiki
 * **[|ClustrMaps]** and **[|RevolverMaps]** real-time global maps of visitors to your wiki
 * **[|Storybird]** sharable, illustrated storybooks
 * **[|Wordle]** word clouds

=**Bling for Wikis**=

Bling for Wikis Cool Things To Embed into your Wiki: A growing resource page [|Cooltext] This site allows you to make a cool text heading for your page. Save it as a jpg onto your computer and then upload the picture into your wiki

[|Clustr Map] This site will produce a small world map that will automatically log a dot everytime a visitor from a new location views your wiki. Register, confirm your registration in an email and grab the HTML code. Add to the wiki by pasting the code into the box given when the TV button is pressed.

=Cool Things To Embed into your Wiki:=

Upload Photostory, MovieMaker, imovie etc projects to Teacher Tube and embed in the wiki:
 * TeacherTube –** **[|www.teachertube.com/index.php]**

Talking widgets and tools to enable oral communication:
 * Meebo –** **[|www.meebo.com]**
 * Voki -** **[|www.voki.com/mywebsite.php]**
 * Odeo -** **[]** •
 * YackPack -** **[]**

Make a photo come to life using:
 * VoiceThread -** **[]**

Make a photo slideshow:
 * Bubbleshare –** **[|www.bubbleshare.com]**

Embed Powerpoint presentations by uploading to:
 * Slideshare –** **[|www.slideshare.net]**

Make comics online and embed:
 * Toondoo –** **[|www.toondoo.com]**


 * WebsitePolls -** **[]**