Skip to main content

Alternative Research Blogging Widget(s)

Research Blogging BadgeRecently John sent me the code for a ResearchBlogging.org widget that he wanted added to his sidebar. While adding the widget I discovered that it was highly uncustomizable. That is to say, it is what it is, and if it doesn't fit the scheme of your blog (height, width, color, etc.), well, that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

Needless to say, I like my cookies soft and chewy (read: malleable).

One solution I hit upon was to piggyback on Research Blogging's twitter account (ResearchBlogs) and Twitter's profile widget builder (which enables you to customize, among other things, the widgets colors and dimensions). What's more, Research Blogging's twitter feed includes posts from their News blog.

Another minimalist solution was to run a Research Blogging feed (pick one) through a pipe where you can then use the badge option to add a somewhat customizable widget to your web page.

To compare, here's a page with all 3 options side-by-side.

If you have another solution, or need help implementing any of the above, feel free to leave a comment.
Labels:

Comments

  1. Dave MungerMarch 3, 2010 at 4:38 AM

    Yeah, the lack of color-customization is a drawback of our widget. On the plus side is that it is customizable by topic, via your ResearchBlogging.org account.

    BTW, I like the design and concept of the Field of Science blogs. Very well done!

    ReplyDelete
  2. EdwardMarch 4, 2010 at 12:08 PM

    Thanks Dave.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Science Habit

3+ years ago I left FieldofScience to fend while I (read: my wife) had babies. To my relief, FieldofScience managed just fine without me. There was some attrition, and a scatting of broken links, but otherwise I was not really needed. When I started FieldofScience back in 2008, I gave myself the title of Founding Editor . But looking at it now, that was mistaken. Turns out there is nothing here to edit ( duh! ). The better title for what I do is Founding guy who pays the annual domain registration . Of course I do tweak the templates, tidy up, and when I have time, make an effort to grow FieldofScience's ranks. But all of those things are second to what is my most important job--doing nothing. I have been slowly reengaging with FieldofScience over the last few months. Doing little things here and there, and letting plans for redesigns simmer in the back of my mind while I reacquaint myself with my tools and with the state of science blogging. One of the things I am st...
Post a Comment
Read more

ScienceBlogs Head Scratcher

ScienceBlogs newest addition did the strangest thing today. Eruptions migrated all his old posts from his beautiful WordPress blog over to his ScienceBlog Archives: I've finished migrating my archives of the ol' Wordpress Eruptions (since May 2008), so if you're looking for more information, try clicking "Archives" at the top of the page and wander through there. I will be updating the archives with category linked for each volcano, but that might take a while to retrofit. Enjoy! Curious what "migrating" meant, I went to Erik's old blog and my jaw dropped at what I found. Apparently migrate meant deleting all your posts on your original blog and republish them on the back pages of your new blog. But when you delete those posts from their original location you throw away all those hard earned links and not unsubstantial search engine mojo in the process. And for what, an archive that no one will ever read? Eruptions.wordpress.com went from a v...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to tell the difference between a Science Blog Network, a Fanny Pack and a Backpack

This is a network: http://scienceblogs.com This is a fanny pack: http://blogs.nature.com This is a backpack: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/science-blogs/ This is a network: http://www.fieldofscience.com/ This is a fanny pack: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/ This is a backpack: http://gu.com/scienceblogs This is a network: http://sciblogs.co.nz/ This is a fanny pack: http://blogs.plos.org This is a backpack: http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/ This is a network: http://scientopia.org/ This is a fanny pack: http://gam.southernfriedscience.com/ This is a backpack: http://www.labspaces.net/blogs
9 comments
Read more