Creating a widget?

I am sure most of you are aware of the addthis widget for bookmarking and sharing.

I am creating a network of websites and would really like to create something I can publish on each of the sites which works in the same sort of way as the addthis widget.

I would want an image, which when the user puts the cursor over the top it shows a pop up box which has links to the other sites within the network. I would also want the image to link through to my main site if clicked, for SEO purposes.

Has anybody got any tips on how to go about this? Is it done via javascript, or another method?

Thanks

 

Yep, I've used that widget BEFORE in my blogs.

 

Cool

Have you fully read my post though?

 

If you're using php you can use the php include feature and basically embed a piece of code on your page that is really just one file. You can then edit that file once and it would update on all pages. You can use an if else statement to only show certain info on a certain domain.

Within that file you could use flash or javascript to create the popup effect you are looking for.

This is all pretty easy stuff, you could hire someone off of here for less than $10 to do all this.

 

Yeah, javascript would work. Someone I'm sure will pm you with an offer, or try someplace like guru or elance. Can get it done cheap.

 

Thanks guys.

I think i should explain a little better as you have missed the point a little.

I am good with PHP and know some basic JS. This is not a case of using PHP includes - the widgets will be on seperate sites, therefore I can not use PHP includes, this widget is getting published on a number of different sites.

I can also not use a basic javascript pop up window with a onmousehover command, because this triggers the popup blocker in most browsers, therefore it would be mainly useless.

I need something like the addthis widget, so when you hover over an image it displays a tooltip/window which has links to the other sites in the network BUT this is getting displayed on a number of different sites so it need to be pointing at a file on my server so I can update it.

Makes sense now?

 

I've done this with a simple XML div that gives the look and feel of the widget but which uploads a javascript file on my own servers that performs all the tasks that the widget needs to perform. It's an unit conversion widget and it's hosted locally by me so I can easily add new functionality without having everyone update their code.

All the people using it need to install is a simple <div> that provides the look and feel of the widget (and, of course, the link back to my site!).

 

Believe something like that was done by Mike Filsame then discounted only recently. The problem he had were the amount of people attempting to game the system. In essence if you used his widget on your site, then your site would show up in the network and your traffic would increase. Think it might have been called "BlogRush" but not certain. I used it for awhile then took it off. Good luck and keep us posted if you get it running, there might be a void in the market that you could fill.