Vista Sidebar Gadgets

I've been spending some time these last few days working on Windows Vista Sidebars, and they are not as difficult to get working as you may think. On Vista, the Sidebar is on the edge of the screen and allows you to dock things like weather displays, stock tickers etc., much like the Mac Widgets that have been around for a while. Created using just HTML and JavaScript may sound limiting, but in actual fact you can still achieve a lot.

My first Gadget is an extension to WiiSearcher.com, which provides up to the minute listings of Wii consoles in stock, both in the UK and USA. I wanted a gadget that would quite simply list the number of stores either showing as "In Stock" or "Pre order". And I think that my Gadget succeeds.

First of all, I obviously needed to create a new XML feed from the site which simply lists the number of stores, no other detail needed. I wanted some options to allow the Gadget to choose UK or USA and whether or not to include Ebay auctions and Amazon private sales.

The Gadget code requests this feed and updates the display accordingly, and even highlights the "In stock" line if the number increases in any 3 minute period.

If you want to have a go with the Gadget, it can be found here: WiiSearcher Vista Gadget

When I get the chance, I will document this process in more detail.