So i started writing my first mac widget. A super simple concept. It kinda goes hand in hand with my previous post about my new job. Basically im not really getting any projects that can show my skills, so one of my friends suggested a mac widget of the phone directory. Super simple to do except there is no feed on there website. All said and done i basically used ajax to pull the php page based on a first name and last name you type in the widget. Then i strip out all the html and display it.

So i got all the code done, and when i went to install it there was an error. “The file ‘name.wdgt’ is not a valid widget and you cannot install it.”

Pain in the butt. It took me a while to figure it out. You have to make a background image of the entire widget and name it Default.png. When a widget first loads it shows this image until the widget is fully loaded. Its easier on the eyes, but if you dont have this image you cant install.

Just thought id share this since it really pissed me off.

Jason Rogers

Tags: mac widget, widget