clearspring - the widget network.

The Container wraps your application for delivery across the web, loading it up and giving it some extra oomf. Specifically:

• It allows us to collect detailed tracking on where your widget goes in the world, how users interact with it, and how they spread it between each other.
• It adds the "get and share" features to your widget, allowing users to do things like post it to their own social networking pages
• It manages all of the configuration options for your widget, and allows users to set their own configuration options
• It exposes the advanced In-Widget API services to your widget

It is important to realize that when your widget is embedded on a page out in the world, it is the Container which is managing how the widget is loaded and what configuration data it is given. Your actual widget (whatever type it is) still lives on your server, and your server for the most part will serve it up in exactly the same way it would if there was no Container. But, the Container is what wraps your widget and allows it to work across all of the different social networks and other web locations without you having to code specifically for those destinations.

Using the Container

Take a look at Using the Container for information on how to leverage and be compatible with the Container in your widget code.