clearspring - the widget network.

 Introduction

Clearspring Widgets can be installed by users on startpages, social networks, or desktops leveraging Clearspring Viral Services. Examples of viral services include automated sharing to MySpace, or Facebook, or object code.

Clearspring Widgets are composed of a dynamic Application Loader, Application Component, and Content. When users add widgets to pages, they install the Application Loader. The dynamic application loader is responsible for loading the Application Component, along with any associated Widget Plug-in Services selected by the developer. See following section for more information. The application component is remotely hosted Flash, or DHTML file. This file can leverage one or more web services. For more information on web services you can use to build a widget, or widget mash-up, see Tools and Resources.

Widget Plug-in Services

Widget Plug-in services can be added to your widget without requiring any additional application programming. These services can be activated using Our current plug-in services include the Service Launcher (see ‘grab it’ button), which activates our Service Menu. The Service Menu contains additional services such as information about the widget, as well as the viral services. We plan to introduce additional services over time. This architecture is extensible and we can plan to open it for development shortly.

In addition to the services that are visible to the User, we also offer services for developers. Our flagship plug-in service for developers is our Analytics Package.

Hosting Your File

Clearspring Widgets are designed for remote application invocation. This enables developers to optimize their storage options independently of Clearspring. There are several providers that provide scalable hosting solutions. Some examples include: Google, Akamai and Amazon.

Next Steps

Quick Start