Upgrading an existing Widget in the new Widget Factory

As of January 2016, every Widgety user will have access to the new Widget Factory. Not only have we redesigned the entire user experience, but we've also completely redesigned the Widgets as per your suggestions. 

Note: You will not need to update the code embedded on your site to upgrade your Widget. Once you've gone through the process on Widgety, the Widget on your site will automatically update.

This article discusses the following topics:

• Getting to the new Widget Factory
• Understanding the new area selection process
• Upgrading your Widget 

Getting to the new Widget Factory

The first time you login after the recent changes, you'll find a new sidebar on the left side of the page. On it, you will find a link to the Widget Factory.

Understanding the new area selection process

The Widget creation is now 'area based'. This means that, one of the first steps of creating any Widget is to select the area(s) you're interested in showcasing. For example, instead of using the old #southamptonevents tag, you can now simply select Southampton as the area you're interested in, and the content on your Widget will be filtered accordingly.

Upgrading your Widget

For quick access, you can click on the links below to get to the specific step you're looking for:

• Finding your Widget
• Title
• Choose your layout
• Choose your content (area selection)
• Choose your content (filter selection)
• Customise your Widget
• Embed your Widget

To start with, find the existing Widget you're looking to upgrade. You can easily find those with the new search bar located at the top of the list. Once you've found it, click on the 'Edit' button on the right.

Title
It will show the current name of your Widget. You may change this title without creating any issue. Click NEXT.

Choose your layout
This step allows you to select which layout you want your Widget to have. At the moment, the DEFAULT layout is the only one available. You can however get a sneak peek of what's coming next by taking a peek at the other thumbnails. Click on the DEFAULT thumbnail.

Choose your content (area selection)
Now is time to select the area(s) you're looking to show on your Widget. This is where the process starts to differ from the previous version of the Widget Factory.

1. Start typing in the name of the area you're looking for, such as 'Winchester.'
2. If the area is available on the system, it will show in the dropdown selection. Click on it to select it.
3. Selected areas will be added to the 'CHOSEN AREAS' box. Simply click on the X next to each to remove them.
4. Click on NEXT to continue.

You may instead wish to select your area based on a Radius from a postcode, or your specific location. 

1. Start by clicking on the 'By Distance From' box to expand its content.
2. Enter a distance and select the units you're working with (miles is selected as default.)
3. Enter your postcode OR click on My location.
4. Click NEXT to continue.

Choose your content (filter selection)
Now that you've selected the area you want to work with, you can now pick how you want to select the Places you want to showcase. The options are explained below. You can click on each of their title to quickly access information on the process.

1. Categories – Choose this if you have a set list of Business Types you're looking to showcase.
2. Places – Chose this if you have a set list of Places you're looking to showcase
3. Categories and Places – Choose this if you have a set list of Business Types you're looking to showcase, as well as some other Businesses that aren't part of those types.

Categories
Once you've selected this filter, you will see the following box:

1. To start with, simply type in the Business Types and select them from the dropdown.
   NOTE: Only Business Types currently available for the areas you have selected will be available.
2. Each selected Business Type will appear underneath. You may deselect them by clicking on the X next to them.
3. This link will tell you how many places in total this will bring through. By clicking on it, you can deselect places that you don't want shown on your Widget
   
   
   
4. If you're not sure which Business Types are available, click on ALL CATEGORIES to see a full list from which you can tick/untick Business Types. There are also SELECT ALL / UNSELECT ALL buttons, which make it easy to select/unselect everything in one go.
   

Places
Once you've selected this filter, you will find the following box:

1. To start with, simply start typing in the name of the Places you're looking to showcase, and they'll appear in the box below. You can unselect them by clicking on the X next to them.
2. The ALL PLACES link will bring a pop up with a full list of Places in the area(s) you've selected, which you can select and deselect at will. 
3. This will tell you how many Places you've selected in total

Categories and Places
Once you've click on this filter type. You will reach the following screen. This step is a merge of the Categories and Places processes, with both boxes working the same way it does in the other processes.

1. This box is where you will select the Business Types you're looking to showcase.
2. This box is where you will select the Places you're looking to showcase.

Customise your Widget
The customisation page is split into two sections:

1. The top section, which deals with settings such as background colour, sorting, height, and width.
2. The visual customisation, which allows you to customise the different elements available in your widget.

To customise the look and feel of your Widget, click on the little yellow pen icons. This will bring a pop up with the different customisation options for this specific element.

Note: The Preview Widget works like a real Widget, which means you can expand and contract the different sections that might not be visible when you first reach this step. You can for example expand the search by click on the wheel icon, or expand an article by clicking on read more. Don't forget to do this, as these 'hidden' sections also include customising options.

The options you select will apply themselves to the elements, allowing you to really get a feel of the Widget, right from the customisation step.

Embedding your Widget
Your embed codes is located on the 'Embed' tab in the 'Preview' step of the creation process.

Two types of codes will be available. They'll look like this:

1. the <blockquote> embed is the standard type of embed available on Widgety
2. the <iframe> embed is available should the <blockquote> one not work with the platform in which your website is built.

NOTE: The <iframe> embed is the preferred code for websites built in Wordpress.

Should you require more information on embedding your Widget, please read our dedicated 'Embedding a Widget on a site' article.