The Space Craft: Gadgets

Gadgetize your Space and Events

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 19:52:17 GMT

Did you know that you can add stuff from the Web to your space or event without even knowing a tiny bit of code? They’re called gadgets, and thanks to some hard-working developers from around the world, there are now over 1,500 gadgets available worldwide for Windows Live Spaces and Windows Live Events.

I wanted to highlight a few specific gadgets. The gadgets listed below make keeping in touch with your friends and Messenger contacts more fun, finding content on your blog faster, and adding interesting content from MSN easier. So, check out and install the gadgets below and, as always, keep the comments coming!

-Chris
Product Manager, Windows Live Spaces

Windows Live Messenger Gadget
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=5da858b5-fa45-4730-89f8-380702da99cd&pl=5&bt=7

Search Gadgets

Search My Blog - Search box
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=94be978d-c62a-4640-b63f-a1d412afb337&pl=5&bt=7
Search My Blog - Tagcloud
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=ef195187-2cae-49b5-afe9-a50eb7ccb766&pl=5&bt=7

Silverlight Streaming Video Insertion
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=f55426a2-1d8d-4db7-8770-ea30cb393b2a&pl=5&bt=7

MSN Content

Encarta Quote of the Day
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=3c93e552-d8b2-4c51-9d65-83a6e6aa2cbb&pl=5&bt=7
Encarta RSS
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=4ede7e47-c127-4a9f-9440-75825a4f3c57&pl=5&bt=7
MSN Autos RSS
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=0774022b-0c3c-479e-abd1-a5ac3df09206&pl=5&bt=7
MSN Entertainment RSS
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=a50310fb-fd34-4efe-843f-8bf6213104a8&pl=5&bt=7
MSN Homepage RSS
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=b879476d-7e05-431a-9098-b669ada7a797&pl=5&bt=7
MSN Money RSS
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=7f8d5a7d-23cf-4a3f-b019-ba25ccb0b73c&pl=5&bt=7
MSN Shopping RSS
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=91f9a478-a692-4646-9a5f-7c29c1fa1f00&pl=5&bt=7
MSN Tech and Gadgets RSS
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=2521aeaf-4ef6-43fa-87d5-2607e7bc4b61&pl=5&bt=7
MSN Video RSS
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=3f64534a-5a96-4021-b600-674718355574&pl=5&bt=7
Sports News by Fox Sports RSS
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=b01f65ba-7c3c-4871-a678-8bb8920ceec1&pl=5&bt=7
Sports Videos by Fox Sport RSS
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=c2d5cd3f-8424-4516-af4b-20cf5cbc33f0&pl=5&bt=7

      Web Messenger Gadget

          Search My Blog

     Encarta Quote of the Day

Sports Videos by Fox Sports

Technorati tags: Windows Live Gadgets, Windows Live Spaces, Gadgets, Widgets, Windows Live Events

How to fix a “Space not available” error message following Friday’s upgrade

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 23:43:02 GMT

We’ve discovered a bug in the latest release of Spaces that can cause your Space to become inaccessible. We’re working on a fix for this bug right now, but in the meantime there is a workaround that you can use to get your Space back up and running. This fix only applies if you have the Windows Media Player module on your space with the Display Mode set to Invisible – setting this option for the WMP module will make your main Spaces page inaccessible until you change the setting to something other than Invisible. You can fix this error by doing the following:

1. Go to http://spaces.live.com and sign in with your Passport/Windows Live ID.

2. Go to http://SPACENAME.spaces.live.com/?_c=WMP where SPACENAME is the name of your space. For example, if we were performing this fix on the Spacecraft we would go to http://thespacecraft.spaces.live.com/?_c=WMP.

3. Change the Display Mode to something other than “Invisible” and click the Save button.

If this doesn’t work for you or you are seeing Space Not Available errors without having the WMP module installed (or you’re just seeing another error in Spaces) please leave us a comment on the Space Craft describing your problem in detail so we can try to track down and resolve your issue.

-Chris
Product Manager, Windows Live Spaces

Check out all of the gadgets now available to customize your space

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:47:03 GMT

Since the last time that we wrote about Spaces gadgets on the Space Craft, there has been a ton of activity from developers creating gadgets specifically for Spaces in addition to the launch of a new section within Windows Live Gallery to highlight Spaces gadgets.

There have also been some Vista Sidebar gadgets created for Spaces including a Sidebar gadget which allows you to showcase your Spaces photos in a Sidebar slideshow on Vista. Just enter in the name of your space and you will be able to see your spaces photos delivered directly to your desktop. You can download it here.

Some of the most popular spaces gadgets by type are below:

Personalize your Space

My Country Gadget - Display the flag and map of your home country on your space
Teletype Gadget - Add scrolling text to your space and broadcast your personal message to the world
My Mood Clock Gadget - Change the emoticon face of a clock to represent the mood that you are in that day
Polling Gadget - Add a poll to your space and allow visitors to vote on your favorite questions of the day
Daily Puppy Gadget - Get a daily dose of puppy pictures on your space. A new puppy picture is posted every day.

Videos, photos, and radio

Pandora Internet Radio Gadget - Select your favorite artists and listen to Pandora Internet Radio from your space
Universal Video Player - A video gadget which allows you to embed videos from the most popular video sites around the web. Show people your favorite videos directly on your space.
MSN Video Soapbox Gadget - Showcase all of the videos you have uploaded to Soapbox on your space with this gadget.
Rockyou Gadget - Create custom slideshows from Rockyou and include them on your space

Support your favorite causes

The i'm Campaign Gadgets - A Windows Live Messenger campaign which donates money for every instant message that you send
Awareness Ribbon Gadget - Choose the ribbon that represents your favorite cause. Choose from over 100 different causes.
Ninemillion.org pushpin Gadget - A gadget which allows visitors to your space to place a pushpin on a map as a way to show support for ninemillion.org

This is just a sampling of all of the interesting gadgets available for Spaces. So check out the Windows Live Gallery to see all of them and check out this space to see the gadgets live on Spaces.

If there are any interesting gadgets that you would like to see on Spaces, definitely let us know. As always, your feedback is appreciated.

- Chris
Product Manager, Windows Live Spaces

(published using Windows Live Writer)

Technorati tags: Windows Live Spaces, Microsoft, Gadgets, Widgets