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My Facebook gadget

myFacebookIt’s been a while since my last post but that’s only because I’ve been working on my Gadget competition project. Some may already know what this was, the rest of you must probably have already figured it out from this post’s title, yes it’s a Facebook gadget.

The myFacebook gadget allows you to bring Facebook right into your windows vista desktop. With it you’ll be able to change your status, see your friends statuses, groups, notifications, albums and events without even having to open your web browser.

It’s probably the largest and certainly the most challenging gadget I’ve created (so far πŸ˜‰ and it’s all written with JavaScript and DHTML. To retrieve facebook data, I’ve created a JavaScript wrapper of Facebook’s API that I’m also planning on releasing (its source code).

Once you’ve installed it you will have to authorize the gadget to see your facebook data just as you would for any other facebook application, before being able to interact with it. Extra authorization is needed though (from the facebook API) if you wish to be able to change your status as well.

In some cases you might have to login more than once (only the first time), as some (Patrick) noticed sorry for that but my intention is to avoid storing usernames and passwords and let Facebook handle authentication and authorization.

Note also that in some cases a javascript error may occur on the facebook login form preventing you from logging in. In such a case try changing your browser security settings to overcome the error or add http://login.facebook.com to your trusted sites zone.

Published inOff TopicVista Gadgets

92 Comments

  1. Jeff Jeff

    I like the gadget and am using it. Thanks!
    One request would be to let you choose to show or hide the friends status part. This can be distracting when writing a paper and takes more CPU power than the rest of it. Thanks again.

  2. srinu srinu

    Hi,
    I couldn”t download this gadget.
    I am using windows XP sp2. other than this,
    what I nedd to have to use this in my system.
    I to want to develop the same type of facebook gadget to use in my webapplication. How can I build?
    Thank you,
    Srinu

  3. Scott Scott

    Also make sure that the browser you are using with MyFacebook is your default. I uninstalled firefox and started using IE again, and when I tried running the gadget through IE it wouldnt load due to it trying to open in firefox.

  4. I”m not using any specific browser.
    I”m just using hyperlinks and let the underlying platform decide which browser will be used.

  5. Srinu, you”ll need windows Vista in order to run myFacebook in your sidebar. There is however a project called vaio, you can read more about it here http://blog.pantos.name/archive/2006/12/15/213.aspx, which allows you to run sidebar gadgets on Windows XP. myFacebook hasn”t been tested for it though and thus cannot guarantee that it”ll work.
    To include something similar in a web page I would suggest you check Popfly”s Facebook provider…
    Hope this helps.

  6. Jon H Jon H

    I was wondering if it would be possible to have a cut down version of MyFacebook showing only poke, friend request and notification numbers, as well as a hyperlink to the facebook homepage. Here is an image of the sort of thing I”m thinking of.
    http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/MyFacebook Lite.png

    I have no idea how complicated or time consuming this would be to impliment, so please forgive my ignorance.
    However I think it would make a neat gadget to compliment the one you already have.

    Keep up the good work

  7. cheeesman cheeesman

    ok so i like my facebook sidebar. it is sweet but every time i shut the comp off and then turn it back on i have to get a new code. is this supposed to happen???

    thanks

  8. josh josh

    I love the gadget, but in a future edition, can u have a friend online now option

  9. Blake Blake

    This gadget works great all accept for the notifications and the status updates. It just keeps telling me that need to put them into the correct boxes in the settings. I have done this for both of the link boxes and got them even from clicking the link it says to.

    Please Help

  10. Chris Chris

    For those of you like Blake having the problem where it tells you to put the notification link in the correct box.
    What you need to do is click the link above the box on the settings page, however, this is NOT the link you need, the one you want is found on the right hand side, where is says “Subscribe to Notifications”. Right click on that link and hit Copy Link or something to that effect.
    Its the RSS link you want, not the webpage one.

    Hope this helps some people.
    Chris

  11. AGNES AGNES

    idon”t have a problem at all

  12. yungdrel yungdrel

    i downloaded and installed this gadget, however wen i click ”get login code” i get an error message that says “http://www.facebook.com/code_gen.php?v=1.0&api_key=4dc86706b3c8dca7ae7b1e4b8b1281…..”

    i tried searching for a fix but since i cant get the rest of the API code i get another error message that says “invalid api_key code” is there a fix to this that im missing?

  13. I don”t see the error message, can you please sent the whole error message please.

  14. Hi
    Love the gadget, it works fine. Can you make it so that instead of Friend Updates on screen we have friends notifications instead? I find that if I click on the notifications tab, there is about a 30-45 second lag before I get the notifications popup come up (by which time I could have logged in to FB on a web page!) I actually know that you can do this by substituting the notifications address in the friends address bar. the downfall of this is that the size of the scroller box where the output is displayed is not big enough. This would be better because you are more likey to act on a notification than just a status update. Can you do both?! πŸ™‚

  15. Heather_Bob Heather_Bob

    Hi, I”m a facebook/vista newbie and want to get the most out of both. Saw your gadget recommended in ”Windows Vista” magazine and thought would give it a go as it looks great. Downloaded A-OK but am having problems with the RSS feed – possible same problem as Blake? I”ve tried the solution put forward by Chris (many thanks) but no joy; still getting message under friends status box that says ”Set status feed…” When I click on the notification/status RSS feed in IE tool bar I get a ”IE can display this feed, the feed download was interrupted” message. I”ve set facebook as a trusted site… Help! It”s driving me MAD!

  16. you need to copy and paste the URL”s from under the subscribe part of each feed to get the status updates and notifications to work. just going to the link the options page takes you to is not enough. it”s on the right side of the screen on the bottom. just go there and copy the URL. Don”t worry about actually subscribing, all you need is the URL.
    You might also wanna check the gadget”s page on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/notifications.php#/apps/application.php?id=8040585574) lots of guys have put on comments on how to subscribe to those feeds.
    HTH.

  17. Benny Benny

    Thanks for the help with the correct notification and status links.. The RSS feed link is definitely the one you want, not the actual page it sends u to in the first place.
    I was wondering what the problem was with that until I found this great help. Cheers!

  18. Pierre Pierre

    is it possible to read messages within My Facebook gadget or is it only possible to know the count of unread messages ?

  19. william william

    hope this gadget works well

  20. fourketas fourketas

    thank you

  21. Olivier Olivier

    Great work dude … keep us updated for new gadgets … thnx

  22. ithink it”s much easier than the website.

  23. Coolone Coolone

    Hey glad to find out about the rss. Now its working.

    Thanks. good Job

  24. Eskimal Eskimal

    I Love Facebook

  25. Pete H. Pete H.

    have you released your source code yet? I”d like to try it out on my FB JS application. Thanks.

  26. TheUSMale2 TheUSMale2

    Love the Gadget, updated to the new version. it doesn”t get past the one timecode. it just sits there doing “0”. null. how to get past this problem would be welcomed my friend. The only request i have is the size of the box it”s contained in is a little too small. Mine stops on the right side in the middle of the Icons. or do i need to change something? using 1920×1080 landscape. Thanks in advance for any help.

  27. Close the gadget and re-open it. I”m guessing that your problem is a cached session key.
    Let me know if that doesn”t work.
    I”ll think about the size, maybe in a future version πŸ˜‰

  28. hendrawan hendrawan

    i want to gadget desktop in my computer

  29. It is the latest gadget which has a capability to change our status, see our friends statuses, groups, notifications, albums and events without even having to open our web browser….Although it is the best gadget i have ever seen with HTML and Java Script as well………..

  30. Will Will

    Your gadget is awesome and inspiring. It inspired me to dream of a vista gadget retrieving friends” information automatically from people” social networks like Facebook, MSN and ICQ. Instead of knowing a friend”s news from Facebook only, the application could get his/her information from other social networks if applicable. Your gadget exemplifies part of my idea.
    I saw it was written in JS where no server needed for computation remotely. It suggests me that such an approach is good. But I know nothing about Facebook API. Could give me some hints how to retrieve info from Facebook API via JS? I want to write my own, because I want to learn and write such a gadget for MSN, Xiaonei also. Please forgive my arrogance if any. I”m just so exited seeing your gadget. Thank you.

  31. Echy Echy

    thanx.. πŸ™‚

  32. anna ong anna ong

    ok

  33. This is very tedious and it doesn”t always work the way I think it”s supposed to work. It is neither simple nor simplistic.

  34. Everyone is entitled of his opinion

  35. Muhammad Adnan Muhammad Adnan

    its amazing

  36. Jinyoung Choi Jinyoung Choi

    good~!

  37. dirtdog dirtdog

    uhm i need a code dude

  38. ce ce

    ok nice

  39. Quoc Dat Quoc Dat

    15

  40. Adnan Mahbubul Adnan Mahbubul

    Nice

  41. Manuel Quintero Manuel Quintero

    oooe!!

  42. I am happy to read your blog and admit the webmaster has done a very good job by putting all the information content at one place. I”d like to recommend it with reference to my website http://www.pctechoutlet.com

  43. D D

    learning how this works still but seems alright.

  44. harshal harshal

    i am always online yarr

  45. RAYAN RAYAN

    πŸ™‚

  46. Nice app. make a feature where it”s always the foremost window and you have a winner.

  47. hello hello

    always online with this sidbar fantastic

  48. christina christina

    hey!!

  49. joeski joeski

    hey i have one problem…
    it is that when i try to set up the notification too in settings it asks for url but it sends me to my notifications to geturl. but it doesnt work..
    http://www.facebook.com/notifications.php

  50. BarOo Daggag BarOo Daggag

    Download Facebook Gadget for Vista Sidebar

  51. Tie Tie

    pretty cool little gadget, thanks for sharing it πŸ™‚

  52. ali jalel ali jalel

    hi evcery one

  53. Marcos Marcos

    uuuuuu kiero bajarlooooo yaaa

  54. Almalek Almalek

    I wish all the best

  55. Akshay Munsing Akshay Munsing

    kOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL……..

  56. hans hans

    Do it

  57. astran_08 astran_08

    hehehehehe ok!!!!

  58. TIM SUNDBERG TIM SUNDBERG

    HWJ

  59. Bardha E Arso Gashi Bardha E Arso Gashi

    i will try

  60. raffaele raffaele

    ke devo commentare

  61. Marcolino Marcolino

    I”ve a problem with my gadget on W7 O.S. When I try to connect, after the login and password, Facebook said: ” There a problem with mysidebarbook. try later.” Anyone can help me? TKS πŸ™‚

  62. Larry Larry

    Hello, this sounds like a cool gadget but I cannot log in. I keep getting the following error. “An error occurred with BuildAGadget.com Sidebar Gadget. Please try again later.” I tried adding Facebook to trusted sites but I also got an error saying it had to start with HTTPS not HTTP. Thanks for any help.

  63. Hey Larry, BuildAGadget.com Sidebar Gadget has nothing to do with “my sidebar gadget” though. They are two seperate downloads. I would suggest contacting BuildAGadget.com.

  64. James James

    Hi, i too am getting an error from FB saying please try later, any advice?

  65. Sohail Sohail

    Hi,

    When I tried getting the FB one time code, I got the following error message:

    “An error occurred with mySidebarBook. Please try again later.”

    Please advise.

  66. Sohail Sohail

    What should I do with this error:

    “An error occurred with mySidebarBook. Please try again later.”

  67. Tim Tim

    Ditto – is there a recent change? I just moved to a win7 machine, and trying out the gadget I cannot get the code to connect it to FB. I added both of the suggested sites to my trusted sites, but every time I click on the gadget to get the code – the FB page that comes up in IE states “An error occurred with mySidebarBook. Please try again later.”
    Help??

  68. Samantha Samantha

    i”ve tried this several times. idk what im doing wrong. i downloaded it. and clicked on the link that says i need to get the one time code from the gadget itself. then it takes me to the internet and says there has been an error. i cant seem to get it to work and would realllly like to have it. hellpppp

  69. tAWNYA tAWNYA

    Having problem with getting code to take-

  70. tone tone

    One Time COde not Working Same Errors as Above
    Windows 7

  71. hi, i downloaded the myfacebook sidebar app and i tried to get a confirmation code. unfortunatly i am unable to do so. when i click on the link an error page on facebook opens.
    can i get a confirmation code some other way?

    thx.

  72. tommy tommy

    thx in advance

  73. TheVVS TheVVS

    The Facebook Error seems to originate in the fakt that the FB App 1400453522 doesnΒ΄t exist anymore?!
    Check this: http://www.facebook.com/…/application.php?id=1400453522
    it just opens the Homepage – this happens if the ID doesnΒ΄t exist. So there seems to be no way to create a Code via Facebook anymore!

  74. Where can we download this gadget? This is nice for my website.

  75. hi, i downloaded the myfacebook sidebar app and i tried to get a confirmation code. unfortunatly i am unable to do so. when i click on the link an error page on facebook opens.

  76. I want it so badly. Can I get one.

  77. Jadedragon Jadedragon

    Do you have to have Internet explorer to run this gadget?? I have SeaMonkey and I can”t get it to work at all. I get an error when I load up the Facebook page. Is there a solution that translates to SeaMonkey? And no, I will not switch to Internet Explorer.

  78. leeanne leeanne

    ..cant get it to work still..

  79. i installed the gadget, but it doesn”t work.
    when i clicked this (Click here to generate a one-time Facebook code.), there were guide words like this " An error occurred. Please try again later" so i can”t use this gadget. i want to use it. can you help me?

  80. Marek Marek

    Yeah. Im gettin an error too…:-(

  81. jstmars jstmars

    I installed the gadget. I clicked on the link that says "click here to generate a one-time Facebook code". It took me FB login page. I login. It took me to a page that asked for the 6 diget login code, which was sent to my cell phone. I typed in the code and it took me to a page that asked me to name the device. I named the device and then it took me to a page that said Invalid API key. I”ve tried every thing in the blogs and forums but it just doesn”t work. Step by step instructions or a YouTube video would be nice. I got FB Explorer Gadget up and running but it doesn”t have a sign out feature that works. You log out but can get right back in. Ok thats it for now.

  82. shubham shubham

    Hi,

    When I tried getting the FB one time code, I got the following error message:

    "An error occurred with mySidebarBook. Please try again later."

    Please advise.

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