In addition to my design work, I also dabble in web development. From time to time I'll get an idea for some cool little tool that I wish existed. I'll search it out and if it turns out that tool either doesn't exist or needs improvement, I get cracking.
This past week I set my sights on alternative methods of showcasing my Zazzle products. Zazzle provides their Blog Panel and Flash Panel. Both are great tools which can be deployed fairly quickly but I wanted more options. The Flash Panel is too bulky to fit in all web layouts and the Blog Panel is too simple. I wanted to be able to control the size of the display and the number of products shown.
Here's what I came up with...
My Zazzle Products - This widget, which is available on WidgetBox.com, is my alternative to the Blog Panel is my "My Zazzle Products" . It's basically an alteration of Zazzle Store Builder. There are guides to help you install the Builder yourself but if you're unfamiliar with PHP or don't have web hosting it can be a hassle. With this widget you can create a customized display of your latest and greatest Zazzle creations for your blog or website by entering your contributor name and the number of products you want to show. You can also choose to limit it to show products from a specific product line or products of a specific type! You can also choose to show your most popular or most recently created products.
The example below shows my 3 most popular t-shirts. Everytime the page is reloaded, the display will be updated so don't have to keep updating this post manually.
Zazzle Products Showcase - This one, also avaliable on WidgetBox.com, is my alternative to the Flash Panel. It's a mashup of Zazzle Store Builder and Google's Ajax Feed API. With this one you can create a controllable slideshow of your Zazzle creations by entering similar information as you do in the first. Again, you can pick a single product line or product type but this time you can also limit the display by entering a keyword. Other improvements include the ability to change the backgorund color of the products displayed to match the background of your site and the ability to size the display anywhere from 1 to 500 pixels wide. This way the display can fit your site perfectly!
The example below shows a slideshow of the 5 most recent T-shirts from my Mexico product line.
By the way, you don't have to be a Zazzler to use these widgets. You can leave the contributor field blank to showcase Zazzle products on any topic you choose! Enjoy!
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