How To Install and Customize Widgets on Your Blogs, Posts, and Sites.
In a previous post about the power and value of Widgets and Gadgets, I promised to provide a training class walking you through the most important steps in creating, selecting, installing, and customizing these little gizmo's into your Blogs and Websites. While the plaster and paint are still drying, I'd like to invite you to be our first guests at the PRE-Grand Opening of the new ZILLOW® ACADEMY.
This class is only one hour, but will teach you everything you'll need to know about using widgets and gadgets selectively and effectively. We'll share what works and what doesn't, things to watch out for like pop up ads, java-scripts (which many don't work on ActiveRain) broken widgets, and stuff that will crash your Blog or site. I'll also share which widgets can bring more value to your readers and add traffic to your site.
"Can a co-branded widget on your site or Blog really generate leads or clients?" YES, I'll show you why and how.
In exchange for this FREE training and information, all I'd ask is that you'd help me get the word out. It's such short notice, it would be great if you could 
Reblog this post, or use the 
like button below to help me promote it. I'm not asking for any money, donations, or bonus points, only an hour of your time to show you some things about the almighty "Widget" that can make a huge difference in your Blogging and Social Media endeavors.
If you're unable to attend, we'll be hosting these classes on a regular basis. You're welcome to join us anytime for future classes and trainings. The Zillow® Academy Calendar will be out shortly, once the virtual desks are in. We'll also record many of the classes and webinars (with speakers permission and approval) and host them for later review at your convenience. I'm excited to get this launched and looking forward to YOUR continued growth and success as a re"Z"ult of these efforts.
Registered. Looking forward to learning!
Thanks Don - we're looking forward to having you there.
Just what I was looking to learn, All signed up.
Sad to say can't register for this one but looking forward to the re-schedule. I will re-blog and use the like button now.
Exactly what I need! I was working on trying to do this yesterday and not making it happen. Thanks.
I hit the like button for ya! Already booked for Monday at that time, so am hoping that you are going to be able to record this one. Sounds like a winner!
Dick and Dixie
My office meeting is Monday AM but I will be looking for the next opportunity. I am anxious to learn this.
Hey man, I just signed up. I like thses things but I am...tech chakkenged and know you will keep it simple and effective! Thankz!
Brad will register I already have you on the calendar. As long as my clients don't need me.
Brad - I am so excited to see your webinar series start to get underway! You are so great and helpful on the calls, and I know people who attend will find it VERY worth their time. I look forward to this one (reblogging now) and the MANY other crazy cool things that I know you are working on!
I am a fan of widgets, but not widgets at the expense of bandwidth. I am on a site for a short period of time when it takes forever to move through the site because they have so many widgets. Simple is best. Choose the widgets that drive your business and leave the cutesy out. IMHO. That being said, I am hoping to move a meeting and take the course.
Brad - Thanks for keeping us front and top of mind with these webinars. I will sign up, and will hit the like button now....
Larry - you stole a portion right out of my class!! <big smile>
I couldn't agree more, and I'll even take it one step further at this class. Glad to see you'll try and make it. Thanks.
I can't make it at that time, but here's a note to everyone else: If Brad's teaching it, you will be a pro by the end of the class. Sign up NOW!
I just signed up and look forward to learing more about widgets...thanks so much
I'll be there.
Sounds good, I'll be there
At the moment this one won't work but I'm looking forward to others...Enjoy the day.
It's great to see so many of you already registered. Thanks, I'll make sure it's worth your time and effort. For those of you who can't make it, no worries, I gotcha covered on the next one. We'll try to record for you and make it available for when it's more convenient.
It looks like we already have a pretty large Interest in these little widget gizmos, I'm really looking forward to this class, it will be informative but still very fun! :-)
Brad, I'm all signed up! I've always wanted a widget or two! LOL
Brad, I'm all signed up! I've always wanted a widget or two! LOL
Brad, I'm in. It will be a great learning experience. Hell, I don't even know what a widget really is. Am I going to be placed in "Remedial Widget Training"?
Jean - hahaha~ Even this late on a Weds afternoon, that's some funny stuff!!
I'll have some special "widget training wheels" set aside for you. You'll go straight to the head of the class where you'll receive you "Z" Degree and diploma! :-))
Brad, I'm in!
We signed up and looking forward to the class!
Hi Brad - I'm not sure I'll be able to attend. Do you plan to maintain an e-mail list to also advertise your tutorials?
Actually Brad... you da bomb!!!
Signed up, reblogged, liked, suggested, commented. Whew! I'm exhausted!!
Looks like a great idea to start hosting these classes. There's lots of enthusaism above.
Looks like a great idea to start hosting these classes. There's lots of enthusaism above.
Howdy and evening to you Brad
Brad, just went and signed up for your Webinar, and I'm sure looking forward to it. You alwats do such a fine job with puting on mighty helpful Webinars for folks to learn from.
Have a good one
Dale in New Hampshire
All signed up!
Count me in! Love webinars. There is always so much to learn!
Brad - Do they do recorded webinars? Some of these are just not in the times I am available. Of coarse I am sure that there will be other times that I can make but just a question. I am interested in Webinars too.
I'm in, unless something changes in my schedule.
I'm signed up and ready to learn!!! Am going to put on my calendar now, so I don't forget!!!! Can't wait, now I have something to look forward to on a Monday :)
This is something I definetly need to know and must take the time to learn.
Brad, thanks, I registered for the class! I think it would be valuable to know how to set widgets up for myself, and which ones would be the most effective.
Sounds like a great Webinar, Brad. We'll definitely be signing up for Monday's session
I will have to see if I can go to the class. A couple of years ago I HATED Brad because his ActiveRain blog would lock up my computer each time I tried to read something he wrote because of all the widgets in his sidebar. So comment #13 is interesting...
Sounds good, will reblog ~
Good morning Brad,
It doesn't surprise me you have new and exciting things happening at Zillow. They were smart to recognize your talent and will enjoy their improved status as you take them to the next level!
Even though I successfully added 1 of these widgets already, I'm enrolled, Brad!
I will have to check this out,. I will see if I have time to sign out. Thank you for the offer.
I'll have to check this out as well. Thanks for the invite. It's appreciated!
Patricia/Seacoast NH
Thanks Brad! Definitely something I need to know more about. I've registered.
Thanks Brad, looking forward to these classes.
Registered and looking forward to it, thanks for the heads up
HI Brad - thanks for the info, it is always good to learn some new tips and tricks. I will sign up!
Hello Brad, looking forward to this!
Dick Beals
Brad, you've got you're work cut out for you. I signed up but I'm warning you that I'm technologicall challenged when it comes to these gizmos. Think you can make it simple enough for even me to "get it"?
I signed up! Looking forward to it!
WOW!! Featured, 14 reblogs, 14 likes, 52 comments and over 100 signups!
MAN, I LOVE ACTIVERAIN!!!!~ Thanks everyone for your support and help with this.
( AR Staff included )
You have my promise, you will all come away with more "About Widgets" than you're needing or expecting.
Note: This webinar/class is NO COST, but the recording of the class will be $49.95.... JUST KIDDING! lol~ I'll host it on my server so if you do miss it, you can watch it later. I might even Youtube it. :-)
Thanks for the tips! Great article.
Brad ... all registered and ready! I also got some of my colleagues to register as well! Looks like some answers are in the hopper!
Brad,
As a Broker and an Appraiser I've been fighting with Zillow's guesstimates for years, but since you're there and providing this webinar I'll give them a chance. Maybe (I'm sure) your presence can improve my zestimate of Zillow.
I registered. I wish that the widgets on our AR outside blog were not so limited. All we can do is choose from that drop down list and that isn't enough. There isn't even a mortgage calculator on that list. I asked Steven if there was a way to put others on the outside blogs and he said no can do.
Signed up an re-blogged here on the East Coast, looking forward to the webinar, Thanks Brad
Helen - I know what you mean, I have been asking AR to add a simple HTML widget box for over a year now for the outside Blogs. They only have one programmer so we'll all just have to be patient I guess. You can try using the text box, I was successful with a few widgets using that. You can see some samples on my outside blog at activebradsblog.com if you like.
Joe - the fight is OVER! I'll show you how win the battle and the war?!? Cya there my friend. :-)
Thanks David -looking forward to seeing you there. I have a couple special guests joining me so it should be fun and entertaining as well. Most importantly, it will be useful and educational for those wanting to get more out of their sites, blogs, and traffic.
will there be another day for this? I have a class tomorrow all day! I would like to see this
Hi Brad, I need to attend this. I've got a bunch of widgets that haven't been showing up for a long time. Not sure why that is and maybe I can fix them or maybe I just should delete them. That's 1 pm my time.....I think I can probably do that.
Thanks for sharing this information on widgets. Looking it over this afternoon=
Ken - I'll do another class for sure. Also looking at a couple video hosting and ZAcademy archive options.
Ann - I can help you. Sometimes it's the site's widgets, sometimes AR won't allow certain ones, and sometimes it could just be the code or choice of code used when installing the widget. I'll cover all this in the class as well.
Harry - cool, I hope you can make it as well, we have 1000 seats available and there are plenty left. Thanks.
I might have to join this! Havev to re-arrange some stuff...
Brad.....I miss you on the AR side of the game!
Brad..You are the BEST!!!!
HelpfulHannah
Thanks for sharing the news. Looks and sounds worthwhile. Just registered and put in on my calendar.
Brad, I like the look of the webinar will there be another opportunity, I will be on the road all day Monday? Sometimes you just have things you cannot move around on your calender
Brad, I am sending this on to two realtors I know. They probably can use this more than I can. And, if I need it later, they might be kind enough to show me how to use it. Thanks.
Hi Brad, I just signed up for your webinair. I think you have a minor typo though as it says 1:00 Mtn time and it should be 1:00 Central time. I've lived in both time zones but presently live in that Central time and that makes us 2 hours from Pacific time.
Another one of those areas I need some education on. Looking forward to the presentation!
~ I am registered and looking forward to the learning experience
Great information. Now if I only knew when to stop. Widget addiction and widget envy are real problems.
Tni LeBlanc, Mint Properties
http://www.MintProperties.net
Meet you online tomorrow. :)
Another gem full of useful tech information from Active Brad. It appears your new role at Zillow has not slowed down your ACTIVities on Active Rain at all! Keep it up - can always use useful "stuff"!
I registered it and liked it. But, I am getting worried that all my favorite Bloggers are just FBing now. I so miss so many of them.
We have a great class scheduled for today, glad many of you will be there. This is the first class ever held at the new Zillow® Academy and you guys will forever be the first RE Pros to attend and be there when we cut the "virtual" Ribbon. I'll have to see who has the most AR Points or has been in the business the longest to "Cut The Ribbon!"
@Marchel - To clarify: 11:00am PST , 2:00pm EST. The folks in Central or Mountain time will have to figure it out. lol~ :-)
Brad, great webinar. I assume the Twitter widget does not work in AR because it is javascript and not iframe. How can you change it to iframe so it will work in AR. ~ Thanks
Brad, what happend to your widget on wordpress is happening to me as well both with Zillow and Twitter widgets.
Great class Brad! When I couldn't see your screen at first, I thought it was just my new computer and was frantically trying to log in on my old computer where I'd done webinars without trouble in the past!!!! The question box on the webinar didn't work directly and I didn't hear the website you directed us to till the end when I saw it on your screen. Thanks so much though for all the info!!!!
I feel really badly that the first moments of the webinar weren't showing up on the screen today. I was frantically trying to get the video recording to work for those who couldn't make it to the webinar today. I'll work out the kinks and for those of you who were there, thanks for your patience and understanding. Though I am always seeking perfection, I humbly confess I may frequently fall short at times.
I have already fixed two of the technical issues we experienced today so these should get better and smoother in the future. Thanks. :-)
David - most javascript widgets won't work on AR, even some iframe widgets have issues. I have seen a few twitter widgets that do work on AR, you may have to research it a bit to find the ones that do.
There is an approved widget list I posted, but it was a while ago and I'm sure it's outdated.
Let me know if I can help at all. :-)
So, I heard from two of my agents that the webinar was a bust. I hope that a rehearsal might make it more productive next time.
Haha @Don - that's funny. Yeah, you'd think that doing these for the last year on AR would've been enough rehearsal right!?! lol No worries friend, we're human, but we'll get it right.
I saw this post too late to attend. Any chance it will be repeated?
Hi Bernadine, I'll repeat the class again next week sometime.
I'm putting together a training/support calendar and working out a few last details and minor bugs. We should be ready to roll out our Zillow® Academy Grand Opening by the end of next week. I'll be sure to let you know when the next Widget class is then. Thanks. :-)
Brad, the class was great, I really enjoyed it. I also used what I learned to add a widget to my latest blog entry!! It was so easy!!!
I'd be interested in attending the next class.
Hey Justin - you can sign up for the next class here. Calendar for Training and Support Thanks. :-)
I will be signing up for the July 5th class. I hope to have a number of widgets posted online by then and it is only two days away.
Hey Jim - looking forward to having you there.
Have a great and safe 4th of July, all the best to you and the family!