Dogpile Widgets
From LoveToKnow Web-Design
Dogpile widgets combine two of the more popular aspects of web 2.0 technologies – the convenience of a widget on your desktop, along with the social awareness that results from using the DogPile search engine. Even better, obtaining and installing a DogPile widget is easy and fast, whether your operating system is Mac or Windows.
Installing Dogpile Widgets
Like most widgets, installing DogPile search engine widgets are incredibly easy. For example, follow the steps below to put a DogPile widget on a Mac desktop using Yahoo's widget engine:
- Click on the Arfie widget icon.
- This will open a new installer window, which will prompt you to install the Yahoo Widget Environment if it isn't already installed.
- The Yahoo Widget installer downloads as a small .DMG file to your desktop, which expands into a Yahoo! Installer Plugin and a handy shortcut to your internet plugins folder. Simply drag the installer to the folder.
- Back in the Installer window in your web browser, the Arfie icon will ask for permission to complete the installation. It may be necessary to use your system password to complete this process.
- Once the installation completes, you will have a little side dock icon with several basic Yahoo! Widgets, such as Picture Frame, Analog Clock, and of course the one you just installed, the "Arfie" DogPile widget.
Arfie will appear on your desktop in a little doghouse, an animated cartoon animal that plays merrily with a little ball. Underneath him, though, is the very pragmatic search engine box, with a "go fetch" button next to it. This operates like any other search engine – when you do a search, the results pop up in a new browser window. As the download page cheerfully mentions, this pet requires no training, won't activate your allergies, and won't bite your boss. However, there's also a more interesting Web 2.0-ish aspect to it – a small pull-out window on the bottom of the widget turns Arfie into an "internet watchdog," providing a live feed of other DogPile searches throughout the Internet. These change constantly, leaving you to wonder why someone would be searching for things like "sphinx cats vermilion ohio."
There is also a small "share" button, which unfortunately is not for sharing the search results you find. Instead, in true viral widget tradition, this button opens a "Tell a Friend!" page at the Dogpile website.
Why Should You Tell a Friend
There is good reason to use DogPile as opposed to other search engines. DogPile donates a portion of its ad revenue to the rescue of animals in need. It's not any less of a search engine than MSN or Google. In fact, it uses those sources to generate the results. The difference is that this company has the goal of raising a million dollars by the end of 2009. By using the widget, you will help them accomplish that goal, which is an added impetus to make it the preferred search engine for animal lovers. To date, DogPile has raised over $22,000.
Another reason to use DogPile widgets is found at the I Can Has Cheezburger? widget page. This website combines the power and social benefits of the DogPile search engine, along with the hilarity of the LOLCats phenomenon. LOLCats are pictures of cats with entertaining captions that are very popular throughout the web. The "LOLs," as they are called, are updated constantly through RSS feeds, and the search engine uses results from Google, Yahoo!, MSN LiveSearch, and Ask.
For those who don't want to have animations or pictures of cats on their desktop, simpler versions of the DogPile widget are also available that are just a plain search box with "fetch" buttons. Using these will still contribute to the animal rescue. There really is no reason not to use this tool to help others while you are helping yourself to the fruits of the Internet.
Learn More
This page has been accessed 395 times. This page was last modified 16:00, 24 October 2008.
© 2006-2009 LoveToKnow Corp.
Print this page
Follow ltk on twitter
Visit us on facebook