What are SpringWidgets, and how the heck did they end up in the FeedBurner cake mix?

The SpringWidgets platform allows your feed content to go anywhere on the web you or others may put a snippet of HTML, such as blogs, MySpace pages, and message boards. The really neat twist is that you can pop a SpringWidget off of a web page and on to your Windows XP desktop. FeedBurner makes sure your logo or favorite image will appear in any SpringWidget using your feed as its content source, and makes it easy to get the necessary HTML code directly from SpringWidgets that you can then use and share.

Who needs this service and why?

Any FeedBurner publisher who wants a sharp new product for promoting and sharing their content both on the web and even on SpringWidget user’s desktops. Anyone who uses this service through FeedBurner can easily incorporate a custom logo or image into the SpringWidget created for displaying their feed.

What will it help publishers do that they can’t do today?

FeedBurner simplifies the process building your own SpringWidget feed reader and incorporating the web-hosted logo you would like to have appear in the SpringWidget; this process normally requires significant additional work in creating and hosting a new XML file to complete without FeedBurner. FeedBurner will also support additional SpringWidget customization options as they become available.

How does it work?

FeedBurner publishers who want to create a customized SpringWidget for their feed follow these steps:

1. Click the feed to promote on the My Feeds page.
2. Click the Publicize tab.
3. Select the “SpringWidgets” service from the left-side services menu.
4. Enter the web address of your custom logo image into the SpringWidgets options form that appears Click [Activate].
5. Once the service is active, click the link to view and copy the HTML SpringWidgets provides in order to place it on your own site, or share with others.

What are the specific features?

FeedBurner creates a ‘skin file’ version of your feed automatically; this file is required to customize a SpringWidget to use your logo image. FeedBurner also inserts a needed block of XML into your feed so that the SpringWidgets platform knows where to locate your skin file.

What are the technical requirements to use the service?

You need to have a custom image file to serve as your SpringWidgets logo. This JPG-formatted file must be 480x75 in size, with the logo image itself no wider than 150px, centered in the file. A sample FeedBurner logo image is provided below for reference.

How much does this service cost and what methods of payment are accepted?

It’s free, free, free. If you like it and it helps you, please do spread the word about your favorable experience using SpringWidgets with your FeedBurner feed.

What else do should we know?

FeedBurner finds widgets endlessly fascinating. The more knobs and buttons and levers, the harder it is to tear us away. We totally got kicked out of the hardware store at age eight for digging around in the bolt and fastener bins.

I still have questions.

Don’t just stand there, try and brace it with something! (Bonus points for identifying this movie reference.)

Seriously, stop by the FeedBurner Help Group. We will be happy to help.