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1Plug-ins and Widgets for Business Use

Marie Griffiths, m.griffiths@salford.ac.uk

Image used under Creative Commons License from Edans 1Slide

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What’s coming up….

• Why do I need to know?

• Social Internet Revolution

• What are plug-ins, widgets?

• Implications for business

• Learning outcomes

• Resources

3http://www.flickr.com/photos/leahrhianne/

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How are consumers using the web?

• Number of people online today: 1.463 billion • This statistics are from a www.worklight.com

Report– Work related tasks - 42.8M US adults– Read Business/Financial news weekly - 31.6M US

adults– Research Travel weekly - 39.2M US adults– Get health related information weekly - 44.0M US

adults– 104.6M in US shop online weekly– Almost half of those make a purchase based on a

recommendation made through a social networking sitewww.worklight.com

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Web 2.0 : Push vs Pull

• Read v/s Read & Write• User generated content• Power of the the masses• YOU decide on the content

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Should Businesses even care aboutSocial Media?

Media consumption is changing• the consumer is in control;

• traditional advertising can be avoided• view on demand;• pop-up blockers;• call barring• fast forwarding on Sky +

Who do consumers trust??• Advertisements• Marketing• Business leadersOr • YOU• “a person like me” • your peers

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Social Internet Revolution

• 1,463 billion people on line worldwide• Initially designed for social interaction

Businesses are realising they need to ‘go’ to the customers

• Society spending more time online and demand easy interaction/availability

• Hence the growth of business widgets• Security continues to be still a major challenge

• Gary's media counter

& Widgets

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Difference between a widget and a plug-in

• To install/and configure WordPress plug-ins require some ‘interaction’ with the code

• Widgets there is no interaction directly with the code.

• Users can add design, statistics, and a variety of gadgets to their WordPress blogs without ‘getting their hands dirty’

• Widgets are accessories that can be added removed from sidebars (only work in sidebars)

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Three Design Elements in

• Themes– The overall look and design of the blog– The external skin!

• Plug-ins– A software script that enables extra interactive features– Non-commercial plug-in are free and are downloaded – Most popular plug-ins SEO, contact forms, news feeds,

adverts, statistics (making blog interactive)

• Widgets– Enable additional design to personalise your blog– Drag and down rather than translating code

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The what are web widgets

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Widgets are : “always on” – rather than waiting for consumer to visit your portal, widgets can go “where they are”

Are aesthetic – since widgets are single-purpose rich applications, widgets can be attractive gateways for connecting with customers

Are simple to install

Are simple to use

Can run “anywhere” – in theory, you can create a widget for every platform where consumers spend their time

Provide an unmatched opportunity for reaching key customer segments

http://www.flickr.com/photos/juanzurita/2845071833/in/pool-whitebackground

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Business Blogs: a corporate tool for

communicating with customers or

employees to share knowledge and

expertise.

Blogs are an excellent method to share a company's expertise, build additional web traffic, and connect with potential customers

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Good Bad Ugly Business Blogs

good

UglyGood

Bad

good

busy

UGLY

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Learning Outcomes

Use social network technologies and discuss their use by individuals and organisations

Identify opportunities presented by emerging ICTs as used by individuals, businesses and other organisations

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Resources• http://derekshowerman.com/2009/10/10/poll-results-3-reasons-why-you-need-a-t

witter-strategy/twitter-strat-poll/• http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=HRAmQ_m2asg&feature=PlayList&p=4A1FE552532CBCF2&index=13 • Google analytics• http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=dMjqn3Z8wp8&videos=4VyAiKVuXtM&playnext_from=TL&playnext=1• http://stats.twtrcon.com/2009/10/garys-social-media-count/• http://coolonlinelayouts.com/web-design/what-is-the-difference-between-wp-widgets-and-plugins/• Slides 5 6 7 are Professor Elaine Ferneley’s work