Today, we’ll pick up where we’ve left off last time: let’s look into the rest of the features and additions to the only bookmarking service you’ll ever need—PortalPanel.

The newest part to get a complete makeover is the widgets area. All four widgets—Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Yahoo Weather—have been completely reworked to add more functionality, convenience, and some really nice looks too.

[quote 300 left]We want you to be able to take a full advantage of what the widgets have to offer[/quote]We want you to be able to take a full advantage of what the widgets have to offer, so take a minute and read this post. The post serves as a brief ‘how to’ guide, as most of the widgets must be removed and added again in order for the new features to be activated.

All widgets are now sleeker; this way, new features flow as opposed to being crammed into the relatively small area. Each widget is also given a new set of tooltips. If not sure of what the little icons mean, just bring your cursor to the area in question and the tooltip will tell you exactly what the function of each icon is.

Now, let’s take a look at each widget.

Facebook widget

The new widget allows users to post a status update right on the Facebook wall without having to open a new browser tab/window and log into their Facebook account. If a user does want to open up his/her Facebook page, he/she can do it by simply clicking on the Facebook icon.

The widget also displays the count of unread messages, total friend requests and new notifications. Just so we avoid possible confusion: the widget displays the message count, not actual messages or notifications.

Important! In order to be able to use new features, a user is required to remove and re-add the widget.

Please click on the current ‘settings’ icon, select and option ‘remove widget’ and follow on screen instructions. Once the old widget is removed, click on the blank area with a plus sign and select an option to add a Facebook widget. Again, follow on screen instructions and the new widget will appear on your dashboard within seconds.

You will not be able to post your status updates via widget should you decide not to follow the steps outlined above.

Future plans for the Facebook widget

We feel so great about these updates that we’ve already started working on the new ones and we’re ready to share our plans with our readers. This is what’s in store for the Facebook widget:

• display details of the message received;
• show information of friend requests;
• show details of new notifications and allow users to like them;
• add direct link sharing on Facebook.

 

LinkedIn Widget

Just like for the Facebook widget, we have created an ability to post a status update directly on the LinkedIn profile. The LinkedIn widget also features completely new icons, displays the count of total connections, recommendations, and even suggested jobs.

Important! Since LinkedIn has updated their API, users are required to remove and re-add the new widget in order to take advantage of all the new features. Please follow the same procedure as outlined above under the “Facebook widget” section.

LinkedIn widget future plans:

• display details of recommendations;
• display information of suggested jobs;
• add direct link sharing on LinkedIn.

 

 

Twitter widget

Found a great website, bookmarked the address on PortalPanel and feel like sharing the news with the world? Now you can! The new Twitter widget enables users to Tweet directly from the dashboard of PortalPanel. The widget also features new icons, displays a count of today’s mentions, a count of unread messages, and the number of followers.

Users do not need to re-add the widget. You should be able to see the new widget immediately after the update is finished on our end (which should have happened already, since you’re reading this post).

Twitter widget future plans:

• display details of messages;
• display newest mentions;
• add direct link sharing on Twitter.

 

 

Weather widget

Personally, I’m very excited about the weather widget. Not sure if the developers share the same feelings towards it, but since I was given the bully pulpit while developers are doing actual work, I’m going take a full advantage of it.

The widget displays a city and country (based on a user’s selection in the Settings area). The widget features new high definition icons (no more confusion whether it’s going to rain or snow!); the widget itself updates its color based on the user’s time zone (sunset/sunrise). This is the feature I really like; it gives more ‘life’ to the dashboard, but it’s not too flashy or overwhelming.

At the moment, no future plans for the weather widget on our side, but we’ll definitely keep up with any changes that Yahoo may decide to implement.

This is it for now. Don’t be shy, let us know what you think of these changes by posting your thoughts on the feedback section of the blog or simply send us a message at info [at] portalpanel.com

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