|
Windows Sidebar is a long, vertical bar that is
displayed on the side of your desktop. It
contains mini-programs called gadgets,
which offer information at a glance and provide
easy access to frequently used tools. For
example, you can use gadgets to display a
picture slide show, view continuously updated
headlines, or look up contacts.
 |
| Sidebar and
gadgets |
Why use Sidebar?
Sidebar can keep information and tools
readily available for you to use. For example,
you can display news headlines right next to
your open programs. This way, if you want to
keep track of what's happening in the news while
you work, you don't have to stop what you're
doing to switch to a news website.
With Sidebar, you can use the Feed Headlines
gadget to show the latest news headlines from
sources you choose. You don't have to stop
working on your document, because the headlines
are always visible. If you peripherally see a
headline that interests you, you can click that
headline, and your web browser will open
directly to the story.
To open Sidebar
|
|
• |
Open
Windows Sidebar by clicking the
Start
button
 ,
clicking
All
Programs,
clicking
Accessories,
and then clicking
Windows
Sidebar.
|
|
To keep Sidebar visible at all times, you
must set it so that other
windows won't cover it. The Sidebar width
is a fixed size.
To keep windows from
covering Sidebar
|
|
Because of
the space Sidebar requires, this
option works best if you're
using a large or wide-screen
monitor or multiple monitors.
|
|
1. |
Open
Windows Sidebar properties by
clicking the
Start
button
,
clicking
Control
Panel,
clicking
Appearance
and Personalization,
and then clicking
Windows
Sidebar Properties.
|
|
2. |
Select the
Sidebar is always on top of
other windows
check box.
|
|
3. |
Click
OK.
|
|
Getting started with gadgets
Windows comes with a small collection of
gadgets, but only some of them appear on Sidebar
by default. To
understand how to use gadgets, let's explore
three gadgets that you'll see on Sidebar when
you first start Windows: the Clock, Slide Show,
and Feed Headlines.
How does the Clock work?
When you point
to the Clock gadget, two buttons will appear
near its upper-right corner: the Close
button—which is the top button—and the
Options button.
 |
| The Clock |
Clicking the Close button removes the
Clock from Sidebar. The button below the
close button displays options for naming the
clock, changing its time zone, and showing
its second hand.
Note:
Not all gadgets have an Options button. Gadgets
without an Options button don't have settings
that can be changed.
How does Slide Show work?
Next try resting the pointer on the Slide
Show gadget, which displays a continuous slide
show of pictures on your computer.
 |
| Slide Show |
When you point to Slide Show, the Close and
Options buttons will appear near the upper-right
corner of the gadget.
Clicking the Options button allows you to
choose which pictures appear in your slide show,
control the speed at which your slide show
plays, and change the transition effect between
pictures.
To change the slide
show pictures
|
|
By default,
Slide Show displays items in the
Sample Pictures folder.
|
|
1. |
Point to
Slide Show, and when the Options
button appears, click it.
|
|
2. |
In the
Folder
box, select the location of the
pictures you want to display.
|
|
3. |
Click
OK.
|
|
To set the slide show speed and
transition effect
|
|
1. |
Point to
Slide Show, and when the Options
button appears, click it.
|
|
2. |
In the
Show each picture
list, select the number of
seconds to show each picture.
|
|
3. |
In the
Transition between pictures
list, select the transition you
want.
|
|
4. |
Click
OK.
|
|
How does Feed Headlines work?
Feed Headlines can display frequently updated
headlines from a website that supplies feeds,
also known as RSS feeds, XML feeds, syndicated
content, or web feeds. Websites often use feeds
to distribute news and
blogs. To receive feeds, you need an
Internet connection. By default, Feed Headlines
won't display any headlines. To start displaying
a small set of preselected headlines, click
View headlines.
 |
| Feed Headlines |
When you point to Feed Headlines, the Close
and Options buttons will appear near the
upper-right corner of the gadget. Clicking the
Options button allows you to choose from a list
of available feeds. You can add to the list by
choosing your own feeds from the web.
To choose a feed
from the web with Internet Explorer
|
|
Internet
Explorer, a web browser included
with Windows, looks for feeds on
every webpage you visit.
|
|
1. |
Open
Internet Explorer by clicking
the
Start
button
,
and then clicking
Internet
Explorer.
|
|
2. |
Browse to a
webpage that has feeds.
(When
Internet Explorer finds
available feeds, the
Feeds
button
 ,
located on the Internet Explorer
toolbar, will change from gray
to orange.)
|
|
3. |
Click the
arrow next to the
Feeds
button, and then, in the list
that appears, click the feed you
want.
|
|
4. |
On the
webpage that appears, click
Subscribe to this feed.
|
|
5. |
In the
dialog box that appears, click
Subscribe.
The feed
should now be available to Feed
Headlines. To display the feed
in Feed Headlines, see the
procedure below.
|
|
To display a feed in the Feed Headlines
gadget
|
|
1. |
Point to Feed
Headlines, and then click the
Options button.
|
|
2. |
In the
Display this feed
list, click the feed you want to
display.
|
|
3. |
Click
OK.
|
|
Note: To scroll through the headlines, point to Feed
Headlines, and then click the downward- or
upward-pointing arrows that appear on the bottom
edge.
Which gadgets do I have?
Before a gadget can be added to Sidebar, it
must be installed on your computer. To see which
gadgets are installed on your computer:
|
|
1. |
At the top of
Sidebar, click the plus sign (+)
to open the Gadget Gallery.
 |
|
Add Gadget button |
|
|
2. |
Click the
scroll buttons to see all the
gadgets.
|
|
3. |
Click a
gadget, and then click
Show
details
to see information about it at
the bottom of the dialog box.
|
|
 |
| The Gadget
Gallery |
You can download
additional gadgets from the web. To find gadgets
online, go to the
Microsoft Gadgets
website.
Adding and removing gadgets
You can add any installed gadget to Sidebar.
If you want, you can add multiple instances of a
gadget. For example, if you are keeping track of
time in two time zones, you can add two
instances of the Clock gadget and set the time
of each accordingly.
To add a gadget to
Sidebar
|
|
1. |
At the top of
Sidebar, click the plus sign (+)
to open the Gadget Gallery.
 |
|
Add Gadget button |
|
| 2. |
Double-click
a gadget to add it to Sidebar.
|
|
To remove a gadget from Sidebar
|
| • |
Right-click the gadget, and then
click
Close
Gadget.
|
|
Organizing gadgets
You can organize your gadgets in any of
several ways:
| • |
You can keep all of
the gadgets attached to Sidebar.
|
| • |
You can change the
display order of gadgets in Sidebar. To
do this,
drag
a gadget to a new position.
|
| • |
You can keep some
gadgets attached to Sidebar and place
some on the desktop.
|
| • |
You can detach all of
the gadgets from Sidebar and place them
on the desktop. If you organize your
gadgets this way, you might want to
close Sidebar.
|
To place a gadget on the desktop
|
|
You can
detach gadgets from Sidebar and
place them anywhere on the
desktop.
|
|
• |
To detach a
gadget from Sidebar, drag it to
the desktop. To reattach the
gadget, drag it to any part of
Sidebar.
|
|
|
|
To close Sidebar
|
|
You might
want to close Sidebar if you
detach all the gadgets from it.
|
|
• |
Right-click Sidebar, and then
click
Close
Sidebar.
To open Sidebar again,
right-click the Sidebar icon
in the
notification area of the
taskbar, and then click
Open.
|
|
Back >
|
