Working with Widgets
Widgets are mini applications that are designed to run in Apple's Dashboard environment in Mac OS X Tiger. Using Amnesty Widget Browser, these same widgets can run on the desktop, with expanded capabilities, completely outside of the Dashboard environment (in fact, Dashboard is not required to be running or even installed for Amnesty to run).
This "independence" from Dashboard also allows users of Mac OS X Panther (10.3.9) to run and enjoy many third-party Dashboard widgets in Amnesty prior to upgrading to Tiger. Widgets in Amnesty are accessible via the Amnesty menu. How a widget is listed in the menu depends on its status:
Running and visible. Widgets that are currently running and also visible are displayed with a checkmark icon to the left of their name. A widget in this state uses CPU (processor) time and memory. Running and hidden. Widgets that are currently running but hidden (not visible on the screen) are displayed with a dash icon to the left of their name. A widget in this state uses memory (though this memory is typically "paged out" and thus not a burden on the system). Closed. Widgets that are closed (i.e. neither running nor visible) are displayed without any icon. A widget in this state does not use up any system resources.
Disabled. Widgets that are not currently accessible are displayed in gray. A widget in this state cannot be selected. If a widget is missing critical information to run safely in Amnesty, or if it is officially unsupported, then it will always appear in this state.
When a widget is running and visible you can interact with it by clicking any controls inside its boundaries. Or, if you click on a static part of the widget, you can drag the widget around the screen and place it wherever you like.
Hint: If for some reason you cannot interact with a widget's controls, click the widget once and then press and hold the command key while clicking the widget. Similarly, if you cannot find a place to "grab" the widget to move it, click the widget once and then press and hold the option key while clicking the widget.
Opening a widget
| Select a closed widget's name from the Amnesty menu. |
Hiding a widget
| Select a running and visible widget's name from the Amnesty menu; or control-click a widget and select Hide from the popup menu that appears. |
Showing a hidden widget
| Select a running and hidden widget's name from the Amnesty menu. |
Closing a widget
| Control-click a widget and select Close Widget from the popup menu that appears. |
Updating a widget
In Dashboard, many widgets that require access to the Internet or display some type of system status will update (refresh) their information every time the Dashboard is shown (as opposed to updating at a fixed time interval).
In Amnesty, you may decide to keep one of these widgets visible at all times, and as a result, the widget will update only the first time it is shown. In these cases, you can force the widget to update its display at any time.
| Control-click a widget and select Update Now from the popup menu that appears. |