This page last changed on Dec 07, 2009 by ggaskell.

This page tells you how to add a Confluence gadget to another (external) application. The instructions and examples given in this topic focus on adding and using Confluence Gadgets in other web applications.

Gadgets that display information from Atlassian applications, such as Confluence, should be able to run on iGoogle, Gmail and other web applications that provide OpenSocial containers. Below are specific instructions for iGoogle and Gmail. You can experiment by adding a Confluence gadget to other web sites and applications, such as a Ning community like The Content Wrangler.

On this page:

Overview of Adding a Confluence Gadget to Another Web Application

The exact procedure for adding a Confluence gadget depends on the application where you want to add the gadget. The basic steps are the same:

  1. Find the Confluence gadget's URL, i.e. the URL for the gadget's XML specification file.
  2. Ensure one of the following two mandatory (typically one-off) procedures have been conducted:
    • An OAuth relationship between Confluence (as the 'service provider') and the other web application (as the 'consumer') has been established. Refer to Configuring OAuth for more information about OAuth and instructions on establishing these relationships.
    • A Trusted Applications relationship between Confluence and JIRA has been established. Refer to Configuring Trusted Applications in the JIRA documentation for more information about establishing these relationships.
  3. Follow the procedure provided by the external web application where you want to add the Confluence gadget.

Finding a Confluence Gadget's URL

The Confluence gadget's URL is the gadget's XML specification file. These URLs look something like this:

http://example.com/my-gadget-location/my-gadget.xml

To find a Confluence gadget's URL,

  1. Open the 'Browse' menu and select 'Confluence Gadgets'. The 'Confluence Gadgets' window will open.
    The 'Confluence Gadgets' window displays a list of available Confluence gadgets in your Confluence installation, as shown in the screenshot below.
    By default, Confluence only includes a few gadgets. However, if your Confluence administrator has installed more Confluence gadgets (typically as Confluence plugins), these will also appear in this list. If a scrollbar is available, use it to find the gadget you want.
  2. After finding your gadget, use the 'Gadget URL' link to copy the gadget's URL to your clipboard. Many operating systems and browsers allow you to do this by right-clicking the 'Gadget URL' link and copying it using the context menu.


Screenshot: Finding a gadget's URL

Adding an Atlassian Gadget to iGoogle

You can customise your iGoogle home page by adding gadgets and moving them around on the page.

To add an Atlassian gadget to your iGoogle page,

  1. First find the gadget's URL as described above.
  2. Go to iGoogle and log in if you have a username and password.
  3. Click 'Add stuff' near the top right of the iGoogle page.
  4. The Google gadget directory will appear, showing a list of available gadgets. Click 'Add feed or gadget' in the right-hand panel.
  5. A text box will open, as shown above. Enter or paste the gadget's URL from your clipboard into the textbox and click 'Add'.
  6. Go back to your iGoogle home page. The gadget will appear on your iGoogle page.

Adding an Atlassian Gadget to Gmail

You can add gadgets to the left-hand panel of your Gmail page.

To add an Atlassian gadget to your Gmail page,

  1. First find the gadget's URL as described above.
  2. Log in to Gmail.
  3. Click 'Settings' near the top right of the Gmail page.
  4. The Gmail settings page will appear. Click the 'Labs' tab.
  5. The Gmail Labs page will appear. This is a laboratory area or testing ground where Google allows you to use experimental features in Gmail. Scroll down to find the feature called 'Add any gadget by URL'.
  6. Select the 'Enable' radio button next to the 'Add any gadget by URL' feature, as shown here:
  7. Click 'Save Changes' to enable the new feature.
  8. A new 'Gadgets' tab will appear on your 'Settings' page. Click the 'Gadgets' tab.
  9. The 'Gadgets' page will appear, as shown in the screenshot below. Enter or paste your gadget's URL into the 'Add a gadget by its URL' textbox then click the 'Add' button.
  10. The gadget will appear in the left-hand panel of your Gmail page, as shown in the screenshot below.


Screenshot: Adding a gadget to Gmail



Limitations and Support

The external integrations described above should work, but they are experimental at this stage. Have fun playing around with them.

Atlassian does not support the use of Atlassian gadgets on iGoogle or other external web sites and applications.

Please note the following limitations:

  1. Gadgets used on third-party web sites must draw their content from a server that is accessible on the public internet. If you run your Atlassian applications behind a firewall, the third-party web site will not be able to access the data and display it in the gadget. For example, if you put a JIRA gadget onto Gmail and your JIRA server is behind a firewall, the Google servers will not be able to retrieve the gadget specification and the JIRA gadget will display an error message on Gmail.
  2. We have had difficulty adding gadgets from servers that use SSL, because Google's servers do not appear to accept our SSL certificate. These problems can be difficult to debug without help from Google.
  3. Individual gadgets may or may not work well in Google's containers.
  4. The production version of iGoogle does not support all of the newer gadget and OpenSocial features. The newest features may require signing up for the iGoogle Developer Sandbox. See Hints for Developing in iGoogle Sandbox.
Document generated by Confluence on Dec 10, 2009 18:45