Accessorize Your Blog: Get a Blox

Are you thinking that your blogsite could do with a bit of a makeover? Want to do something to it that will make it stand out more from the increasingly crowded blogosphere? Perhaps add a few bells and whistles?

Then help may be at hand.

Blogbox provides free, open-source rich Internet applications for your personal website, wiki or blog.

 

 

Blogboxes, or Blox, currently come in five different (free for non-commercial use) guises, all of which have been elegantly designed and could go a long way in differentiating your blogsite from the rest of the pack.

Although a little geeky knowledge will help in setting them up, the main website is packed with helpful how-to's.

PhotoBlox is an image viewing Internet application that can be embedded into a personal blog template or Web page, and displayed in any modern Web browser.

With some simple editing of an external XML configuration file, you can:

- Display your own images on the Web with dynamic transition effects at any of 3 window sizes

- Customize presentation such as speed, panning, zooming, framing borders and image annotations- Easily specify Creative Commons licenses to define usage rights for your images

- Integrate a Buy via PayPal link "just for fun" (remember that they are only free for non commercial use, so make sure you read the terms and conditions)

- Point to an MP3 file to play background audio during the slideshow

SoundBlox is an MP3 audio playing Internet application that can be embedded into a personal blog template or Web page, and displayed in any modern Web browser.

WeatherBlox is an elegant weather forecast application.

ClockBlox is a simple time displaying application

LinkBlox provides a compact list of your favorite URL links on a personal blog or web page. Key features:

- Sized to fit elegantly within your blog gutter, with configurable background and text colors

- Compactly presents a multitude of links organized under tabs that expand in place

- Simple to embed within your blog template with an auto-generated embed script tag

- Easy to substitute your own tabs and links via editing of an external OPML XML file

- Usable within any Web browser enabled with Macromedia Flash 5 or above

Any one of these Blox could lift your blogsite to a more attractive level - and at least give it the makeover you've been promising.

Plenty of potential.