Using widgets is it safe

[behzad]

I was wondering by using a widget, for example contact form, would the widget that I incorporate into my site be dependent on the developer who made it to operate correctly. By that I mean if the developer changes something in the future, would it effect my site? And with forms is it running the script to their end or it works from my server and website?

[Big Frank]

I think the answer to that all depends on the individual widget. Do you have a particular one in mind?

[behzad]

Not really, the one that xara suggests has a pro version, you have to pay for. But how functional are they ? What if they stop working?

http://www.widgetbox.com/home/guest/

http://www.xara.com/us/widgets/v5

[Big Frank]

A vast number of them are completely free and not that difficult to apply. Why not try one or two out to see how functional they are.

As for "what if they stop working". My suggestion is to have a back-up widget plan. If the server who is sending your form data falls over, yes, your widget will stop working. So switch to your backup widget to ensure your customers will always have a working form to use.

[behzad]

First very cute avatar. Second yes I always backup. But who is processing the file to send to my client's email address? Is it going out from the website itself or links the date to whoever is providing the service?

[gwpriester]

Most of these forms just send the information in an e-mail and are not very well formatted or sophisticated. Just the category and the response. But the message is send from the website to the addressee via a mailto: command.

There are more sophisticated forms that can tie into a data base and can process and analyze the information. But these are not free and are not that easy to use.

I don't think the form can change much that would cause it not to function.

Certain widgets from Google, and perhaps others that might forward information along to Google or whoever provided the widget and this could be problematical in regards to privacy issues.