Friday, February 12, 2010

eBird Recent Sightings Gadget for Your Location!

I had an idea for a great eBird Gadget for blogs and websites.  Wouldn't it be great if there was a widget that showed recent sightings for a specific location like a wildlife refuge or even your own community?  I e-mailed the eBird staff about my idea.  They e-mailed back saying that they already had what I was looking for. They are so good over there!  I just thought I'd share how to add this to your blog or website.


1. Go to this website
2. Customize the Gadget for your blog or website:


A.  Make the title and location say whatever you want it to say
B.  Adjust the Width and Height to your specifications.  Mine is 250 px wide by 500 px tall.
C.  Select a border style.
D.  Select the time period you want the gadget to look back on.  I went with 2 weeks.
E.  Enter the Location ID's.  Okay, this is the trickiest part, but it is not that bad.
   i.  Go into eBird.
   ii.  Click on "View and Explore Data" then on "bar charts for my locations"

  
 iii.  Select 1 to 10 locations that you want to include by holding down the "Ctrl" key while clicking on the locations. (I picked the 10 at Avimor I use the most):


iv.  After clicking on the "Continue" button it brings up the bar chart of your locations, but we are interested in some of the info in the web address.  Highlight the webaddress.  Copy and past it into a text file or into a word processor.   

v.  Delete all the web address info except the locations, which are L's followed by digits.  Add a comma between each of the locations. 
vi.  Copy and paste the locations into the gadget maker website at Location ID's.  Then click on Get the Code.
vii.  Finally, paste the code into your blog or website where you wish.  Then get back outside and go birding and submit more eBird checklists!

3 comments:

  1. Hey thanks for this. I've been looking for something like this for a while for my blog and your instructions worked perfectly. Thanks.

    Ryan
    http://landfillbirdblog.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Whoa, I did not know you could do this! Thanks for the walkthrough.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "Then get back outside and go birding and submit more eBird checklists!"

    Ya, no kidding! LOL

    I'm going to try this on the next rainy day, I promise.

    DianneBirdgCoo

    ReplyDelete