Google Wave: How To Add Extensions (Gadgets and Robots)

Google Wave works well as standalone system for chat, file sharing and so on. However, it also gives you the option to add extensions which enhance your experience and the range of functions it can perform.

Extensions come in two varieties:

Gadgets and Robots.

Gadgets are the most similar to Facebook apps, you install them and they run as part of a wave. To give an example: you can install the Sudoku gadget, and use it to play against a group of friends. Robots are more similar to the bots you see on Twitter, but far more sophisticated because they behave as kind of artificially intelligent participant in a wave. The best example is the Twitter robot, Tweety, which can be used to update your Twitter status and also to follow tweets from other users.

At the time of writing, the number of extensions is limited, but the open API means developers can write their own so the range should grow fairly rapidly. You can find a directory of currently available extensions at Wavety, and if you’d like to try your hand at writing your own, you’ll find more information about that here.

Enough with the theories, now let put this into practice. Adding Extensions to Google wave is extremely easy. I’ll start with a quick overview of how to add a robot, using Tweety as an example:

How-To Add A Robot To GoogleWave

Now here is what you should know, in Google wave, Robots have their own email address, and this means you add them as new contact and that’s it, the robot will be installed.

Click a plus sign right to Manage contacts at the bottom of you Wave account as shown bellow, then type in Tweety’s email address (tweety-wave@appspot.com) and click submit.

And there you are, you have just installed Tweety robot on your account, now to use it, just create a new wave, or just using an existing wave, you add Tweety user just like how you would do with any other contact from your list.

You will need to login to using your tweeter credentials, a login popup will open for you to login and allow google wave to access your tweeter details. NB. make sure your browser does not block the Tweeter loging popup window.

NB. Apparently, some people are using a pared down version of Google Wave, and Tweety doesn’t seem to work with it.

Adding a Gadget to Google wave

Create a new wave, then In the top right corner of the input box you’ll see three little dots, click this icon. A drop-down menu will appear, from this select the gadget icon – it’s easy to spot, it’s the green one! Another box will appear, paste the url for your chosen gadget into it, and click Add.

That’s it, your gadget is now a part of your wave, and you can share it with your contacts in the same way as any other wave.

Hope you liked this, please share with your buddies, and leave a comment or ask a question if any, I will be glad to help.

Cheers

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About the author:  I am Phesto Enock, Tanzanian male living in Finland, professionally a software engineer, a blogger and online business researcher. I love technology and its wicked twists. I am a main author of NiftyEyeBlog So let us share our experiences. Read more from this author

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