# Widget modes – Docked, Widget and more

## Abstract

On some platforms the Opera Widgets runtime supports more than one mode for the widget to run in, for instance a mobile phone may support modes to show widgets one at a time in full screen mode, and to show multiple widgets, with each widget displayed in a separate slot on the screen.

The widget runtime will tell the widget what mode it should run in. The runtime has a fallback solution in case the widget does not support the requested mode.

The currently defined modes are: Widget, docked, application and fullscreen.

The spec for Widget modes is not yet finalized.

## Widget modes defined

The Opera Widget runtime is available on many platforms, including mobile phones, game consoles, media players, set top boxes and desktop computers. The widget runtime has been integrated into the device to best support the devices’ characteristics. Widgets may be requested by the runtime to display in one of four different modes:

- Widget mode
- Docked mode
- Application mode
- Fullscreen mode

The default mode of the widget is determined by the `defaultmode` attribute of the `widget` element in the widget’s `config.xml` file. The Widget runtime may request the widget to switch between the modes, eg from docked to widget and back. Docked mode may for instance be used to show widgets on the phone idle screen.

### Widget mode

The widget mode is the default mode and how widgets traditionally have been displayed. Each widget is rendered in it’s own window, separate from the browser and without any chrome. The size of the widget is determined by config.xml. The widget author needs to supply mechanisms for resizing and moving the widget if this is desired. This is the default mode if nothing else is specified in the widget’s `config.xml` file.

### Application mode

Like the widget mode, widgets in application mode are rendered in it’s own window. Unlike the widget mode, these now have chrome. This means widgets in this mode look more like native applications. The widget can be moved and resized as a normal window. You can set application mode to be the default mode by setting the `widgetmode` attribute of the `widget` element to ‘application’ in the widget’s `config.xml` file.

### Fullscreen mode

Fullscreen mode looks like application mode except that the widget is rendered as an otherwise maximized native application. You can set fullscreen mode to be the default mode by setting the `widgetmode` attribute of the `widget` element to ‘fullscreen’ in the widget’s `config.xml` file.

### Docked mode

The docked mode, also known as micro widget mode, is a minimized version of the widget, typically docked into a panel – it will generally show summary information, a status icon, or similar. An example is a small news ticker where news items move across a small horizontal bar, or a traffic light to signify the health of a monitored device. A widget is not dockable by default – in order to make it dockable you need to set the `dockable` property of the `widget` element to ‘yes’ in the widget’s `config.xml` file.

## Using CSS to adapt to the current widget mode: The -o-widget-mode media query

You may style a widget differently for each mode by using a new media query property called `-o-widget-mode`. Possible values for the property is ‘widget’, ‘application’, ‘fullscreen’ and ‘docked’. You can use it as part of a media query like this:

    @media all and (-o-widget-mode:application) {
      /* We don't need to display our own user chrome controls, since
         real chrome is provided */
      .fakeChrome { display: none; }
    }

By doing a query for the -o-widget-mode property without a value, you can determine if the platform supports widget modes at all:

    @media all and (-o-widget-mode) {
      div.friendlyMessage {
        content: "I will be displayed if I am a modern widget";
      }
    }

## Using Javascript to adapt to the current widget mode: WidgetModeChangeEvent

When the widget mode changes, a `WidgetModeChangeEvent` is fired on the `widget` object. By catching these events, you can programatically adapt the widget to it’s new state. An example is changing the DOM of the widget when it goes in and out of docked mode:

    widget.addEventListener( 'widgetmodechange', function (e)
    {
        //Change the DOM to show minimal status information
    }, false );

When the widget mode changes, the available display area may also change. If so, a ResolutionEvent will be fired on the `widget` object, providing the new width and height as properties of the event object.

    widget.addEventListener( 'resolution', function (e)
    {
        //Resize and restyle the widget
    }, false );

Note these this events do not bubble.