Kavin send me an
email recently asking me if there was a site for Opera add-ons similar to the highly popular Firefox add-ons
website. Yes there is such a website for Opera. Add-ons in Opera are called Widgets instead and it puzzles me every time why Opera is hiding that Widgets site so perfectly when you visit the main Opera website. Can anyone tell me how you can reach the Widgets website from the main
Opera website ? I really can’t find the way. A search for Opera Widgets on Google reveals the
subdomain that gives access to all the
widgets created for Opera.
If you run Opera you can use the Widgets menu to Add Widgets which will load the Opera Widgets website as well. The main difference between
Firefox add-ons and Opera widgets is the fact that Opera widgets run outside of the browser as separate windows which is sometimes a blessing and sometimes an annoyance. Take the Google Toolbar widget for Opera for instance. It runs independently of Opera which means that you can use it even if Opera is minimized. But, if you position it and make it stay on top and change the window size of Opera it will be in front of other elements on your
desktop that you might need.
It’s great for all kinds of things but not that great if you want to integrate an element in Opera directly. Say you want to check the Google Pagerank of a website. Firefox simply adds the information in the status bar, in Opera you have your own window floating around that is either always on top - which does mean that it will still be on top if you minimize Opera, or hidden behind new
windows that get opened.
I’m not an Opera expert and it would be great if someone else could tell me if there was a way to integrate widgets directly into Opera. Or if there were some sort of add-ons that could be integrated into Opera.
Opera add-ons 
Opera add-ons 
Linear Mode
