Zoho Gadgets give you quick access to Zoho from Gmail, Facebook, etc

Zoho has launched a new feature that lets you access Zoho's suite of web office documents from Faceboo, iGoogle., Orkut, or any web page that either supports OpenSocial XML or lets you embed an iframe. Zoho Gadgets are little widgets that provide you with an overview of the following Zoho services:

• Zoho Docs
• Zoho Mail
• Zoho Calendar
• Zoho Tasks
• Zoho Contacts
• Zoho Planner

In other words, you can add a widget to Facebook that will let you see the latest documents in your Zoho Docs account, allowing you to click an item to open and edit it. Or you could add your Zoho Calendar or task list to your iGoogle page.

Using the OpenSocial XML option, you can also add Zoho Gadgets to your Gmail sidebar. First you need to enable the Add Any Gadget option in Gmail Labs. Then you just click the OpenSocial XML link next to the Zoho Gadget you want to add and copy and paste the URL into the Gadgets section under your Gmail settings.

I have to say, the Zoho Tasks gadget doesn't work nearly as well as the Remember The Milk gadget for Gmail. And when I tried adding events to the Zoho Calendar gadget they didn't show up, unlike the Google Calendar gadget that's available from Gmail Labs. But the Zoho Docs gadget worked just as you'd expect.

The one problem with adding a bunch of gadgets to your Gmail sidebar is that Google still doesn't provide an easy way to rearrange the gadgets. They show up in the order you add them. So if you want the Zoho Docs gadget to show up near the top of the sidebar, you'll have to uninstall any other gadgets you have, install Zoho Docs, and then reinstall your other gadgets. Update: I stand corrected. You can enable Navbar Drag and Drop in Gmail Labs to reposition items in your sidebar. Thanks Tom!

Tags: gmail, gmail-gadgets, opensocial, opensocial-xml, zoho, zoho-gadgets, zoho-office