We’ve all been on Web sites and received the “Invalid input, please try again” alert and the “Delete record. Are you sure?” confirmation dialog. Developers often want to pop up informational messages like these.

Sidebar, however, has disabled these JavaScript functions. Using popup dialogs goes against the Windows Vista UX guidelines for Sidebar gadgets. If you still feel compelled to use popups, you can emulate these functions.

To do this, first insert a simple one line tag into the head element of your HTML:

<script src="alert.vbs" type="text/vbscript"></script>

Then create a file that contains the following code and name it alert.vbs. Now you can continue to use alert and confirm as you wish.

‘simulate JavaScript alert() function
sub alert(prompt)
      MsgBox prompt, 48 , "Sidebar Gadget"
end sub  

‘simulate JavaScript confirm() function
function confirm(prompt)
      dim res
      res = MsgBox (prompt, 33, "Sidebar Gadget")
      if res=1 then
          confirm = true
      else
          confirm = false
      end if
end function

via Gadgets: Build Your Own Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget.

Changelog

2.3.2 16/02/2012

• added: Now it is possible to save and restore the settings of this gadget to and from a text file
• fixed: gadget stuck on “inital load” if no LAN connection exist, while remote (network) drives are connected.
• changed: refreshing times for every module set to a more optimal value.

2.3.1 22/10/2011

• fixed: loading of remote javascript file for the version-check makes the gadget stuck on “initial load” screen if no internet connection is available.

2.3.0 13/08/2011

• fixed: if 2nd clock is used, calendar is tracking this clock
• added: module hdd usage
• added: option to show net traffic in net module
• added: option to hide seconds in uptime
• changed: some code optimization

2.2.8 01/07/2011

• definitely fixed: on Intel i-Cores sometimes the gadget freezes.
• changed: now every module is running in different loops, so usage is refreshing every 0.25s, cpu clock every 0.5s, net every 2s, battery every 5s, calendar every 10s and all others every second.

2.2.7 17.06.2011

• added: polish language
• added: french language
• added: italian language
• fixed: on Intel i-Cores sometimes the gadget freezes.

2.2.6 02/08/2010

• added: norwegian language

2.2.5 08/06/2010

• added: spanish language

2.2.4 08/06/2010

• added: danish language
• added: for the Program which is defined for start by a click on calendar it’s now possible to save additional arguments (parameters) for program start. For example, to start Calendar of installed MS Office12 Outlook you can now put the argument “/select outlook:calendar” in the arguments field on settings page.
• added: hungarian language

2.2.2 08/09/2009

• added: option to show a 2nd clock with different timezone (either alarm is possible for this clock).
• added: now you can start an application of your needs by a click on the actual day on calendar (default: Windows Calendar).
• added/changed: now support for MultiCore CPU on usage module. You can select for how many of your cpu cores you want to see the usage.
• fixed: gadget goes blank if settings are not set after first start/installation.
• fixed: “Powerplan” on Powerplan module isn’t translatable in localization.js.
• changed: some code changes to hopefully fix the error which causes the gadget and settings go blank on some notebooks.
• changed: little changes on layout.

2.2.1 02/09/2009

• fixed: powerplans module leave blank on some Win7 machines.
• added: dutch language.

2.2.0 01/09/2009

• added: calendar module (formats: ISO, US, Julian, Islamic)
• added: option to switch to old style of WiFi signal bar
• fixed: own choosen alarm sound don’t play.
• changed: preview images updated.
• changed: little changes on powerplan buttons and status/usage bars
• changed: rewritten uptime module in JavaScript to get rid of VBScript code and prevent some script errors.

2.1.3 14/08/2009

• added: possibility to choose an own sound file for alarm.
• fixed: gadget stops working sometimes after hibernate/suspend. Added an internal check if computer was hibernated/suspended and reset all internal timeout counters. Hope this will fix the problem.
• fixed: gadget get lost of settings. An error in my update-check routine causes the problem.
• changed: little changes on ram module to make it more suitable to other modules.

2.1.2 11/08/2009

• added: font can be changed for the gadget now.
• added: option to set background to transparent. IMPORTANT: This is only experimental yet, because I’m searching for a good alternative method to go around the “magenta-bug” of the sidebar.
• fixed: bouncing hour and minute are wrong positioned after full hour change.
• fixed: problems downloading the .gadget file. I changed the automatic and manual update so now it collect the .zip file from my server instead.
• fixed: “Display in GHz” checkbox isn’t disabled if CPU module is deactivated.
• fixed: colour of battery info don’t change sometimes.
• changed: more preselect date formats and they are shown in realtime

2.1.1 04/08/2009

• fixed: alarm on critical battery level don’t play sometimes. Now not only the system beep is used but also a wav file is played.
• fixed: gadget stop working in Vista while running on battery if remaining time is collected from Windows.
  Fix isn’t perfect, because now it stuck every 15 seconds.
  No problems at Windows7.
  Still working on it.
• changed: usage bars are now using the gadget colours for normal, warn, critical status
• changed: WiFi and battery status bar adapted to the design of the CPU/RAM usage bars and are now using the gadget colours for normal, warn, critical status too.
• changed: little optical changes on settings page tabs.

2.1.0 31/07/2009

• added: clock with date, time and alarm. Time is animated.
  • timezone can be selected for clock
  • if clock animation is disabled you get the opportunity to name the clock. The name will be shown instead of the seconds.
  • if date format is deselected you get the opportunity to name the date field. The name will be shown instead of the date.
  • preset times for adding alarm
  • alarm can be used with and without sound
  • animation of clock can be disabled
• added: automatically recalculate refresh timer depending on the runtime of activated module
• added: sequence of modules can be changed
• added: possibility to switch themes
  • preview of modules sequence
  • preview of choosen background colour
  • preview of choosen text colours
• added: playing alarm beep on critical battery level
• added: new module for switching powerplans
• fixed: ram usage bar don’t change colour if more than 90% of ram used
• fixed: LAN status won’t show correct if WiFi isn’t connected
• changed: automatically check for updates will only once a day run the version check now
• changed: background and text colours on flyout and setting pages are using the gadget colours
• changed: some code optimisation for the network functions. Start and initialising are faster now.
• changed: reordered settings tabs and animate switching
• cleanup on settings page
• some code cleaning

2.0.3 18/06/2009

• fixed: information on flyout for network and RAM don’t shown on some systems
• fixed: some functions don’t work on x64 systems

2.0.2 23/05/2009

• fixed: net flyout (net info) don’t show information sometimes. (but still problems on x64 systems)

2.0.1 20/05/2009

• fixed: uninstallation of gadget is not possible. I rewrote some of my gadget code so no .dll is needed anymore.
• Please uninstall previous versions before install this new version.

2.0.0 17/05/2009

• added: Redesign of the gadget, so that each individual range is present as module now. Thus makes it possible to select which modules are to be seen on the gadget.
• added: module to show system uptime
• added: flyout (click on uptime) with information about your system
• added: CPU (DualCore capable) and RAM usage scale
• added: RAM info on a flyout page shows information about installed RAM modules
• added: turkish as language (thanks to Selim for translation)
• fixed: transferrates of network are showing NaN on higher speeds
• fixed: if only one RAM module is installed, the information table got corrupt
• changed: some more information on ramflyout.
• changed: selections for DualCPU and DualCore processor on settings page is only available, if a second cpu or a DualCore cpu is installed.

1.3.5 27/04/2009

• changed: A few optical adornments on the cpu and battery flyout pages
• changed: added detailed info about type of WiFi security

1.3.4 21/04/2009

• fixed: digit grouping symbols are set wrong (comma instead  of period and reverse).
• Added a function to collect the OS language and compare with an internal language array.
• fixed part of: can’t collect WiFi signal strength in dbM if wlan driver isn’t able to provide WMI
• fixed: can not deselect the NIC interfaces

1.3.3 20/04/2009

• added: more info about network
• changed: A few optical adornments on the settings and flyout pages

1.3.2 17/04/2009

• changed: additional info about network
• fixed: a few little bugs

1.3.1 16/04/2009

• added: more information about network on gadget and flyout
• changed: some more information on update dialog
• a few little bugfixes in the update functions

1.3.0 14/04/2009

• added: multilanguage support

1.2.0 12/04/2009

• added: ability to calculate the remaining battery runtime if windows isn’t able to provide this info
• fixed: color of battery percentage don’t shows correct after hibernate while running on battery
• changed: click on battery icon now opens the mobility center

1.1.1 25/03/2009

• some modifications on version-check

1.1.0 24/03/2009

• added: automatic and manual gadget-update-check

1.0.5 23/03/2009

• fixed: running gadget maybe stuck on actions

1.0.4 20/03/2009

• changed: removed the refresh settings, because they are useless
• changed: on dualprocessor now both clockspeed can be shown. On dualcore processors 2 speeds are shown either, but not really useful because they are the same. (enabling may slowdown the gadget a bit)
• some changes/enhancements on infopages

1.0.3 16/03/2009

• added: Changelog and Information tab on settings page
• changed: separation of settings into own files
• fixed: rewrite of some parts, because of speed behavior

1.0.2 14/03/2009

• fixed: if SSID has more than 15 characters it exceed the gadget

1.0.1 11/03/2009

• added: connection status and strength percentage change color to yellow on 50% and red on 30% signal strenght

1.0 06/03/2009

• initial release