Apture Lets You Create Rich Information Widgets
Apture is one of the coolest plugins I’ve stumbled across in a long while.
It allows you to instantly add rich, dimensional media to your blog or website by integrating text, images, video, maps, music and much more from over 50 sources; including Wikipedia, Flickr, NY Times, YouTube, Twitter and many others.
In the data rich environment of the Web that we now all live in, for many of us the big challenge is finding a way to present all the great new content we have at our fingertips on a web site.
So as a web site owner or blogger, Apture allows you to begin to curate that content and begin to provide the proper context for your visitors.
Take, for example, this widget (click image to activate) I created for the neighborhood in which I live; containing a map, photos, video driving directions, historical background and a great article from the NY Times on Portland’s restaurants.
You can also create a link that has the same functionality built in.
Using a third party source like Outside.in for content is certainly a sensible and easy way to add some depth to your web site (see Looking for Hyperlocal Content?) but using a plugin like Apture, you can really add the right personal flourish (like linking your Twitter profile) and, more importantly, begin to apply the proper editorial oversight to really present your city, town or neighborhood in the right context.
Read More: Sellsius’ Joseph Ferrara writing on Inman News also profiled Apture.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Make sure to follow Inman News on Twitter too!
Andrew Machado | Jul 14, 2009 | Reply
If you noticed we just added Google Street View support. Simply click the street view button next to the map button.
jf.sellsius.theclozing | Jul 14, 2009 | Reply
I’ve been an Apture fan for a long time and use it regularly (it has improved consistently over time). It has re-defined the link.
Joel Burslem | Jul 14, 2009 | Reply
@jf.sellsius
Thanks for reminding me where I had read about this! I knew I had seen it somewhere and couldn’t pinpoint it. Your comment prompted me to remember your column on Inman.
I’ve updated the post to point to it.
Mark Jacobs | Jul 17, 2009 | Reply
Great post, I love Apture.
Augusta Real Estate
Overland Park Real Estate | Aug 3, 2009 | Reply
Great find as always Joel.
mortgage | Aug 10, 2009 | Reply
great, ive beeen using internet for a long time- but never heard about it- thanks
Meghan Porter | Aug 21, 2009 | Reply
Great article! Thanks for sharing. I’ll definitely have to try out the Apture Plugin now. It’s always good to use aides that integrate many different social applications; we must always stay connected on the internet! Plugins like Apture make it easy to develop online communities through many different mediums. You should consider creating a http://bit.ly/4bybHr poll for your readers. I find them useful and fun as well!
Ken Jansen | Sep 12, 2009 | Reply
I think hyper-local is the way things are moving. Getting down to the subdivision level will become more and more important. With the multitude of scraping sites out there now, there is even competition for street addresses when you search for them in google.
Great post. Thank you for sharing.