Widget

Also called block, module

A widget is a self-contained block of a page that performs one function — playing a track, taking a booking, capturing an email — and can be added, moved or removed without touching the rest.

The defining property is independence. A widget carries its own data, its own layout and its own behaviour, so a page can be assembled from widgets by someone who cannot write code. That is what makes page builders possible.

The trade-off is coherence. A page assembled from twelve independent blocks tends to look assembled, because each block was designed to work alone. Systems that hold together share spacing, corner radius and typography across every widget, so independence stays a technical property rather than a visual one.

Widgets also fail independently, which is a feature. A broken embed should leave the rest of the page standing rather than blanking it.

In practice

A booking widget that shows real availability from a synced calendar is a widget; a static image of a calendar is a picture.

Common mistake

Adding widgets because they exist. Each one costs a scroll and a decision, and unused blocks push the ones that matter below the fold.

Widget

In practice

Common mistake

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