Here’s the AFL Ladder Widget for OS X Dashboard, you can download it from the link below or read on for more information.
The widget loads and displays the current Australian Rules Football season ladder and provides a link to each team’s website.
The AFL Ladder Widget requires an active internet connection to work.
Version 2.0 is a complete rewrite of the code, from the ground up. The functionality is somewhat reduced from the last version, but the new version is easier to use. The new version automatically searches different websites for the ladder data until it finds one that works, then it updates the ladder. The following sites are used:
Having different sources for the ladder data will keep the widget working if one of the sites decides to change or stop working. There is no longer a need to choose a source website, they are all checked until a working site is found. The down side is that there is no longer the option for extra information in the tool-tips.
If the ladder fails to load, a yellow warning triangle will appear meaning something is wrong either with the data from the source websites or with your internet connection.
Here’s how it looks when it’s running:
Get the widget for free here.
According to the information from Apple this widget should work on both PowerPC-based and Intel-based Macs, ie it is universal, but let me know if you have any problems with it!
Trouble Shooting
This widget has only been tested under OS X 10.5.6 - if you are not using this version or later then your milage may vary.
To refresh the ladder data or clear errors, just click on the REFRESH button. If this fails, give the widget a CMD-R, this will force reload the widget from scratch, you may also need to click on REFRESH again.
If you’re having problems with the widget, try deleting the widget preference file:
- Remove the new AFL Ladder widget from your Dashboard
- Delete the preferences file which is found under
~/Library/Preferences/widget-org.dyndns.expat.widget.AFLLadder2.plist - Reload the AFL Ladder widget onto your Dashboard
- You might also need to restart Dashboard, or reboot your Mac after deleting the preference file.
The widget actually rated a mention in the Sydney Morning Herald in 2005 and again in 2006, and came in at number 3 in a list of the “Top 10 Dashboard Widgets for Aussies” in apcmag.com in 2007!
License and Copyright Information
The AFL Ladder Widget is Copyright 2005-2009 Tom Armitage and is released free under the GNU General Public License.
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
See http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ for more on the GNU GPL.
Feel free to contact me if you have any comments, questions or requests!
Instructions for use
Mac OS X v.10.4 or later is required. If you’re using Safari, click the download link. When the widget download is complete, show Dashboard, click the Plus sign to display the Widget Bar and click the widget’s icon in the Widget Bar to open it.
If you’re using a browser other than Safari, click the download link. When the widget download is complete, unarchive it and place it in /Library/Widgets/ in your home folder. Show Dashboard, click the Plus sign to display the Widget Bar and click the widget’s icon in the Widget Bar to open it.
Change log
- v2.0.0 - Rewrite for season 2009, new graphics and automatic source URL searching
- v1.5.5 - Added refresh button, fixed Final Siren data and changed preferences code.
- v1.5.4 - Fixed for the start of season 2008.
- v1.5.3 - Fixed for sportal.com.au changes and minor tweaks to some tooltip formatting.
- v1.5.2 - Minor corrections to fix problems that surfaced at start of season 2007.
- v1.5.1 - Introduced alternative ladder data sources.
- v1.5.0 - Fixed problems cause by AFL website changes, added option to show more information in tooltips and added code to notify when an update is available.
- v1.4.3 - Fixed problems caused when updating to 10.4.7
- v1.4.2 - Fixed a problem with updating the last ladder position correctly
- v1.4.1 - Minor rewrite to adjust for AFL website changes
- v1.4 - Major rewrite to adjust for 10.4.4 and AFL website changes plus add better error handling and new graphics
- v1.3 - Added favoutire team highlight, plus many code revisions, and a new look
- v1.2 - Fixed a formatting bug for the Sydney Swans
- v1.1 - Fixed an update bug and tidied up the code
- v1.0 - Initial release
6 Responses to “AFL Ladder Widget”
Got my updated AFL ladder widget the other day. Thanks, it’s a nifty thing. Hopefully Carlton won’t finish the season on the bottom this year as well!
Will there be an update for the new season?
At this stage there will only be updates if the AFL does something to their website that breaks the widget code!
It seems to be working ok for me right now so an update might not be required (famous last words…)
Noice! Now can you fix it so the Tiges aren’t always on the bottom?
Looking forward to an update (if needed) for 2008…. love this widget!
Go Blues! (yeah yeah… thats what ya get when I yank randomly picks a team to cheer for…)
I had the problems described above, even with OS X 10.4.11, but downloading the older version again, and choosing afl.com, I’ve got it working beautifully.
Thank you!
Care to comment?