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Smart Space 11.1.1:
Gadget Development Guidelines

General Design Guidelines

Outlined below are some suggested guidelines to make your gadgets more useful and user friendly.
Restrict functionality to one task or a small set of related tasks. Remember, gadgets are mini-applications intended to provide quick access to some commonly used functionality. Multiple small gadgets tend to be easier to work with than one large gadget.
Avoid taking too much space. Avoid making gadgets that are too large, because the users do not want to keep large gadgets constantly on their desktop.
Make gadgets visually attractive. Your users are more likely to use and keep them on their desktop gadgets that are appealing to the eye. Often, with a few simple tweaks, such as font and color changes, a gadget can change from being ordinary to being "cool."
Gadgets should have minimal to no dependency on each other. Each gadget may be used independently, therefore introducing dependence may lead to unexpected issues.

Implementation Guidelines
Use the custom menu and toolbar to provide commands to the user. Instead of creating your own actionable controls, such as buttons, add commands to the toolbar and custom menu to maintain consistent look and feel.
Use Init() and Stop() methods for initialization and cleanup. Both of these methods are inherited by the main gadget class. Init() is a good place to initialize gadget data and subscribe to events. Likewise, use the Stop() method to save data for future use (see Storing Properties and Maintaining a Smart Space Gadget's State) and to unsubscribe from events.
Use LoadPreferences() and SavePreferences() to save data between gadget invocations. These methods, inherited by the main gadget class, use templates to allow a user-defined object or data structure to be saved or restored.

Other Design Considerations
Gadgets do not minimize to the system tray.
More then one instance of the same gadget may be running simultaneously.
 
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