How embedded widgets work
This page explains what happens behind an embedded widget — how it loads, how it protects your members’ privacy, and why the snippet is safe to reuse. Understanding this helps you embed widgets with confidence and answer questions from your board or members.
The short version
Section titled “The short version”A widget shows one of your public MapleGather surfaces — your events, directory, donation form, application, or blog — inside your own website. The snippet you paste loads that surface from MapleGather and displays it in a self-contained frame on your page. The widget only ever shows content your public site already shows, it matches your site’s look, and it only loads on the sites you allow.
How it works
Section titled “How it works”When someone visits your site, the snippet’s <script> loads a small frame from MapleGather and places it where you pasted the snippet. Inside that frame, MapleGather draws the surface you chose — the same content your public site would show — and sizes the frame to fit so there’s no awkward scrollbar.
The frame is self-contained. Your website and the widget can’t read each other’s data; the widget only sends your page simple, safe signals (for example, its height, or a “donation complete” event your page can react to). Your visitors never see any MapleGather branding — the widget carries your organization’s name and styling, not ours.
Your members’ privacy is protected
Section titled “Your members’ privacy is protected”A widget can only ever show what your public site already shows. Two things follow from that:
- The directory widget honors each member’s privacy choices. Members who chose not to appear in your directory don’t appear in the widget either, and the widget shows only the public fields you turn on. Your display settings can narrow what’s shown, never widen it — a widget can’t reveal a field or a member your public directory keeps hidden.
- Gated content stays gated. Members-only blog posts and pages don’t appear in a widget to an anonymous visitor. The widget always shows the public, signed-out view — even to one of your own members who happens to be signed in to MapleGather in another browser tab. That’s because the widget doesn’t carry anyone’s sign-in; their member-only content lives on your own portal, not in a widget on someone else’s page.
The snippet is safe to share and reuse
Section titled “The snippet is safe to share and reuse”The embed snippet isn’t a password or a secret. It’s just an address that tells a browser where to load your public widget from. You can copy it as many times as you need, paste it on more than one page, and it’s fine for it to be visible in your site’s source — anyone viewing your page can already see the widget.
What actually controls where a widget appears is the allowed sites list, not the snippet. Even if someone copied your snippet onto their own site, it wouldn’t load there unless you’d added their site to your allowed list.
The allowed sites list is closed by default
Section titled “The allowed sites list is closed by default”A widget loads only on the sites you add to its allowed list. If the list is empty, the widget won’t load anywhere — MapleGather blocks the load and shows a short “not authorized” message instead. This “closed unless you say otherwise” approach means a widget can never end up on a site you didn’t approve, even by accident. When a load is blocked, MapleGather records the site so you can review it and add it if it’s yours. See Manage which sites can show your widget.
Widgets match your site’s theme
Section titled “Widgets match your site’s theme”By default a widget inherits your MapleGather theme — its colors, fonts, spacing, and light or dark mode — so it reads as part of the page rather than a bolted-on box. Because your theme was already checked for readable contrast when you set it up, the widget inherits a readable, accessible palette too. You can turn theme inheritance off per widget if you’d rather it use a plain, neutral style. Either way, the widget never shows MapleGather’s name or logo — it always looks like part of your organization’s site.
Edge cases and boundaries
Section titled “Edge cases and boundaries”- Donations stay secure. In a donation widget, card entry happens inside the payment provider’s own secure frame, nested within the widget. Card details never touch your website or the widget, so embedding a donation form doesn’t change your site’s payment-security scope.
- If the surface behind a widget is emptied or archived — for example, a directory you later archive — the widget shows that surface’s own empty or closed message, not a broken box.
- Type and target are fixed once a widget is created. To point a widget at a different surface, create a new one.